Strike’s over. Now let us never speak of it again.

STRIKE OVER: Hollywood Back To Work! [Deadline Hollywood via Drudge Report]

A tentative deal has been reached in the ongoing writers strike. The only reason why we paid attention to it here was because a primary reason for the strike stemmed from the use of “new media” like Internet broadcasts, DVD sales, mobile use, etc. Our bread and butter, in other words.

There’s a PDF of all the terms and conditions of the new contract, which is good through May, 2001 2011 (who knows what the media landscape will look like then). For things that we care about:

• Guys who write Internet shows that later end up being picked up by a network have to be bought out. The show is theirs and will be treated as a proper show, not some mickey mouse, lesser “Internet content” category or anything like that.

• Writers get 1.2 percent of download rentals gross

• Writers get 0.36 percent of download-to-own gross

The rest, again, can be found in the linked PDF.

Patric Verrone and Michael Winship, heads of WGA West and East, respectively, said the deal “protects a future in which the Internet becomes the primary means of both content creation and delivery.” So it looks like they’re happy.

Keep in mind that the deal still needs to be ratified by WGA members. Without it, the deal mentioned here is meaningless.

Writers, Producers Reach Tentative Deal [Variety via Drudge]

New Contract Details [WGA, the PDF]

The writers strike could be over. Ex-Disney CEO Michael Eisner has been quoted by CNBC and others as saying, “It’s over. They made the deal, they shook hands on the deal. It’s going on Saturday to the writers in general… A deal has been made, and they’ll be back to work very soon.”

Rumors of a deal had been circulating since last weekend, and picketing appeared to be dwindling in Los Angeles yesterday.

I sincerely hope the writers got what they wanted. I’ll be all over this.

Update: Newsday has the full wrap-up of the Eisner interview. And yes, make that ex CEO.

Deal Reportedly Reached In Writers’ Strike [Slashdot] [and the TeeVee]

In the face of the ongoing writers’ strike, NBC has struck a deal with online show Quarterlife and will likely start airing episodes in February.

The show’s creator, Marshall Herskovitz, wouldn’t reveal the exact details of the deal except to say that NBC is paying a licensing fee and it’s not nearly as much as what’s normally paid out for regular TV shows.

It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out. The show has a big following on the web but that doesn’t necessarily ensure that it’ll do well with television audiences. On the other hand, it could go over so well that more and more of these agreements start cropping up and before you know it, Jay Leno’s monologues will be written by non-union writers who, let’s be honest, could write them all in Chinese and get as many laughs (maybe more).

NBC Acquires ‘Quarterlife’; Internet Series Will Run First Online [New York Times]

If you hadn’t heard by now, there’s a strike brewing in Hollywood. The Writers Guild of America wants higher home video residual payments and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers isn’t giving in.

The guild is meeting at 7:00 tonight in Los Angeles to further discuss how the strike’s going to go but its website already has the 2007 Strike Rules in place.

One rule, in particular, caught my interest. It says; “The Rules prohibit writing services performed for a struck company in connection with new programming intended for initial viewing on non-traditional media (such as the Internet and cellular telephones), and the option or sale of literary material for that purpose.” Basically, no writing for websites owned by big media companies. No rules against online ventures that you start yourselves or that are owned by someone or something independent of the companies against which you’re striking.

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You kids, you’re causing starving writers to strike, crippling Hollywood and destroying our American consciousness. The Writers Guild of America, all level 70 rogues, walked out of a last minute “please don’t strike” meeting last night, setting the stage for picket lines as early as Monday. The guild is refusing to put pen to paper (or fire up Word, as the case may be) because it says its members aren’t being properly compensated for new media downloads: iTunes, stupid Hulu, etc.

It’s a fairly complex scenario, with certain studios backing the writers and others telling them to go ahead and strike. The strike, should one actually be called (it looks like a forgone conclusion at this point, but nothing’s set in stone yet), your current TV season will be fine. It’s shows that start in the winter (”Lost” and “24,” for example) that could be doomed. Too bad Americans aren’t exactly the most strike-friendly people. We’re not France.

So when I grab a torrent off TPB, does anyone see any compensation?

Writers Set to Strike, Threatening Hollywood [New York Times]