Film producer Michael Shamberg, partner in Jersey Films with Danny DeVito and Stacey Sher, said Thursday that he is encouraged by the hours the writers' and producers' negotiating teams have been spending together. The full body was set to reconvene at 10 a.m. today. Really these people are trying to reach a settlement. Eventually the two sides will come up for air, maybe to announce a tentative agreement that the guild leadership will recommend for ratification. It has been difficult, however, to get a reading on how things are going.
Participants enter the building through a garage that is off limits to reporters.
In the past few days they have sequestered themselves, ordering meals in and avoiding public areas during any breaks. WGA officials chided one TV station after its crew, desperate for videotape, aimed the camera atop its truck's satellite mast at the second-floor windows. It is remarkable that so little information has become public during the talks, given the hundreds of people who have access to inside details, from negotiation teams and attorneys to support staffers, contract clause specialists and various committee members.