Late last week, the Directors Guild of America (DGA) struck a tentative deal with the Association of the Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), leading many to speculate that it could spell the end of the ongoing writers' strike that has severely disrupted the 2007-08 television season.

Grey's Anatomy star Sandra Oh isn't too optimistic, however, downplaying hopes that the show's current season is salvageable.

"The longer we're out, the less chance we have of completing the season," she told Sun Media from Park City, Utah, where she is serving as a festival juror for this year's Sundance.  "I don't know the (DGA) deal. I don't necessarily think the DGA and the WGA have the same needs... But everyone wants to go back to work.  I was out on the line the other day and the writers are really, really suffering."

In addition, a resolution to the writers' strike doesn't necessarily mean that actors won't still lobby and strike for the same issues when their contracts expire in June.

"The DGA membership is less than 5,000. There are over 150,000 Screen Actors Guild members," Sandra Oh, known for her portrayal of Dr. Cristina Yang on Grey's Anatomy, said.  "Their needs cannot be the same, especially on new media. Actors live on residuals."

For now, Sandra Oh is using her strike-imposed break to focus on other projects, including the Sundance Festival, which kicked off last Thursday.

"Why not champion films that don't have a giant budget?  Do we need to support the next M:I 6?  I'm not here for that,” the Grey's Anatomy star said.

While the Writers Guild of America and the AMTPT have been in and out of the negotiating table in the past few months, the DGA's three-year-deal, which offers members key new-media provisions, was the result of less than a week of formal talks between the DGA and the AMTPT. 

After the deal was announced, some of Hollywood's top film and TV executives released a joint statement, saying that they hope the agreement “will signal the beginning of the end of this extremely difficult period for our industry,” and invited the WGA to engage them in a series of informal discussions” to see if there is reason enough to return to formal bargaining.

The WGA, on the other hand, has chosen to first analyze and evaluate the terms of the DGA deal.


-Lisa Claustro, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: Sun Media
(Image Courtesy of WireImage)