So much for the media blackout. Four days into negotiations that many had hoped would bring an end to a costly strike, negotiators for the studios and writers Thursday reversed their pledge to keep talks secret. The communication moratorium was designed to make it easier for both sides to focus on finding a way out of the strike, now in its fourth week. But late Thursday, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers issued a statement touting a "groundbreaking" new contract proposal it valued at more than $130 million in additional compensation, "above and beyond the more than $1.3 billion writers already receive each year." The Writers Guild of America, also breaking its silence, immediately shot back and dismissed the studios' proposal as mere hype.
See "Secret is out: Gap still big in bargaining", Richard Verrier and Claudia Eller, Los Angeles Times, November 29, 2007