Nearly three months into the writers’ strike, the leadership of the Writers Guild of America says it is at a critical juncture in its contract stalemate with the major Hollywood studios and television networks, the Wall Street Journal reports.

In an interview yesterday, WGA West Coast President Patric Verrone and Executive Director David Young said the guild will closely examine whatever deal the Directors Guild of America reaches with the major studios. The directors’ guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which negotiates on behalf of the studios, have been quietly negotiating a labor contract since Saturday and are expected to reach a deal soon. Mr. Young expressed hope that studio negotiations, which broke down Dec. 7, could restart in the wake of a directors-guild deal and a new labor contract could be reached weeks before the annual Academy Awards telecast scheduled for Feb. 24.

Messrs. Verrone and Young said they “can’t afford to pre-judge” any deal the directors’ guild makes with the studios, and the writers will “take an extremely close look at any deal the DGA makes.”

The guild leaders said that in examining any deal made by the directors, a key issue will be not just how much money is paid for reuse of movies and TV shows on the Internet, but whether the creation of original work for the Internet comes under the auspices of the guild. Mr. Young said that in the near future, the Internet could become a “pilot playground” for the testing of new shows, and if the work is created by non-union writers, it could dramatically undercut the union’s strength over the long term.

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