On the topic of the ongoing packaging feud between the Writers Guild of America and the major talent agencies, Lourd said that he feels a “great responsibility to the entire culture and the entire ecosystem of the artists’ side of the equation of show business.”
Lourd believes the heart of the WGA-ATA conflict is that “there is a way of thinking about things that is in the past, as opposed to what’s possible in the future. And I want us to at least have our day in court to be able to explain what we know, and hope that we can get to some situation that’s better for themHis comments streamed online on the same day that a federal judge denied WME and CAA’s motion to dismiss the WGA’s claims against he agencies.
“I think in the revisit of all of it, those of us that — and I hope I’m in this category — have the confidence and the security to know that there’s great improvements to be made everywhere in what we do, and a great responsibility, especially on the part of, of white men,” said Lourd. But the TV, film, and independent film financing sides of the business initially kept going, he said, calling it “Dickensian… It’s the best of times on one side of the company, and the complete worst of times on the other.”