Nick Counter

rdf:langString Nick Counter

rdf:langString James Nicholas Counter III (1940–2009) was a labor attorney and the long-standing president of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and chief negotiator for the major studios who squared off against Hollywood's writers during a 100-day strike in 2008. He was a fixture in Hollywood labor circles, having overseen some 400 labor contracts with writers, actors, film crews, musicians and scores of other professionals. He served as AMPTP's president for 27 years and was the chief negotiator for 311 major labor pacts, including six in 2008. He retired in February 2009. For most of his tenure, Counter presided over a tremulous period of relative labor calm, except for two massive strikes that rocked Hollywood, in 1988 and 2008, both by the Writers Guild of America. Over the years, Counter was sometimes praised by his colleagues for giving the often-fractious alliance a unified voice, a task that became increasingly trying as studios became facets of media conglomerates with diverse businesses. The group has sometimes had difficulty reaching consensus, perhaps because it represents more than 350 film and television producers, including major media giants that are fierce competitors. At the same time, Counter's pugnacious style and tactics—which included trying to stare down opponents and publicly rebuking union officials who angered him—also made him the nemesis of many workers, especially during the most recent writers strike, when he was criticized as tone-deaf to their concerns. In the heat of negotiations with the Writers Guild in 2004 Counter gave a speech paying tribute to Daniel Petrie Jr., the director and father of the former guild president.