September 1, 2008 by WW.

Voiceover Master DON LaFONTAINE died Monday afternoon 9/1/08 at 2:10 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles at the age of 68.   Don’s agent, Vanessa Gilbert, tells Entertainment Tonight that he passed away following complications from Pneumothorax, the presence of air or gas in the pleural cavity, the result of a collapsed lung.  The official cause of death has not yet been released.  

Over the past 25 years, LaFontaine cemented his position as the “King of Voice-overs.”   Aside from being the preeminent voice in the movie trailer industry…Don  has also been the voice of Entertainment Tonight and The Insider, CBS, NBC ABC, Fox and UPN, in addition to TNT, TBS and the Cartoon Network.  By conservative estimates, he has voiced hundreds of thousands of television and radio spots, including commercials for Chevrolet, Pontiac, Ford, Budweiser, McDonalds, Coke, and many other corporate sponsors. He recently parodied himself on a series of national television commercials for Geico. At last count, he has worked on nearly 5000 films, including appearances as the in-show announcer for the Screen Actors Guild and Academy Awards. Based on contracts signed, he has the distinction of being perhaps the single busiest actor in the history of SAG.

Don was an active supporter of AFTRA and SAG, giving of his time, opening his home, lending his experience and stature to the AFTRA Promo Announcers Caucus,  as well as generously giving his advice and help to his fellow voice-over artists, in addition to the many causes and friends he helped over the years.

Don is survived by his wife Singer/Actress Nita Whitaker, and three children, Christine, Skye and Elyse.

–

AFTRA President Roberta Reardon released the following statement:

“Don LaFontaine, ‘King of Voiceovers,’ passed away on September 1 at the age of 68. A longtime AFTRA member, he was a brilliant artist and the voice of ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, UPN, TNT, TBS, and the Cartoon Network. For many years, Don was the in-show announcer for the Academy Awards, and his unmistakable voice has been heard in thousands of radio spots, TV commercials, and Hollywood movie trailers. He will be fondly remembered by all of us who understand and appreciate that performers behind the camera give life and color to the stories onscreen. He was both busy and prolific during his 25-year career, but he always had time and a kind word for his fellow union members, and was always a staunch supporter of his union. He will never be forgotten. Our thoughts and prayers are with Don’s family and friends.”

SAG President Alan Rosenberg said, “Don was a phenomenal actor and a prodigious and amazing voice talent who could, like the best voice artists, make any material uniquely his own. His contributions on and off “mic” enriched the profession and Screen Actors Guild. He will be greatly missed by all of us. Our thoughts go out to his loved ones at this difficult time.”
________________________

The following is an e-mail Don personally sent out three weeks ago:

An update from Don LaFontaine
August 11, 2008
 
Update from Don  
I thought it was about time that I brought everybody up to
speed with what’s been happening in my world.
You haven’t been hearing a lot from me lately, and that’s
because I have been fairly seriously ill for the last several
months.
In order to give you the complete picture, I need to go back
over some material of which many of you are already aware,
but this thing needs to be seen in its full context.
Last fall, I began to notice that I was having trouble
catching my breath during exercise. Subsequent tests
revealed a suspicious growth on my lymph nodes and left
lung. This required an exploratory surgery called a Media
Stenoscopy, which was performed At Cedars Sinai Hospital
in late November of ‘07. The biopsy ultimately proved
negative for any tumor, but there was a spot on the lung
that still needed to be checked. Unfortunately, sometime
during the operation, one of my lungs was nicked, and I
developed Pneumothorax, which basically means that the
lung collapsed, releasing all the air into my upper body,
causing a condition called Subcutaneous Emphysema -
Which blew me up like a balloon from the ribs up to my
eyebrows. This happened three times over the next six
days. The “cure” for this condition is to place chest tubes
and small catheters under the skin to drain off the excess
air.
Unfortunately, all that air also accumulated around my vocal
cords, causing me to sound like an ambassador from
Munchkinland. This condition, I was told, could last for a
number of weeks.
We decided to put off a Bronchoscopy to determine the
status of the spot on my lung until after the new year, by
which time, my breathing had become even more labored.
Again, the test failed to reveal anything more than a few
“suspicious” cells - but no cancer. I had also scheduled,
months before, a standard Colonoscopy, which I had in
January. This revealed a growth on my colon.
Are we having fun, yet?
So - I go back to Cedars to discuss laparoscopic surgery to
get rid of that growth, after first undergoing CAT and PET
scans. During my consultation with the surgeon, my
Oncologist came in with another doctor to tell me that I had
a tumor growing under my lung and threatening to encircle
my Aortic Valve to my heart.
Suddenly, the surgery was put on hold, and I was scheduled
for thirty-seven sessions of intense radiation and four
sessions of Chemotherapy, which stretched over the next
seven weeks. This included four blood transfusions.
During this time, the effects of the Subcutaneous
Emphysema had worn off, and I was able to work again.
After treatment, I was told that it was completely
successful, and the growth had been completely eradicated!
I was also told that the radiation therapy would continue to
work in my system for a number of weeks.
Well, it did.
In rare cases - like mine - it spreads into the lungs and
causes a very persistent condition called radiation
pnuemonitis. This reduces the lungs capacity to about a
quarter, making it almost impossible to walk ten paces
without having to stop for air.
The treatment for this condition is massive doses of
steroids, which balloons the face and body, and it also
settles on the vocal cords in a major way, creating a good
deal of gravel and hoarseness. In short - it has brought my
career to a near stand-still.
Steroids can also have a major effect on one’s heart rate,
and blood sugar count - each of which sent me back to
Cedars on two separate occasions for four and three day
stays within a week of each other. Because of the blood
sugar influence, I now have a temporary form of diabetes,
and need to take insulin.
This condition will pass as soon as I get the pnuemonitis
under control, but it’s a balancing act between doses of
steroids and insulin.
As I mentioned earlier, this lung thing is incredibly resistant,
and to this date, I am still looking for some improvement.
I do work from time to time, but my voice is nowhere close
to where I need it to be. Fortunately, I have incredibly
faithful friends and clients who have shown me what loyalty
really means by working with me, even in my diminished
capacity.
I am now recovering from the recovery. When this is
cleared up, I still am facing the laparoscopic stomach
surgery, but that will be a cakewalk.
But the real point of all this is the Genisis of the condition. I
was a smoker, on and off, for thirty years. I quit nearly
twenty years ago, but that crap has a tendency to lie doggo
in your system. It finally caught up with me, and as you’ve
just read - it ain’t pretty. For those of you who are in the
Voice Over business, and you think that smoking is adding
some wonderful quality to your instrument - WAKE UP! Quit!
Today! Whoever you are - if you smoke - Stop! All you are
adding is garbage to your vocal cords, and a nice deep layer
of tar and poison on the linings of your lungs.
I tell you all this, because I need to clear the air, because
there has been a lot of speculation out there, and because it
should serve as a cautionary tale. Even though the growth
on my lungs has been erased, there are still a few miles to
go before I’m back to 100%.
But that, I can assure you - is going to happen!
-Don
 
Thank you for your continued support!
Sincerely,
DonLaFontaine.com

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September 1, 2008 by WW.

With the push poll mailer hitting some mailboxes Saturday and most this week, the AMPTP is firing back at the Allens for their blatant effort to generate an expression of support for their hard line position in the stalled TV-Theatrical negotiations.

The statement, up on the AMPTP website today, says

“It’s long past time for SAG’s negotiators to close this deal, and a mass postcard mailing is just another delay tactic meant to mask the fact that SAG’s negotiators have no coherent strategy. In fact, SAG’s postcard ‘poll’ appears to be designed to deliver just one thing: A result pre-ordained by SAG’s negotiators.

With four new contracts this year, the Producers and the other Hollywood Guilds have moved on, and we are now back to work. The longer SAG’s negotiators hold out, the more SAG members will lose out on the new media rights and residuals, salary, pension and other increases in the Producer’s $250 million final offer.”

Variety says the mailer contains a postcard and “asks members to “continue to fight for a fair deal” or sign on to accept the final offer from the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers. “We need your guidance,” SAG notes on the card. “Tell us what you think.”

Cards are due back by Sept. 15; SAG’s board election concludes three days later.

Posted in Exhibit A - TV Theatrical | Print | 3 Comments »

September 1, 2008 by Editor.

This e-mail went out to AFTRA members this afternoon, apparently responding to the inaccurate e-mail sent out yesterday by Membership First director Michael Bell:: 

To AFTRA Members,

We are writing you on this Labor Day holiday as we celebrate the contributions American workers have made to the strength and vibrancy of our nation. Regardless of category or type of employment, like all union workers, AFTRA members stand strong for the basic principles of organized labor — freedom to organize and bargain collectively and the right to have fair wages, protections, and benefits in return for their labors and talent.

As we celebrate Labor Day, we look forward to AFTRA members’ new challenges and opportunities in moving those principles forward in our day-to-day work. AFTRA members and staff are working on implementing details of the new Sound Recordings Code, and moving forward our legislative work on copyright protection for performers. AFTRA will soon roll out informational material and programs for members who work under the AFTRA Television Agreement to assist you in understanding your new contracts in primetime and non-primetime programming. AFTRA members at CBS and other broadcast companies are coming together to address the impact of HD radio and new technologies on their working lives. AFTRA members around the country will soon begin intense preparations for negotiation of our Television and Radio Commercials Contracts, which have been extended to March 31, 2009. More immediately, we are preparing to address the AFTRA Interactive Agreement.

With respect to the Interactive Agreement, yesterday afternoon, an elected officer of the Screen Actors Guild Hollywood Division circulated an email regarding the AFTRA Interactive Agreement to performers around the country, many of whom are AFTRA members. The insertion by an officer of another labor organization into AFTRA’s internal collective bargaining processes has again generated unnecessary confusion and the dissemination of inaccurate information. It is hoped that the facts outlined below, will address any confusion that email may have caused you.

• The AFTRA Interactive Agreement has been in existence for two decades since AFTRA members first organized the area of interactive gaming to ensure that they, and the working performers that came after them, had the protection of union rates and conditions. AFTRA was the first performers’ union to organize and negotiate a collective bargaining agreement with Electronics Arts and since then AFTRA members have continued to expand union protections for performers working in this field. The Interactive Agreement is not now, nor has it ever been, a contract negotiated under the Phase One Agreement between AFTRA and SAG.

• The current AFTRA Interactive Agreement is set to expire on December 31, 2008. In June 2008, the AFTRA National Board authorized the appointment of an Interactive Steering Committee (ISC) to guide strategic approaches for negotiations of the Interactive Agreement in 2008. In authorizing this Committee, the National Board was keenly aware that the Commercials Contracts expire on October 29, 2008, (now extended to March 31, 2009), and wanted an authorized working group of performers invested in the Interactive field to actively monitor and ensure that progress towards reaching a timely successor Interactive Agreement was not overlooked during the intensive preparations necessary for the Commercials Contracts.

• The ISC was appointed from among working AFTRA members who have substantial employment under, and working knowledge of, the AFTRA Interactive Agreement. The ISC consists of working AFTRA performers from the three major centers of AFTRA’s Interactive employment: Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York. During the month of August, the ISC also met with groups of working members from these and other cities. Every one of these members has substantial work experience under the AFTRA Interactive Agreement, and is also a dual card holder.

• Members of the ISC and working groups have provided their talents on games such as Grand Theft Auto, Gears of War, Halo II & III, Final Fantasy, Trilogy III, Mercenaries, Metal Gear IV, Speed Racer, Godfather II, Batman, Unreal Tournament, Halo Wars, Spiderman III, Lord of the Rings, CSI 3, Kane and Lynch, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic and Star Wars Force Unleashed, to name just a few. We are deeply appreciative to these working AFTRA performers who are volunteering their time to participate in and guide our process, and for sharing their extensive experience and understanding of this field on behalf of their fellow performers.

• The ISC has determined that it is in the best interests of working members to attempt to resolve a successor agreement sooner rather than later, and it would not be in the best interests of working performers to delay our work and possibly compromise timely implementation of any wage increases and improved conditions that are ultimately negotiated. To that end, it is in the best interests of performers to hold off-the-record conversations with representatives of the AFTRA signatory employers in early September to determine if a framework for reaching a successor agreement in a timely fashion is possible. Once we have had an opportunity to determine whether reaching an acceptable framework is possible (or not), meetings will be held for AFTRA members working under the AFTRA Interactive Agreement for their information and input. Those meetings have not yet been scheduled, but we anticipate they will be held in late September.

• The ISC members have also determined that, having successfully achieved more than 30% increases in base rates in our 2005 negotiations, establishing a structure for residual or “back-end” payments is one of the priorities that must be addressed in reaching a successor agreement in this 2008 cycle.

• We are all committed to executing a sober, thoughtful and strategic approach to reaching a strong successor agreement for working performers. As such, AFTRA will not engage in any discussions in the press, on blogs, or viral e-mails nor allow the AFTRA Interactive Agreement, or any other contract, to be used for political purposes. Official notices of informational meetings where AFTRA members can receive accurate complete information and provide their input will be sent to interested members later this month.

We were also pleased to learn that during recent discussions with FIA’s English-speaking unions, our sisters and brothers in Canada, Great Britain, and Australia are also committed to coordinating efforts in the future to raise conditions for performers worldwide.

We wish you all a safe and happy Labor Day as we celebrate the achievements and contributions of AFTRA members and the proud traditions of American Labor which enrich our society.

In Solidarity,

Posted in Interactive, SAG-AFTRA | Print | 9 Comments »

September 1, 2008 by Editor.

There’s no question that we’ve been more than critical of the actions of the Allens and Membership First. This blog was created in an attempt to balance the flood of slanted pro-Membership First propaganda being put out on blogs, BBS systems and through the union e-mail system.

But what we’ve never done is criticized the elected leaders themselves - for one important reason. Whether or not we agree with their ideas, the fact that they, as volunteers, take the time from their careers and their lives to work for their union is something we all should honor, as we should honor the contributions of those who oppose them. Without the volunteers who serve either in office or as the opposition, no union could long survive.

It is through the collective voices raised by the members, through their service on boards, committees, in W&WC and on sets that the union draws its strength. The specifics of the ideas the members bring to the process are important, for sure, but that the members join together is the critical thing.

For that reason, we are grateful that our unions have the active members that they do, no matter which side of any issue those members may be on.

We thank them for their service, and for the collective strength they bring.

We urge those who disagree with any specific idea to confine the disagreement to the issue, and not to attack the persons who espouse those issues. The debate is never the problem, even if it goes against you.

Debate the quality of the idea, not the individual at the source.

That’s what helps make us stronger.

On this Labor Day, we say thank you to every leader of every one of the unions, and to every staff member who works hard to improve and enforce the contracts under which we work.

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