September 19, 2008 by Editor.

Those wise guys at the local paper of record have gone and done it. Obviously noting the  super-hunger for discussion of all things Hollywood, the Los Angeles Time has started a…wait for it… blog, called Company Town. One of the first items? It asks if Doug Allen is in trouble.

Oh, well, there goes the neighborhood.

Seriously…Richard Verrier and the crew at the LAT could do one heck of a job covering SAG if they wanted to, and didn’t have to worry about things like the decline and fall of the newspaper world.

And we welcome them.

Nikki? We don’t think she’ll be all that thrilled. She’s still hawking movie tickets with the faded lure of slightly used Membership First talking points. The Times is doing everything she can and then some - without her screeching commentary or pop ups.

Posted in Union Politics, Media Business, SAG-AFTRA | Print | 4 Comments »

September 19, 2008 by WW.

Here’s the meat:

Paul Christie, a national board member in New York and a former 2nd national vice president, was the least reassuring when asked if Allen would stay in his post. “If anybody is going to fire Doug Allen, it’s Doug Allen,” he said. “The one mandate he had was to not only represent the majority but to defend and represent the wishes of the minority and he never did that at any turn.”

A spokeswoman for SAG told Back Stage that Allen would not be available to comment until Monday. Ned Vaughn, spokesman for Hollywood opposition party Unite for Strength, did not return a call seeking comment. Unite for Strength won five national board seats and 13 alternate seats in the Hollywood Division in this month’s elections, giving the pro-merger forces an apparent majority on the national board.

When asked if there were any scenario by which Allen would keep his job, Christie replied, “Honestly, from my perspective, I can’t give you a scenario where that works. I can’t see any way … I was one of the people involved in hiring him, and I can’t give you a realistic appraisal where I would find some justification for keeping him on.”

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A Unite for Strength Board member is quoted (though not by name):

“”As far as I know Doug Allen’s contract goes to January 2010,” said one national board member who is part of the new majority. “Nobody ran on a platform of firing Doug Allen. Now, that does become a possibility… But the question to be asked is, ‘Is the firing of Doug going help promote the big interest of the new majority, which is that we should merge our unions?.’ It is less than 24 hours that we have been in this position. We’re the moderates. We are not the knee-jerk [folks] that fired Greg Hessinger.”"

Posted in SAG Politics | Print | 31 Comments »

September 19, 2008 by Editor.

We got this from Keri Tombazian:

Greetings Fellow Union Member:Am I happy today?  You betcha.  Many of you know that Unite For Strength faired well in yesterday’s election result.  This is the beginning of righting the listing ship we know as our Guild.  Here is how it breaks down.  The following is a collective narrative from the fabulous Dan Navarro, the diligent Jerry Gelb, and yours truly.  As we celebrate our win today – let us prepare for next year.  Remember – it takes three years to fully populate a board room.

Here’s what’s huge about all of this, reading between the lines…Of the 11 National Board seats open, only five incumbents decided to run again.  That left six seats open to newcomers. Three of the five running incumbents were re-elected — Morgan, Lainie Kazan and JoBeth Williams. The other two running incumbents lost (Rene Aubry, out completely, and Joseph Bologna in the alternate pool)  became 5-6, a loss of 5 seats for MF.Further, U4S placed 13 out of the remaining 22 seats for the Alternate Pool / Hollywood-only Board, a little over half.  On the surface, not necessarily a huge mandate, right?  EXCEPT…those seats were held held previously by MFers in a 20-2 ratio (or 22-0 if  you factor in Peaches Johnson and Eugene Boggs).  Now it’s 9-13, a loss of 11 seats for MF.Add to it three very significant developments, in no particular order:(1) Joseph Bologna no longer a full National Board member, but now just an alternate.(2) New lower rankings for incumbent alternates Jane Austin, France Nuyen, Anthony DeSantis and Yale Summers (since utilization of Board alternates, as I understand it, goes according to ranking).(3) The removal of Rene Aubry, Peggy Miley, Scott Wilson, Ron Harper, FJ O’Neil, Paul Napier, Michael Bell, Steven Barr, David Jolliffe, Russell McConnell and Jeff Austin from the list altogether.  Those voices out of the room puts pressure on non-attending stars to actually show up, else they be replaced by U4Sers.As a voting block MF still holds a strong number in Hollywood National Board representation — 27 out of 33 seats — as well as the overall Hollywood Board — 33 out of 55 — so there’s still work to do,  However – and this is a big However - they no longer have a majority of the overall National Board (27 out of 69).We indeed have to look ahead to next year and focus on those whose terms are ending and may run — Angeltompkins, Justine Bateman, Joanna Cassidy, George Coe, Anne DeSalvo, Elliot Gould, Robert Hays, Anne-Marie Johnson, William Katt, Diane Ladd and Renee Taylor.  And, of course, the presidency. 

Posted in SAG Politics | Print | 16 Comments »

September 19, 2008 by Editor.

The morning after Unite for Strength took what one union leader called “a great first step,” we take a look at what this all means for SAG - and, importantly, at what it doesn’t mean. Perhaps not surprisingly, the what it doesn’t mean is more clear than the what it does mean.

A real question in everyone’s minds is whether this election means the departure of Doug Allen from 5757. We don’t think so - at least not immediately. Membership First still controls a substantial part of the SAG machinery, including the committee process.

We think it’s more likely that Allen will try to “educate” the Unite for Strength board members and persuade them to buy into his hard line stance, at least with the AMPTP. We don’t think he’ll be able to sell them his anti-AFTRA line, though we expect he’ll try.

While he’s arguing that AFTRA has limited his room to manuever with the AMPTP, UFS leaders will tell certainly him to deal with the reality of the AFTRA contracts. That’s where the friction may arise.

One thing the vote clearly doesn’t mean is merger with AFTRA. Despite the substantial gains by the insurgent Unite for Strength slate, virulently anti-merger forces including Membership First still control far too many seats and, frankly, far too much support among the union membership for a concrete merger proposal to take shape.

Our view is that it will be at least another and probably two more years before merger is again a serious consideration, and that it will only happen if Unite for Strength continues to make gains and if those gains are increasing in percentage each year. The presidency of the union isn’t up for election until next year.

Will there be increased cooperation with AFTRA? Probably, cautiously - and that’s only if the Allens recognize the handwriting on the ballots. Will there be an end to the war with AFTRA? Again, probably - if the new National Board forms a coalition that cuts off the use of dues money for that sort of thing.

We’d certainly expect a quick and positive resolution to the question of whether the unions will negotiate jointly on Commercials and maybe even Interactive.

The next thing it doesn’t mean is an immediate end to the TV-Theatrical impasse. As has been noted during the campaign, the negotiating committee remains the same, and it’s headed by the ousted Membership First leader David Joliffe. The Allens are still running this part of the show, and they will undoubtedly continue to attempt to use the discredited push poll in an effort to convince the AMPTP that it should improve on the terms of the “last, best and final” offer. While we continue to believe that some minor improvements are possible, the major changes Membership First had sought are still - in our view - not going to happen.

Some regular readers whose opinions we respect have suggested that the election results will mean that there will be a strike authorization vote. They reason that the membership may trust the new board leadership more than it trusted Membership First. Others have suggested that the de facto lockout may end and that movie production may resume, on the theory that a strike is now less likely.

We’re not so sure there will be a TV-Theatrical strike authorization vote, though it’s certainly a possibility, and though we’d expect the Allens to push Unite for Strength’s new leadership to support it. Perhaps if Unite for Strength were to throw its weight behind it it might be taken, but we still doubt 75% support could be found. The membership still shows no appetite for a strike over what it sees as unachievable, if laudable goals.

Finally, we salute those candidates who were not elected, and those whose terms are coming to an end. Some retired, others were turned out of office.We may not have agreed with their policies and their conduct in office, but we all agree that their service to their fellow members and their union is important and deserves our thanks. Without volunteers, this union - and all unions - can’t survive.

Whether they just missed or whether they got small numbers of votes, whether they retired or were not elected, no matter what their individual plans and beliefs, they made and make us all stronger. They deserve and have our sincere and continuing gratitude.

Posted in SAG Politics, Exhibit A - TV Theatrical | Print | 13 Comments »