January 6, 2009 by admin.

It could happen. Instead of sending out a Strike Authorization, Jonathan Handel suggests the National Board might decide at its upcoming meeting to send out the AMPTP’s ‘last, best and final” offer for a vote instead.

Andrew Salomon’s back from vacation, too - and his latest Strike Watch post sounds about right. Who shows up, he says, will make the difference.

Posted in SAG Politics, Exhibit A - TV Theatrical | Print | No Comments »

January 6, 2009 by Editor.

While everyone’s thinking TV-Theatrical, the Commercials Plenary is upon us. That’s when the ideas generated in the joint SAG/AFTRA W&W sessions will be taken to New York, refined and developed into prioritized bargaining proposals. The proposals will then be taken to a joint session of the National Boards for approval - the first such session since the unions split over TV-Theatrical/Exhibit A.

The Commercials contract doesn’t get the publicity and isn’t as high profile politically as TV-Theatrical, but is huge for both SAG and AFTRA members. Literally thousands of members make their living doing commercials, and if they’re up to speed on the issues, they’re worried.

If you think the TV-Theatrical talks have been tough, the Commercials negotiations may make them look like a picnic. Voiceguy has already contributed several important posts on the Booz Allen study that will undoubtedly prove important as a basis of discussion.

We’re looking forward to more from him - and others - as these negotiations draw closer. We’re also pleased to say that so far the non disparagement agreement between the unions seems to be holding. That agreement was critical to being able to hold the talks jointly…and joint talks was something the industry insisted upon, even when SAG and AFTRA were at their low point. 

Posted in Commercials Contract, SAG Politics, Exhibit A - TV Theatrical, SAG-AFTRA | Print | No Comments »

January 6, 2009 by admin.

Variety: Homevideo biz takes a hit in ‘08; Overall sales drop 3-4% despite Blu-ray’s rise.

LA Times: Auto sales in U.S. fall 18% in 2008. That plays into advertising being down overall.

Broadway getting darker, fast.

Bottom line: it doesn’t look like the entertainment business is immune this time around. We’re aware that some are calling this all pro-AMPTP propaganda… they remind me of the guy who insisted “the fundamentals of the U.S. economy are sound.”

Posted in SAG Politics, Media Business, Exhibit A - TV Theatrical | Print | 18 Comments »

January 5, 2009 by Number Six.

Joel’s Stein’s Op-Ed this morning is worth a look. It’s a funny pro-merger column. Here’s the final bit: 

I ran my mega-union idea by Patric M. Verrone, the president of the Writers Guild, and he loved it. “Why stop there? Let’s merge with AFTRA, the IATSE, Teamsters Local 399, the basic trades unions and the AFM,” he said, clearly making up extra unions to seem tougher. “If the AMPTP can unite competitive, global media conglomerates, why can’t talent do the same?” Verrone’s eagerness to join hands with the other guilds told me one thing: Writers definitely are the least important people in Hollywood.

I hope the directors’ and actors’ unions are just as enthusiastic. If we can all come together, we’ll have the leverage to avert a SAG strike and get much of what we all want. Besides, in a few years, our mega-union is going to have to merge with the AMPTP itself so we can take on our common enemy: people with video cameras and a YouTube account who are willing to work for free. You think negotiating with Rupert Murdoch is tough? Try getting concessions out of a funny cat.

Posted in Media Business, Exhibit A - TV Theatrical, SAG-AFTRA | Print | No Comments »

January 5, 2009 by Editor.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the Allens will be visiting the RBD this week for Town Hall meetings on the delayed, but officially not dead, Strike Authorization referendum. The branches have been centers of opposition both to the referendum and to the hard line tactics the Allens and Membership First have taken in the TV-Theatrical negotiations, so we wouldn’t expect a really warm and fuzzy welcome.

As always, we welcome posts from those who attend these sessions, either via e-mail or our comment space.

Posted in SAG Politics, Exhibit A - TV Theatrical | Print | 5 Comments »

January 4, 2009 by WW.

Steve Diamond’s Vallywood, with a new post on Hulu’s profits that never were. It links to a financial analyst’s discussion of Hulu, and the bottom line seems to be somewhere between mass confusion and a general consensus that Hulu’s business model is “lousy.”

Well, duh. If you give it away and the advertising revenue is almost zero, what does that leave you?

Posted in SAG Politics, Exhibit A - TV Theatrical | Print | 18 Comments »

January 4, 2009 by Editor.

We don’t know, but someone e-mailed:

I’m fairly certain that his contract mandates that he will be chief negotiator on all contracts and that removing him as such on TV/Th would constitute a violation of that contract by SAG NBD. Therefore, if they remove him, in his humiliation, he’ll resign and make SAG pay the balance of the contract with impunity, I would think. THE NBD would be right to do so, and he would be right to insist on payment and that’s simply the price for getting out of this.  

As we said, we haven’t read his contract. Does anyone have the facts?

—

Update: Yes, apparently it does. Here’s what we heard from someone who knows:Allen is contracted to be SAG’s chief negotiator. The only reason he wouldn’t negotiate a contract is if he didn’t want to or he is no longer employed. The new board may be able to talk him into not wanting to but that’s unlikely. 

Posted in SAG Politics, Exhibit A - TV Theatrical | Print | 28 Comments »

January 3, 2009 by Editor.

We don’t know how seriously to take the talk, but you can’t miss it. While the Allens are pumping out pro-strike authorization messages, including videos featuring Membership First supporters in heavy rotation on the SAG website, the buzz is building that there may be a move to dismiss the controversial SAG NED at the upcoming special board meeting Jan. 12-13.

Variety’s otherwise un-new recounting of the latest from the Allens contains this as the third sentence:  ”The SAG topper made no mention of efforts to fire him as lead negotiator, a step that could be taken at the emergency national board meeting on Jan. 12-13.”

We don’t know if there are Las Vegas odds on Allen making it through the month, much less serving out his contract. But right now, this union’s working from at least two entirely different scripts, and that’s not good for anyone.

Posted in SAG Politics, Exhibit A - TV Theatrical | Print | 36 Comments »

January 3, 2009 by admin.

Maybe he doesn’t get it. Maybe he doesn’t want to admit it. Or maybe this is some strange attempt at running out the clock. But yet another midnight missive from the Allens arrived while we were recovering from college football overload - and they’re still pushing the strike authorization vote.

–

From: Screen Actors Guild
Sent: Jan 2, 2009 11:43 PM
To: SAG Members
Subject: Know the Facts Regarding a Strike Authorization

The following message is the second in a series of responses to members questions at recent Town Hall meetings and sent to us via email. Please watch for additional messages over the coming weeks.

Know the Facts!

How can we be asked to authorize the National board to call a TV/Theatrical strike in this time of economic crisis?

There is no good time to consider a strike. Strikes are called only when management’s bargaining positions are intolerable and then only by a vote of the elected actors on the National Board, if authorized by a membership referendum. But, tough economic times are when it is most necessary to be unified to resist the studios and networks effort to obliterate contract provisions in our future work. The AMPTP’s contract proposal in new media creates a business model with no minimums, no residuals and the right to produce non-union whenever they want.

Our employers are publicly held companies with currently unhappy shareholders whose investments in studios and networks have been severely reduced in value as a result of the Wall Street crash. Our employers will respond by cutting expenses wherever possible. Our only protection from the cost-cutting hatchet is a strong contract - - with minimums, pension/health contributions and safe working conditions, including in all new media formats where our work is clearly headed fast. Just watch and see how many times network dotcom logos appear on your television screen.

This union was founded in 1933 during the Great Depression. We achieved our first contract with the studios in 1937. Despite general unemployment then at 25%, working actors formed Screen Actors Guild to resist the studios demand that all actors take a 50% pay cut because of the economic hard times for the entertainment industry in the 1930’s. Actors then, at great risk to their careers, stood together and refused management’s rollbacks.

The economic crisis puts pressure on both sides of the table in the TV/Theatrical contracts negotiation. The studios and networks are much more vulnerable today than they were a year ago facing the WGA. Certainly, actors face an uncertain future as unemployment rises. But the AMPTP’s proposal will make it impossible for actors to earn a living for work in new media. If Internet productions become the new TV pilots and network dotcoms showcase original productions and you can watch all new media product on a Sony Bravia flat screen TV hooked directly to the Internet - - how will the working actor survive without minimums, residuals and pension and health benefits? Both sides in this dispute should compromise on an agreement, not just the members of SAG.

Send that message to the AMPTP companies by voting yes on the strike authorization referendum.

Please visit the SAG website at www.sag.org for up to the minute information and email your questions or comments to Contract2008@sag.org (this is an email address and not a live web link.)

In unity,

Doug Allen

Posted in SAG Politics, Exhibit A - TV Theatrical | Print | 29 Comments »

January 2, 2009 by admin.

Movie shoots on the streets of Los Angeles may have hit a contemporary low last year. A closely watched count of film permits for outdoor shoots in the Los Angeles area shows that feature film shooting days totaled just 1,181 in the third quarter of 2008, down 38 percent from the year before, according to FilmLA, the nonprofit organization that coordinates permits for location shooting in the area.

Philip Sokoloski, the organization’s communications manager, said fourth-quarter statistics would not be available until later this month. But the trend appeared not to have changed much, Mr. Sokoloski said in a telephone interview. Los Angeles has generally been the film industry’s single busiest location. But filming there dropped as studios slowed production in anticipation of a possible strike by the Screen Actors Guild, while Michigan, Louisiana and other states lured productions with big subsidies. If the fourth quarter was as weak as the third in Los Angeles, the year’s total could come up short of the 7,304 shooting days logged in 1994, the earliest year for which FilmLA’s Web site provides statistics (eidc.com/data_report.php).

The above from the New York Times, Arts Briefly, Movie Shoots Become Scarce on the Streets of Los Angeles.

Posted in Commercials Contract, Media Business, Exhibit A - TV Theatrical | Print | 17 Comments »