December 26, 2008 by admin.

A bizarre e-mail from 5757 this afternoon:

From: Screen Actors Guild
Sent: Dec 26, 2008 7:39 PM
To: SAG Members
Subject: GUILD MEMBERS: Contract Reminder

Dear Screen Actors Guild Member,

During this holiday season, and into the new year of 2009, please be reminded that you are free to audition, accept employment and work under all of the Guild’s contracts.
These include the following:

Basic Cable Animation Agreement
Basic Cable Live Action Agreement
Commercials Contract
Industrial/Educational Agreement
Interactive Media/Video Game Agreement
Theatrical and Television Agreements
TV Animation Agreement

The terms and working conditions that apply under these contracts shall continue without change until further notice, whether or not they have expired.

We wish all of you a happy and healthy new year.

Screen Actors Guild

Did someone get confused? Very confused? Did the Allens want to remind us they still exist? Or is there something going on that none of us understand?

Posted in Animation Contract, Basic Cable, Interactive, Commercials Contract, SAG Politics, Exhibit A - TV Theatrical | Print | 8 Comments »

December 24, 2008 by admin.

We’re taking a break for the holiday. Barring the unlikely event of the AMPTP playing Santa and us noticing that they did it, we’re all putting union activity aside, and heading for family activities.

We hope you’re all doing the same, and that your holidays are a lot better than this past year!

Posted in Commercials Contract, Interactive, Animation Contract, Basic Cable, SAG Politics, Editorial, Exhibit A - TV Theatrical, Media Business, Union Politics, SAG-AFTRA | Print | 31 Comments »

December 22, 2008 by admin.

Hedgpeth and Reardon, interviewed by Andrew Salomon. Largely history, but well worth a read.

Posted in Interactive, Animation Contract, Basic Cable, Commercials Contract, SAG Politics, Exhibit A - TV Theatrical, Media Business, SAG-AFTRA | Print | 19 Comments »

December 10, 2008 by Number Six.

The good news is that no less than the New York Times says it’s possible. The bad news is that few of our employers have made it work - and none of them have made it work for us.

Posted in Interactive, Media Business, Exhibit A - TV Theatrical | Print | 2 Comments »

November 26, 2008 by Editor.

A reader pointed out perhaps the best interview yet regarding the TV-Theatrical mess. Alan Rosenberg was on KFI Monday night (the full interview is available via their podcast service.)

Rosenberg was interviewed by two unusually well informed talk show hosts, Kennedy and Bryan Suits - Kennedy is a dual card holder - and neither host rolled over, challenging Rosenberg’s usual talking points, and forcing him to defend the position SAG has taken.

Rosenberg called the TV-Theatrical contract a “life and death” battle, asserting, as he has for months, that the AMPTP positions mean “the end of residuals.” But when asked why actors are “special” and why the SAG deal should be different from the DGA/WGA/AFTRA template, Rosenberg started in on the now-prohibited AFTRA bashing which has been the staple of Membership First for the past few years.

“They (AFTRA) came in and they expresed the need to sign on to this deal and didn’t ask the questions we needed to ask,” Rosenberg said.

That may seem relatively mild, and, for Membership First, it is really mild, but it seems to be a violation of the no disparagement agreement between the unions. What may allow SAG to escape a fine for the disparaging comment is the fact that we hear the agreement may not have been formally signed yet.

Rosenberg’s comments were a bit more on target than usual (speaking of the AMPTP - “When they get the money in their pockets it’s very hard to get it out”), but he offered up some pretty extreme and absurd statements, including a claim that “if our members don’t give us the authorization to strike, we’ll have to roll over in the other negotiations as well” - meaning the Commercials Contract and Interactive.

At one point Rosenberg grew testy and went on the attack, telling Kennedy “You sound more like a foe than a friend.” He later explained that it was supposed to be a joke, a reference to a show Kennedy had done.

On the anti-strike movement, he said SAG members should have faith in him and their board and repeated the strange assertion that without a TV-Theatrical strike authorization the union would have to give in on all its contracts. Perhaps his best moment followed almost immediately, in which Rosenberg said that while it’s important to remember the effects of a strike on the rest of the town, the effects of the contract on actors are what this is all about.

The interview is long (about 17 minutes), but worth a listen.

Posted in Interactive, Commercials Contract, Exhibit A - TV Theatrical, SAG-AFTRA | Print | 15 Comments »

November 24, 2008 by Editor.

The occasional posts on the SAG Talk section of the SAG website have been sporadic, occasionally amusing, and for the most part benign. But with SAG in financial disarray and heading towards more uncertainty, we have to ask what on earth we’re spending the members dues money on.

Take the latest post, obviously written by the outside PR firm that brought us “It’s not New Media, It’s Now Media!” Well, it’s back to being new media again. But this is ridiculous.

THIS WEEK…
HOW BIG IS NEW MEDIA?

We know the Internet is big. But just how big is this whole new media thing? Measuring the size or the amount of productions being made for new media is nearly impossible, but we can look to popular video distribution websites to give us some indication of the potential of the market.

Right now, YouTube alone receives 13 hours of video for every minute the website is up on the net. If just a small fraction of these uploaded videos are something other than “dogs on skateboards,” that would still be a huge number of acting opportunities for our members. In fact, if only .01 percent of the YouTube uploads were videos our members could work in, that would translate to more than 40,000 new opportunities for work every year! Just to put that number into context, Screen Actors Guild signs only about 5,500 television episodes and films each year, collectively.

So by comparison, the opportunities in new media are astronomical.
Furthermore, whatever work you do for the Internet today will theoretically live forever somewhere as a digital file. It will never lose its original quality, no matter how many times it’s duplicated or e-mailed. (Think viral.) It will never deteriorate, never be lost or destroyed; it lives forever.

Because the Internet is so vast, it makes sense that actors consider it the means to promote their careers, and frankly it is. The opportunity afforded by new technology also means that your performance can be exploited in countless ways in infinite virtual venues that may make money.

In new media you never know where your work will find an audience or a revenue stream, so make sure you’re covered from the start. If you are producing your own project, a SAG contract means your project and your interests are protected. The more new media projects produced under SAG contracts, the more leverage we have in new media show business. Think about the business side of that equation and act like your future depends on it.

On January 1, 2009, SAG Rule 1 will be vigorously enforced in new media. It is every member’s right and responsibility to insist on a union agreement. (SAG members may also work in new media under an AFTRA collective bargaining agreement.) To learn more, e-mail us at organizingnewmedia@sag.org, or call (323) 549-6777.

ACT AS ONE

SAG RULE 1

ON 1/1/09

We actually hired someone to come up with this? Paid money for it? Hello, new board majority…it’s time to make a budget cut.

Posted in Interactive, SAG Politics, Exhibit A - TV Theatrical | Print | 9 Comments »

November 12, 2008 by Editor.

LOS ANGELES, CA (November 12, 2008)—The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), the nation’s second largest performers union, announced today that it has reached an agreement with videogame employers on terms for a one-year extension to the AFTRA Interactive Media Agreement, the union’s collective bargaining agreement covering performers working in videogames.

Terms of the extension agreement, approved today by the Administrative Committee of the AFTRA National Board, include:

One-year extension of the AFTRA Interactive Media Agreement, effective dates January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2009
3% increase in initial compensation for all session fees effective January 1, 2009
0.5% increase in AFTRA H&R contributions effective January 1, 2009
“We are pleased to have reached an extension agreement with the major videogame employers that keeps AFTRA members working and secures solid increases in wages and benefits on par with the five other major national contracts AFTRA negotiated earlier this year,” said Denny Delk, Chair of the AFTRA Interactive Media Steering Committee. “It’s a testament to the vision and bargaining power of AFTRA members that, in a time of global economic crisis, AFTRA members consistently find common sense solutions to difficult problems.”

AFTRA Assistant National Executive Director, Mathis L. Dunn, Jr., who serves as Chief Negotiator for the AFTRA Interactive Media Agreement, observed: “In addition to putting more money into AFTRA members’ pockets during a time when the country faces the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, this extension agreement secures additional contributions to performers’ health and pension benefits and provides continuing employment opportunities. This extension also permits the joint AFTRA and SAG Commercials Wages and Working (W&W) Conditions meetings currently underway to continue without interruption in preparation for negotiation of the Commercials Contracts which expire on March 31, 2009.”

Howard Fabrick and Scott Witlin of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP represented the videogame publishers. “The major videogame producers and publishers are pleased to have been able to work out this contract extension with AFTRA. The new agreement provides substantial wage and benefit increases to working performers. It also ensures that all games that go into production through the end of 2009 will be able to be completed without disruption,” Fabrick said. “It is no secret that these past twelve months have been a tumultuous time for labor relations in the fields in which performers work. The stability this agreement provides is good for working performers and for the videogame industry.”

The first agreement covering performers working in interactive media and videogames was negotiated by AFTRA over 20 years ago. The AFTRA Interactive Media Agreement is not a contract negotiated under the Phase One Agreement between AFTRA and SAG.

This extension of the AFTRA Interactive Media Agreement brings the total number of national collective bargaining agreements AFTRA members have successfully negotiated or extended this year to six: the Sound Recordings Code, Network TV Code, Primetime Exhibit A of the Network Code, Non-Broadcast/Industrial Code, and CBS/ABC Network Staff News.

In addition, AFTRA has extended a number of smaller agreements: the Electronic Media Agreement, Infomercial Agreement, Video News Release Agreement, and the Local Station Promo Agreement.

—Update:

From Variety, SAG Reaction: 

SAG hasn’t reached a new vidgame deal, and its contract will expire on Dec. 31. SAG national exec director Doug Allen said the guild will be launching talks in “the near future” but gave no other details.

“We look forward to continuing a productive relationship with the companies covered by that contract,” he added.

Posted in Interactive | Print | 19 Comments »

October 17, 2008 by Editor.

With thanks to Eric Snodgrass for pointing this item out! The New York Times has a story saying that online streaming of full episodes is up sharply, and that NBC in particular is trying to sell advertisers on the value of the online audience.

Some shows have seen streaming of episodes that increases viewership by almost 40% above the broadcast audience.

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

October 9, 2008 by WW.

Google Inc., aiming to expand beyond Internet search advertising, has introduced technology to insert commercial spots into online video games.Google is working with game makers including Konami Corp. and Demand Media Inc. and advertisers Sprint Nextel Corp. and Esurance Inc. to test the system, Ryan Hayward, a Google manager, said Wednesday.

The video, image and text ads can appear when a player begins or completes a game or level.The technology is one of Google’s attempts to find new sources of revenue beyond the ads it places alongside search results, which made up almost all of its $16.6 billion in sales last year. U.S. ad sales for Web games will more than double to $478 million by 2012, according to researcher EMarketer Inc.

“Online games are still a bit of a Wild West,” with few rules governing how advertisers should place their spots without irritating players, said Paul Verna, an analyst at EMarketer. Google’s system could help organize the market and help it grow, he said.

About 200 million people worldwide play games online, Google said, citing Reston, Va.-based researcher ComScore Inc. The company bought Adscape Media Inc. last year for an undisclosed sum to get the game-ad technology.

Google acquired DoubleClick Inc. this year to get a foothold in the market for image ads, and the company continues to experiment with ways to draw more revenue from video ads through its YouTube site. YouTube said Tuesday that it would offer users links to Apple Inc.’s iTunes store and Amazon.com to buy songs and video games they find on the site.

The game ads will probably be a “drop in the bucket” compared with Google’s search-ad business, Verna said. If the struggling economy holds back growth in the online-advertising market, any new revenue source will still be important for the company, he said.

Posted in Interactive, Commercials Contract, Media Business | Print | 1 Comment »

September 24, 2008 by WW.

The official announcement from the Allens: All paid-up SAG members who work under the Interactive Media Agreements and the TV Animation Agreements are urged to attend this important contract caucus. This could be the last meeting before negotiations begin on the Interactive and Animation Contracts and it is vital that you attend.This important caucus will be held in Los Angeles (see time and day below). Members of the voice community who work these contracts will be given an update on the upcoming Interactive Media Agreement and the TV Animation Contract negotiations. Group discussion will follow the update and cover many areas of concern to the V.O. Community such as AFTRA holding pre-negotiation meetings with Interactive Industry Representatives and AFTRA’s stated intention of negotiating this contract separately from SAG, residuals for V.O. work in Interactive Games and any other issues you the V.O. community wish to discuss.When: Wednesday, September 24th7 p.m. – 9 p.m.Where: James Cagney Board Room5757 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles(Validated parking available for structure behind building)

Posted in Animation Contract, Interactive, SAG-AFTRA | Print | 4 Comments »