[- Tinkerbell -]

Hollywood cools after SAG deadline
Industry not in WGA frenzy despite uncertainty

Where's the panic? One day after the expiration of the Screen Actors Guild's film and primetime TV contract, the biz is not gripped by the same level of angst experienced at the comparable moment during the Writers Guild of America's negotiations with the majors, just prior to the Nov. 5 start of the scribes' 100-day strike. There's a ubiquitous sense among studio and network execs, talent reps and multihyphenates that SAG does not have the bedrock of support among its members to call for a work stoppage. SAG's tactical decision to hinge its next move on the results of the ratification vote for AFTRA's contract, which SAG has blasted as woefully insufficient, has convinced many in the biz that SAG has backed itself into a corner. Thus the passage of the June 30 contract expiration date was anticlimactic, with all eyes now on SAG to see what it will do after the results of the AFTRA ratification vote are announced Tuesday. "The sentiment is that people who are working don't want to go out. If there hadn't been a writers strike, there might be more support for (a SAG strike)," said a veteran talent rep who specializes in TV thesps. "Right now, there's too many people who are just desperate to get something going."

More of the article here

[jalapeno_wildchild]

sounds like good news to me. we'll get our fall t.v. shows on time. SAG has to deal. thanks Love to Burn

[+supernova+]

From ABC News:

Hollywood Actors' Strike Averted Hollywood Averts Actors’ Strike L O S A N G E L E S, July 4 Hollywood actors dashed yearlong fears of a show-business strike by accepting a tentative contract deal aimed at improving wages for little-known performers. The three-year deal recommended Tuesday night by negotiators for the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists now must be approved by a majority of the unions' 135,000 members. Their previous contract expired at 12:01 a.m. Sunday. Union leaders said they were "ecstatic" with the settlement. "Our main goal in these negotiations really (was) to help the middle-income actor, the actor that you all recognize but sometimes don't know their names," said AFTRA President Shelby Scott at a news conference that followed an eight-hour negotiating session. "I think they will be pleased when they learn the details of this pact." Deal 'In the Ballpark' of New WGA Pact The tentative agreement is the second Hollywood labor deal in the past month. The Writers Guild of America settled its new contract in early June, and many analysts predicted that actors would follow suit. The writers secured a 3.5 percent raise in minimum pay for movies and TV shows, and SAG spokesman Greg Krizman said the actors' deal "was in that ballpark." The deal includes higher pay for acting work in programs rebroadcast on cable, increased contributions to actor health plans and higher salaries for stunt coordinators and TV guest stars. The guilds' did not release specifics of the settlement. Boosting Pay for Some 75,000 Actors Union negotiators said their top concern was increasing pay for the nearly 75,000 members who secure acting work in any given year. About 6 percent of SAG members, the larger of the two unions, earn regular middle-class pay between $30,000 and $70,000 annually. About 71 percent earn less than $7,500 a year or nothing at all. Only about 2 percent of the guilds' membership earn more than $100,000 a year, including multimillion-dollar celebrities such as Jack Nicholson and Russell Crowe. SAG president William Daniels characterized the proposal as "equitable for both sides." Negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios and networks, began May 15 and progressed slowly until the final days before the previous contract deadline. Nick Counter, president of the producers alliance, said his member companies unanimously approved the deal recommended by the actors. Fears of a Walkout The performer guilds never called for a strike authorization vote, but fears of a walkout rumbled through the entertainment industry for much of last year when the robust economy prompted speculation that union demands would be steeper. A strike would have severely damaged the Southern California economy, costing billions of dollars in lost revenue. The fluctuating market has since cooled that sentiment and has been credited with pressuring both sides to reach a compromise without a work stoppage. Last year, the actors' unions staged a six-month strike by commercial actors that might have driven as much as $1 billion worth of work overseas. Some actors said that walkout strengthened the guilds' standing in these theatrical and television talks. Uncertainty over the negotiations prompted studios to accelerate shooting on films currently in production, and Hollywood could still grind to a halt with a so-called "de facto strike" despite the agreement. That's because producers will not start a new movie until an actor's deal is made final, and then it takes nearly eight weeks for the preproduction work to be completed. Fall TV shows, which begin filming in the summer, probably won't be delayed as long as the guild members approve the deal.

I'm looking for more articles that have more details.

ETA: I don't know how accurate this is. I'm still looking for more articles. The HR and Variety don't really have anything yet.

[lancer1993]

Originally Posted by +supernova+ (View Post) From ABC News: I'm looking for more articles that have more details. ETA: I don't know how accurate this is. I'm still looking for more articles. The HR and Variety don't really have anything yet.

Thanks for that, I hope it's good news.

[jalapeno_wildchild]

thanks for posting the new info Susan. i'm glad it appears all over.

[+supernova+]

Well. cross your fingers.

[- Tinkerbell -]

Thank the lord..

If it indeed is true.

[MattB2K]

Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood Daily Niki Finke Well known Hollywood trade insider.


SAG/AMPTP: Nothing New Until Monday

2ND UPDATE: SAG met this afternoon with the AMPTP and said it needed more info to analyze and review the Big Media offer. So don't expect any new developments until next Monday. But probably not until July 8th when all sides find out whether the AFTRA/AMPTP was ratified. Then Hollywood travels into uncharted territory. (See my two SAG/AFTRA/AMPTP articles in LA Weekly: here and here.)

Here's SAG's statement tonight:

Los Angeles, July 2, 2008 – The Screen Actors Guild national negotiating committee met with AMPTP negotiators today to present a series of substantive questions on the employers’ proposed package. Guild negotiators and staff will further analyze and review the AMPTP’s responses over the next several days in order to prepare a response to management’s proposal. The Screen Actors Guild national negotiating committee is working hard to achieve a fair deal for actors. The committee is mindful of its obligation to advance actors’ interests and to safeguard the protections our contracts afford them. Guild negotiators are engaged in, and committed to, the negotiating process and are confident that an equal commitment from management will allow the parties to reach a fair agreement that serves the needs of Screen Actors Guild members, their employers and the industry.

UPDATE: The AMPTP issued this statement tonight:

On Monday AMPTP presented SAG with our final offer, containing more than $250 million in additional compensation for SAG members over three years, groundbreaking rights for actors in the new media area, and a basic economic framework that has already been accepted by the DGA, WGA and AFTRA in four separate labor negotiations this year. On Wednesday, we met at SAG's request for 4 hours to answer SAG's questions about our final offer. SAG asked for more time to study our final offer and indicated it will contact the Producers on Monday. We remain hopeful that SAG will advise that it is accepting our final offer. No further meetings are scheduled.

Previous: I hear that today's negotiating session will probably just be a preliminary discussion about the AMPTP's "last best final" offer made Monday to SAG. The actors guild will still have to do a comprehensive analysis and further review.

Posted by Nikki Finke on Wednesday, Jul 2nd, 2008 at 02:57PM

[jalapeno_wildchild]

thanks for posting. i'm hoping this is all over by next week.

[+supernova+]

That's from a few days ago though. The article is dated July 4th. I think it's possible Nikki Finke took the weekend off from SAG news.

[- Tinkerbell -]

Yeah, i think more or less.. by tomorrow we should know something more.

But, i am going to believe that article. It seems true enough.

[crazy_diamond]

Here's hoping it will soon be over

[jalapeno_wildchild]

Originally Posted by wes&fred (View Post) Here's hoping it will soon be over

i hope so too.

[- Tinkerbell -]

TUESDAY AM UPDATE: Just as I told you, here's the AMPTP's statement:

"SAG has indicated they need more time to prepare a response to AMPTP's final offer of June 30, 2008 and SAG will respond to the Producers' final offer at AMPTP's headquarters on Thursday, July 10, 2008 at 2 p.m. The Producers remain hopeful that SAG will accept our final offer."

I think it's likely that, whether or not the AFTRA membership ratifies the negotiated contract with the AMPTP or not, the Big Media companies are prepared to play hardball. I forsee a repeat of what happened during the lowest ebb of the writers strike: the AMPTP walks away from the talks and issues an ultimatum to SAG to take certain demands off the table. Whether this speeds up or slows down an eventual contract settlement remains to be seen.

MONDAY: "I'm told that SAG and the AMPTP are still exchanging info over that new "last best final" offer submitted by the Big Media companies. But let's not be coy: the Screen Actors Guild seems to be understandably playing for time until the results of the AFTRA contract ratification vote are announced. The counting should be done by Tuesday evening, and an announcement could come close behind or by the latest Wednesday morning. So everyone's watching and waiting for the results that could change the entire nature of these actor-employer negotiations.

- DHD

ETA

AFTRA Members Ratify AMPTP Contract

LOS ANGELES (July 8, 2008) – The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) announced today that AFTRA members ratified a new three-year primetime television agreement (Exhibit A of the AFTRA Network Television Code) reached with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) by a 62.4% margin. AFTRA—the nation’s second largest performers’ union—represents more than 70,000 actors, recording artists, broadcasters, and other talent working in the entertainment and media industries. AFTRA National President Roberta Reardon made the following statement: “Today’s vote reflects the ability of AFTRA members to recognize a solid contract when they see it. Despite an unprecedented disinformation campaign aimed at interfering with our ratification process, a majority of members ultimately focused on what mattered—the obvious merits of a labor agreement that contains substantial gains for every category of performer in both traditional and new media. “Clearly, this was not a typical ratification process, and it would be disingenuous to pretend otherwise. To those of us for whom labor solidarity is more than just a slogan, the idea that politically-motivated leaders of one union would use their members’ dues to attack another union is unconscionable. Working people do not benefit when their union is under attack. “For the sake of our members, organized labor must be united, especially in a world of ever-increasing corporate consolidation. Given this, AFTRA leadership is eager to focus on several important initiatives in the months to come: 1) Building on the suggestion of our valued supporters, we will seek to organize a summit of top actors, performers, and union leaders to engage in a thoughtful, constructive discussion of how we can achieve unity among performers—and ultimately, if feasible, merger of the performers’ unions. 2) Given that working men and women accomplish more when we work together with trust and mutual respect, we will ask the leadership of the AFL-CIO AEMI ICC unions, the DGA, WGA and others in the labor community to come together well in advance of the next round of contract negotiations to explore ways of maximizing the leverage of entertainment industry workers.3) Finally, I intend to promptly review with our National elected leadership and the Presidents of all AFTRA Locals the conditions needed to restore trust to re-establish joint bargaining on our respective commercials contracts. “I sincerely appreciate the committed work of the negotiating committee, elected leaders, the labor community, and individual activist members of AFTRA who worked tirelessly and publicly to secure this solid contract for television industry performers. I am especially grateful for the support of many joint members of SAG and AFTRA—such as those in Chicago, Florida, Houston, Nashville, New York, Portland, San Francisco and Seattle—who displayed courage in the face of potential retribution, by taking a stand against disunity with the power of truth and solidarity.” Negotiations with the AMPTP over the AFTRA Primetime TV contract began on May 7. They concluded on May 28 with a tentative agreement that was unanimously recommended for approval by AFTRA’s 31-member negotiating committee. The AFTRA National Board of Directors overwhelmingly approved the primetime television contract on June 7 and recommended the deal to members, which was ratified today. The new contract is effective from July 1, 2008, through June 30, 2011.

[jalapeno_wildchild]

thanks for the updated info Love to Burn. the fact that the deal was ratified does not suprise me in the least. i expected as much. at least the actors who are associated with SAG are still being allowed to work.