SAG board standing firm on new media
Resolution states issue is of utmost importance
By Leslie Simmons
July 27, 2008, 12:13 AM ET
When it comes to what SAG considers its fair share in new media, the
actors union is standing firm.
The union's national board on Saturday passed, 68-0, a resolution
indicating jurisdiction over new media and residuals for all made-for
new media productions are of the utmost importance during the current
stalled contract negotiations. The resolution was voted on during an
11-hour marathon meeting.
"It is a core principle of Screen Actors Guild: That no non-union
work shall be authorized to be done under any Screen Actors Guild
agreement and; That all work under a Screen Actors Guild contract,
regardless of budget level, shall receive fair compensation when
reused," the resolution stated.
SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers have
been locked in a de facto impasse ever since the production companies
and studios made their final offer to the union on June 30.
SAG responded with a counter-proposal, which the AMPTP rejected.
Since then, there has been one sidebar meeting between the two sides
that failed to resolve the continued stalemate.
The regularly scheduled national board meeting was held at SAG’s Los
Angeles headquarters, with members of regional and New York boards
attending via videoconference in New York.
The resolution showed the first signs of solidarity among the
fragmented national board since negotiations started in April. Board
members from SAG’s Hollywood division, led by the faction
MembershipFirst, have locked horns with board members in New York,
Chicago, San Francisco, and elsewhere regarding the current state of
negotiations as well as its failed attempt to get members of both SAG
and AFTRA to vote down AFTRA’s primetime/TV contract.
"For some time, we have been telling the industry how important it is
for all new media productions under our contract to be done union and
how important residuals for made-for new media programming are when
programs are re-run on new media," said SAG’s national executive
director and chief negotiator Doug Allen. "I am very pleased that our
national board today unanimously confirmed these essential principles
in support of our national negotiating committee."
But one member said people should not read into the unanimous
resolution as meaning that the bad blood between the Hollywood
division and the rest of the board has lapsed.
"It was very, very chilly most of the day," the member said. "Do not
read into this like we left singing 'Kumbaya.' It was a business
meeting and this was a business decision that was made. It is not in
any way an endorsement of Doug Allen or (SAG president) Alan
Rosenberg. This is simply where we want them to focus."
The resolution also indicates that the push by many of SAG’s members,
as well as those in the industry, to take the AMPTP’s final offer to
membership for voting will not come any time soon.
In a statement, the AMPTP said, SAG’s refusal "means that actors will
continue to work indefinitely under the expired contract – an old
contract that contains none of the $250 million in additional
compensation provided by AMPTP's final offer, and an old contract
that provides none of the new media rights and residuals that other
Hollywood Guild members have now been enjoying for months.
"SAG has permitted non-union Internet production under its contract
since 2001," the AMPTP stated.
The AMPTP offer extends SAG’s jurisdiction in original new media
productions, including low-budget programs that employ a single
"covered actor," the group added.
The AMPTP's final offer also guarantees residuals when original new
media productions are reused and terms to increase pay and residuals
if the program is eventually exhibited in traditional media, the
AMPTP said. "None of these rights and residuals exists under the
contract that expired on June 30th."
With negotiations in limbo, Hollywood is at a virtual standstill.
While TV productions continue, the major studios do not have many
projects filming, in the event that SAG’s negotiating committee
decides to take a strike vote and members vote to walk out.
At the Hollywood Reporter's Power Lawyers breakfast Friday, MGM chief
Harry Sloan said studios are not going to wait around for much
longer, and he predicted productions would start up sooner rather
than later.
"It's a strange situation," Sloan said of the current state of talks.
"There's not a lot of pressure on the actors. And TV is still going
on. Movies are not getting made, though a lot of us are going to
start up."
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/
e3if7b717939831cbe2f938ca205fba67a5
This message was sent by Veleka (actorsalliance@earthlink.net)