Strike Deadline Looms for Hollywood Actors
To strike or not to strike? That is the question dogging Hollywood.
But while filmmakers, TV producers, casts and crews are holding their collective breaths with the Screen Actors Guild contract due to expire at midnight, union president Alan Rosenberg says there is no immediate work stoppage in the, um, works.
“We have taken no steps to initiate a strike authorization vote by the members of the Screen Actors Guild,” he says in a statement. “Any talk about a strike or a management lockout at this point is simply a distraction.”
Right now, SAG has a seemingly bigger headache to deal with firstthe very real threat of all-out civil war with its sister union, the American Federal of Television & Radio Artists. AFTRA reached a separate agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers weeks ago, triggering infighting among the thespian set.
In one corner, stars like Viggo Mortensen, Laura Dern, Jack Nicholson and Holly Hunter have urged AFTRA to vote down the pact, claiming it undercuts much of the Screen Actors Guild’s agenda, which focuses on new media pay scales, DVD residuals and a bigger say over product placement.
In the other corner: Tom Hanks, Susan Sarandon, Kevin Spacey and Alec Baldwin, all of whom back the AFTRA deal, claiming it will create new opportunities for actors.
George Clooney has attempted to play peacemaker, calling for Hanks and Nicholson to meet together to help hash out a truce.
SAG is ponying up $150,000 worth of advertisements, robo-calls and email blasts to persuade AFTRA folks to just say no to the contract.
AFTRA’s national executive director, Kim Roberts Hedgpeth, labels such tactics “appalling” and “divisive.”
“Whether the attempts by a sister union to interfere in the ratification of your contract are motivated by politics, fear, naïveté, inexperience, or the intention to do harm to your union, there is an undeniable reality: It is a disgrace,” she says in a message posted on the union’s website.
Unlike the Screen Actors Guild, which covers actors in film and television, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists represents thesps in live events (a remnant of its history repping radio acts) and video, which includes some cable and reality shows. However, with the advent of series shot in digital video, the two unions have been squabbling over jurisdictional rights.
But with both SAG and AFTRA’s contracts set to end at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, the question remains: Will the industry once again see another walkout like the crippling three-month Writers Guild of America strike that ended in February?
As the unions battle it out over whose terms will ultimately prevail, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers is trying to head any potential work stoppage off at the pass, taking out ads in Monday’s trades calling a strike “harmful and unnecessary.”
AMPTP says a work stoppage would result in $2.3 billion in lost wages and more than 37,000 people out of work.
“The industry is shutting down because SAG’s Hollywood leadership insisted on 11th-hour negotiations and dragging these talks into July so they can continue attacking AFTRA,” the rep said in a statement.
SAG says it will continue negotiating with producers for “as many hours as it takes” to make sure its concerns left out of the AFTRA deal are satisfied.
The Sopranos DVD Set for $400? What a Deal!
TV Guide is reporting that the complete series of The Sopranos will be available as a box set on Nov. 11, 2008, with a $400 price tag. That seems like a heckuva deal to me, given that fact that most seasons of any given show cost anywhere from $30 to $60. The individual seasons of The Sopranos sell for $60 each on the HBO Web site, and the complete series was released last year for $515.
So let’s do the math here: Six seasons (TV Guide says seven, but the official HBO site refers to Season Six, Parts 1 and 2, as one season, so we’ll go with that) divided by $400 comes out to $66.66 per season.
And it’s not just ANY TV series. It’s The Sopranos, for gosh sakes, with some cool extras. The 30-disc boxed set will feature all six seasons; an interview with series creator David Chase, conducted by Alec Baldwin; three soundtrack CDs; and two featurettes with the cast sitting down for dinner and reflecting on the series.
The only thing I’m thinking is that the individual seasons have even more extras. Like, for example, Season Two includes a featurette called “The Real Deal,” with critics, psychiatrists, and former FBI agents discussing The Sopranos. Season Five features audio commentaries with directors Steve Buscemi, Peter Bogdanovich, Mike Figgis, and Rodrigo Garcia.
It would be nice if they included all of that in the complete set. And maybe a Satriales coffee mug or Bada Bing flip-flops or something. Then again, maybe we don’t have all the intel yet either. No word on whether the complete set features alternative endings. I’m guessing not. (Rats, now I’ve got Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” playing over and over in my head.)
At any rate, I’ll probably be shelling out the dough. What about you? Will you slap down 400 bucks for this DVD set?
A Massive Sopranos Get-Together…on DVD
When you consider the body count The Sopranos racked up over six spread-out seasons, you figure 10 pounds isn’t too much dead weight to store in your living room.
The pioneering HBO seriesevery second of itis headed to DVD later this year in the form of a 30-disc box set (which, incidentally, weighs 10 pounds).
In addition to all the Family drama, HBO Video is offering a host of extra features on two bonus discs, including an interview with Sopranos creator David Chase conducted by Alec Baldwin, 16 deleted scenes, commentary from castmembers (except for James Gandolfini, who didn’t participate) and various making-of features.
To further appease those who already popped for each individual season, three soundtrack CDs compiled by Chase, who handpicked the music that closed out each episode, are also included.
The collector’s edition goes on sale Nov. 11 and will retail for $399.99, which hopefully you’ve got stashed out in the yard somewhere in anticipation of this moment.
Cameron Diaz’s Easter Sunday Shopping
Cameron Diaz’s Easter Sunday Shopping
Heading out in Hollywood on Easter Sunday, Cameron Diaz kept herself busy with a trip to Bristol Farms for some much needed holiday supplies.
The Charlie’s Angels actress, who wore a white tank along with her turquoise jeans, scooped up a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of wine for what was sure to be a relaxing Easter evening.
Diaz is currently in the midst of working on her new movie My Sister’s Keeper, which co-stars Abigail Breslin and Alec Baldwin.
The film is based on the Jodi Picoult novel of the same name, which tells the tale of a young girl who sues her parents for the right to make her own decisions about how her body is used when a kidney transplant is planned in order to potentially save her older sister.