SAG Talks, Not Much Happens
Heading into the holiday weekend, there are no fireworks coming from the Screen Actors Guild.
The union briefly resumed talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and TV Producers today, but the meeting ended with SAG asking for more time to review the new contract the studios have proposed.
On Tuesday, SAG executive director Doug Allen said the deal as it stands is sorely lacking in the new-media residuals department.
SAG reps said they would contact the AMPTP on Monday, but no other sit-downs have been scheduled. The actors’ previous contract with the alliance expired yesterday at 12:01 a.m.
“On Wednesday, we met at SAG’s request for four hours to answer SAG’s questions about our final offer,” the AMPTP said in a statement. “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.”
SAG has yet to call for a strike-authorization vote and has expressed its intention to keep its 120,000 members working under the auspices of the old contract until a new one can be hammered out.
“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,” read the statement issued by SAG Wednesday after talks ended.
As of today, cameras were still rolling on 17 major studio films, including the Da Vinci Code sequel Angels & Demons, according to a list compiled by the Hollywood Reporter, which also counted Toy Story 3 and five other animated films in production.
Strikewatch: It's (Almost) Over!
We just got back from the big WGA press conference in Hollywood, where it was announced that, assuming the writers don't go loco and for some reason drastically change course between now and the official vote (don't worry, they won't), the strike is officially over as of this Tuesday night, and the writers will be back to work on Wednesday.
Man, it feels good to type that.
Some of our favorite show runners will be back to work in a producer capacity as early as tomorrow, and some (not all) of the shows we love will produce more episodes for this season.
News to Know
Okay, so here's more of what we heard at the press conference from WGAW president Patric M. Verrone, WGAE president Michael Winship, chief negotiator David Young and negotiating committee chair John F. Bowman.
- The president always starts the State of the Union Address with, "The state of our union is strong," and I think that pretty well sums up how the WGA guys feel as of today.
- The Academy Awards will be happy-slappy, so you are all welcome at E! Online's digital Oscar party on Sun., Feb. 24. We'll have pictures, we'll have gossip…It's gonna be great.
- There will be no picketing tomorrow or Tuesday.
- The official vote, done by paper ballot or faxed-in proxy vote, will take place Tuesday afternoon at the WGA Theater in Beverly Hills and at the Crowne Plaza in NYC.
- If you see Peter Chernin (Fox), Bob Iger (Disney) or Les Moonves (CBS/Viacom) at Whole Foods, feel free to slap them on the back. The guild chiefs gave those CEOs mad props for helping get the deal done. On the other hand, should you run into any AMPTP staff negotiators, feel free to sneer. They apparently weren't quite so helpful.
- WGA: We ♥ SAG and you the fans for your support during the strike.
- One interesting comment from Verrone was that if the 1988 writers' strike opened the door for content without writers (Cops, America's Most Wanted), this strike opened the door for content without conglomerates. (Hello, YouTube!) The Mentos and Diet Coke guys actually even got a shout-out.
- Verrone also noted that while they were all told prestrike that organizing the writers would be like "herding cats," the cats turned out to not only be very well-behaved, striking, picketing and holding out, but "they roared."
- Labor leader Young said that the best time for any labor-management issue to be resolved is at the point of highest pressure on both sides. The impending Academy Awards and the risk of losing the remainder of the TV season coincided perfectly to make that happen.
All in all, I think it's fair to say: Woo-hoo!
(Check back soon for status reports from specific shows.)
—With reporting by Jennifer Godwin
AMPTP suspends negotiations with SAG
Raise your hand if you saw this one coming. The prospects for another strike went up as negotiations with the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) once again broke down, with the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) moving to negotiations with AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists). Among the issues causing the split, and stop me if you’ve heard this one before, DVD residuals, streaming, and new media. Go figure. One new wrinkle in these negotiations comes in the form of an AMPTP provision that would give them free and unlimited use of short clips of an actor’s work in movies and television.
As you would expect, the two sides have wildly different versions of how things are going. You can read both of the official statements over at Deadline Hollywood Daily. The thumbnail sketches look like this: SAG contends that they have negotiated in good faith, modifying their proposals in an effort to reach a fair contract for their members, but the AMPTP has offered only a few modifications to its new media proposal. On the other hand, the AMPTP contends that they have made compromises and concessions, but SAG negotiators continue to insist on unreasonable demands in traditional and new media. Yikes. The contract expires on June 30th, and I don’t think anyone is exactly confident that a deal will be done by then.