No plans to strike, says SAG president
There’s good news and bad news coming from the on-going talks between the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The bad news is that there has been very little progress in talks between SAG and the studios concerning a new contract.
With their current contract expiring on June 30th, SAG members are looking for higher pay for “middle-tier” actors, those making less than $100,000 a year, and a greater cut of profits from DVD and new media sales — a main sticking point during this past winter’s Writers Guild strike. In addition to those woes, there are bitter splits taking place between SAG members and those of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) after the smaller union ratified an agreement with the studios.
The good news, at least for film and television viewers, is that SAG has no immediate plans to strike.
In a statement to the press SAG president Alan Rosenberg said, “We have taken no steps to initiate a strike authorization vote by the members of Screen Actors Guild. Any talk about a strike or a management lockout at this point is simply a distraction.” Rosenberg added that SAG is coming to the negotiations in good faith to settle on a fair contract for their actors. These statements have not eased the fears of the studios: they’ve been rushing to complete their current projects before a proposed strike. Here’s hoping the union and the studios can resolve heir issues.
George Clooney Offers Two Cents to SAG, AFTRA
George Clooney doesn’t just play a fixer in the movies.
The Oscar winner, who became an unofficial spokesman for the Biz during the 100-day writers’ strike that screwed things up for a lot of people earlier this year, has spoken up yet again, this time in a letter urging members of the Screen Actors Guild and its little-sister union, the American Federation of TV and Radio Artists, to make sure the very actors they’re trying to help don’t get lost in the shuffle created by the latest studio-union showdown.
AFTRA opted to negotiate with major studios and networks independently from SAG this year, and its leaders have been criticized for their willingness to accept a deal that, as far as SAG is concerned, lets the suits off easy.
“Both are, of course, right,” Clooney wrote in a two-page memo. “AFTRA feels that a work stoppage would be devastating to its members and SAG believes that if they don’t draw a line in the sand, the studios will repeat what they did with DVDs.”
But, the Peacemaker star added, it’s important that union heads remember who they’re really fighting fornot $20 million men like Clooney (although every thesp could be affected by a work stoppage) but the thousands of working actors who don’t necessarily know where their next paycheck is coming from after one shoot wraps.
“Doug Allen (the SAG national executive director) has said on several occasions that this would be a negotiation for ’the linemen, not for the quarterbacks.’ (Doug did a lot of the negotiating for the NFL.) The spirit of the statement isn’t wrong…it’s just the structure,” Clooney wrote.
“Unlike the NFL, in this guild, the quarterbacks protect the linemen. I’ve been very lucky in my career, which has put me in the place that I don’t need a union to check on my residuals, or my pension, or protect my 12-hour turnaround. I used to need that, and may again…but right now I don’t. That means it’s my responsibility to look out for actors who are trying to stay afloat from year to year. Anything less is irresponsible of me.”
In response to Clooney’s attention-getting perspective, a rep for SAG told the Los Angeles Times Thursday that the union “appreciates George Clooney’s observations and opinions regarding our current negotiations and the critical issues facing all actors today. We welcome this valuable input.”
And it isn’t as if Clooney wants anyone kowtowing to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which reps the studios.
“First, we set up a panel…Jack Nicholson and Tom Hanks, for instance…10 of them that sit down with the studio heads once a year…10 people that the studio heads don’t often say ’no’ to. Those 10 people walk in the door with all the new data that SAG and AFTRA compile, and adjust the pay for actors…once a year.”
Hanks was tsk-tsked this week for adding his name to an online petition encouraging AFTRA members to approve the tentative deal the union arrived at last month. A host of other stars, including Nicholson, Viggo Mortensen, Ben Stiller and Patricia Arquette, lent their names to an ad in the Hollywood trades urging AFTRA members to reject the deal and take a tougher stance alongside SAG, whose current contract expires June 30.
“We are not finished,” the ad stated. “We believe there are issues that are at the heart of every actor’s career that remain unresolved by AFTRA.”
What would help would be if these hotshots put their money where their mouth is, Clooney suggests.
“Second, we go to the actors who make an exorbitant amount of money, and raise their dues,” he wrote. “Right now, there’s a cap of 6,000 bucks that actors pay their union…based on $1 million in earnings. Make it $6,000 for every million…if someone makes $20 million, they pay $120,000 into the union. That could go a long way in helping pensions and health care. The quarterbacks have to do more.
“What we can’t do is pit artist against artist…because the one thing you can be sure of is that stories about Jack Nicholson vs. Tom Hanks only strengthens the negotiating power of the producers.”
Well, here’s hoping a Hail Mary pass reaches the end zone in time.
Tom Hanks All for TV, Radio Actors Making a Deal
Tom Hanks probably won’t be hurting too much if there’s an actors’ strike, but that doesn’t mean he cares to see any hard-up fellow thesps slinging lattes at Starbucks instead of practicing their craft this summer.
In hopes of avoiding yet another debilitating Industry strike, Hanks has thrown his support behind the new contract that the smaller of the two major actors unionsthe American Federation of Television and Radio Artistshas arrived at with the major studios and networks.
The two-time Oscar winner added his name to an email petition encouraging AFTRA members to vote for the new deal, despite the Screen Actors Guild’s continued haggling over further concessions.
“Either our employers will lock us out, or SAG will strike,” the petition states. “There really is no alternative if the AFTRA deal is defeated.”
SAG has let it be known that it’s likely their negotiations will continue beyond its current contract’s June 30 expiration, although it isn’t opposed to letting actors keep working without a deal.
AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers, which reps the major studios, reached a tentative agreement late last month.
James Cromwell, Adam Arkin, Morgan Fairchild and Tess Harper have also added their names to the AFTRA petition.
Hanks teamed up in February with fellow all-stars Meryl Streep, George Clooney and Robert De Niro in taking out a full-page ad in Variety and the Hollywood Reporter urging SAG to begin talks with the studios early so as to avoid a repeat of the 100-day writers’ strike that ended up costing L.A. County more than $2 billion.
SAG and the AMPTP kicked off formal negotiations April 15, but the alliance temporarily walked away from the table May 6, citing the actors’ “continued adherence to unreasonable demands.”
Burning Q’s: Staged Snaps & Heigl-Movie Suckmeter
Celebs say they hate the paparazzi, but how many have an arrangement with them? Is that just for D-listers, or will A-listers work with them, too?Carrie
Of course. Often. In fact, some demand residuals from photo sales. Next time you crack open one of those candylike tabloids, look for photos of happy, peachy-cheeked A-listers and their children frolicking in parks or at a ski resort. Those are the most common types of photos that starsof all levelsstage in cooperation with the paparazzi. (I’m not saying you did, Mr. Jackman. I’m just saying.)
And now! Even more of your Burning Q’s, answered.
When a movie’s release date is pushed back, does that mean it’s going to suck? Marissa, Ga.
Well, define “suck.” You mean minor suck, as in Katherine Heigl-bridal-comedy, or spectacular, cosmic-level, Milla Jovovich-swinging-a-katana-sword suck? Actually, doesn’t matter.
Both 27 Dresses and Ultraviolet saw their release dates pushed back, as did ScarJo’s The Nanny Diaries, the video-game-turned-movie version of Hitman and countless other films, all of which suffered no lack in the suckularity department.
Moving a premiere date can mask a film’s suckiness27 Dresses attracted everybody who didn’t want to see Cloverfieldbut it can never erase the stink completely.
Then again, Pixar’s Cars was also pushed back from a fall release to a summer one, simply because Steve Jobs said he wanted the DVD to be available for holiday shoppers. While failing to live up to the critical success of Monsters, Inc. or The Incredibles, most folks liked Cars just fine.
Do celebrities usually have health insurance, or do they pay for all their medical expenses out-of-pocket? Thanks! Erica
Many celebrities are members of the Screen Actors Guild, which covers every blister or burn a star may suffer when burned by the impure touch or unclean gaze of a lowly fan. As for minor headaches or quick Vicodin fixes, there’s always the on-set doctor.
Who is the oldest, middle and youngest of the Kardashians? I looked at pictures of them as kids and tried to tell, and you can’t tell as adults either! Please let me know what order they were born. Thank you! Shannie
From oldest to youngest, they go: Kourtney, Kim, Khloe, Robert, Kendall, Kylie and Kermit. Just kidding on the last one. No Kermit, at least not yet. And no, Kris, you can’t use that. It’s mine.
Oh, and be my fan on Facebook, ’kay?