China’s Wanda Group Agrees To Pay $2.6B For AMC … 
Weinstein Clarifies ‘Sapphires’ Remarks; Best … 
How Agencies Did At This Year’s Upfronts: New … 
BOMBS AWAY! ‘Battleship’ Sinks To $25.3M … 
‘Lawless’ Premieres As The Weinstein Company … 
David Guarascio And Moses Port To Run … 
‘Beasts Of The Southern Wild’ Co-Writer Lucy … 
Fox Searchlight Fetes ‘Beasts Of The Southern … 
D.V. DeVincentis Sinks Teeth Into ‘The Night … 
Universal Buys ‘The Disciple Program’ As Mark … 
‘Madagascar 3′ And A ‘Big Brother’ … 
UPDATE: Facebook’s Big IPO Trading Day Results In A … 
UPFRONTS 2012: The Year Of Underdogs, Comebacks & … 
YRF’s Uday Chopra To Finance Nicole Kidman-Starrer … 
Cannes Swirls With Talk Of Convergence Between Distributors … 
TNT & Lifetime Looking At Cancelled CBS Drama … 
Women Dominate Early Competition Films As Marion Cotillard … 
Doug Liman Reacts To ‘I Just Want My Pants … 
Disney Sets Jesse Wigutow To Script ‘Peter And The … 
Anthony Mackie In Step With ‘Runner Runner’ 
Should You Buy Facebook? A Few Things To Consider Before … 
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.
TUESDAY NOON UPDATE: SAG just issued this statement:
Screen Actors Guild will present its response to the AMPTP’s June 30, 2008 proposal at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 10, 2008 at AMPTP headquarters in Sherman Oaks, CA. The Screen Actors Guild national negotiating committee remains dedicated to achieving a fair TV/Theatrical contract for SAG members as soon as possible.The SAG national negotiating committee anticipates an equal effort and commitment by the employers and their representatives to achieve this goal.
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. Stay tuned…
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
Loading ...
During this economy and after the devastating WGA strike I cannot believe anybody supports a SAG strike.
It seems to me that you actors must be paid a hell of a lot more than the rest of us since you’re calling for yet another work stoppage. How blase are all of you as well as you mention the loss of our homes, education funds for our kids, savings to care for our parents etc. You just seem greedy. Most of us get paid once for our creative contributions to film and tv and do not have the sense of entitlement that you do. Can someone explain to me why we should care about you?
Dear Dave Clennon – maybe I’m missing something here, but whether or not the AFTRA contract is ratified by a few less percentage points or not…what on earth does this have to do with SAG? At some point you’re gonna have to stop the reindeer games, put on your big boy pants, and negotiate an actual contract with the AMPTP.
And Tim, your online petition means about as much as the percentage points in the AFTRA ratification. The petition could be at 100% and yet…someone at some point is gonna have to sit down and NEGOTIATE A CONTRACT.
ah wonder why y’all are puttin off the inevitable…
Just seems to me that SAG’s strategy now makes it dependent on the AFTRA vote – if the AFTRA contract is rejected, they’re in great shape to get additional concessions from the producers. If the AFTRA contract is approved, they know they won’t get any concessions and that their only leverage will be a strike (which won’t be a popular decision; if it was, they would have got strike authorization by now) and they’ll have to eat crow and accept the AFTRA contract (with minimal, truly minimal concessions). I’m not at all sure this is where SAG wanted to be right now but it is where they find themselves.
First of all, I would like to say to the gentleman with the interesting story about mowing lawns: The Gardener does not continue to receive a ‘residual’ check for the mowing he did last week, let alone last year- so you analogy is highly inappropriate. To compare the ‘plight’ of actors with a guy who mows lawns, is truly insulting to the working family that barely makes above minimum wage. Shame on you.
Second, I know why everyone talks about solidarity being the only way to defeat the AMPTP- because THEY have it and WE don’t. Not just individually in our ‘own’ unions but together with each other- SAG, WGA, DGA, IATSE- unless everyone can get in one boat together against the big bad alliance no true advancements or equality can occur. The AMPTP, who are all by the way united out front – have complete unity to the world at large, they are unified in their goal, while our indivual unions can barely agree when they have general membership meetings.
I would be proud to stand next to a SAG, DGA or WGA member when they are striking in unity with IATSE.
Welp, I had simpathy for the writers because they actually do something. Sure actors are vital to a show/movie/whatever but they are pretty expendable. They don’t have to be that creative, other than delivering their lines and it’s not like they’re curing cancer or anything. Writers actually have to use their minds to come up with a story. Directors have to make it work. Actors are just props. Glorified puppets if you will. Not that there aren’t some great actors. If you can bring in viewers/moviegoers/whatever to the audience, you deserve whatever you can get. Some actors are brilliant at what they do and should be compensated for it. Some just plain suck and don’t deserve to get the same as everyone else. It’s called a free market people! If you can’t make a living acting, perhaps you shouldn’t depend on it to do so…
Hello my little “worker bee” ………. you can put that down right over there. O.K. that’s all for now………. We will call you if we need anything else. ……….. Bye bye.
With respect to Dave Clennon, whom I greatly admire, I see the spin has begun. A 20-35% no vote on the AFTRA contract would somehow be a win for S.A.G.? How does an 80% yes vote (a clear vote against the S.A.G. campaign) translate into a victory? Hell, George McGovern got more votes than that against Nixon, lost every state save one, and left his party wandering in the wilderness for decades. S.A.G. may face a similar fate unless the members find a new direction this year.
hey worker bee, did you try to ask out the girl who had the lead in your high school play and she shot you down? I don’t think I’ve read a more boneheaded, inflamatory post on this site. I agree with you, there are many untalented actors out there who do suck – and quite a few of them are famous and make millions of dollars. To say that actors are “Props” or glorified puppets who contribute nothing to the creativity of a show or movie or play is insulting. If it’s so easy why don’t you go do it? Go try and perform a play in front of a live audience or make a comedy scene work on a sit-com or try to sell Allstate insurance in an entertaining way that engages an audience. I guess in your world every show would just have regular people in it – oh wait that’s “reality TV”. Enjoy all your episodes of “America’s Got Talent” and “Next Top Model”.
Oh yeah and one last thing. F*ck you.
Someone remind me to buy #44 a crane ride when this is all over
not going to tip,
your comments are so tedious and rude
why can’t you make a point without ad hominem attacks? it takes away from any legitimacy you might have.
I did not say that a 15% to 35% vote AGAINST the AFTRA contract would be a “win” for S.A.G.
I did NOT say that a 15% to 35% “NO” vote would translate into a 75% to 90% Strike Authorization vote.
(I wish the AMPTP’s anonymous trolls would read more carefully, or would not mis-represent the comments of others.)
A 15% to 35% “NO” vote — given the climate of FEAR surrounding the balloting — would mean that there is a large core of the acting community that is not ready to roll over and play dead for the studios and the networks.
The AFTRA leadership is not the enemy. They’re well-meaning people who made a serious mis-calculation, and got in WAY over their heads. The result is a bad contract and the perception that AFTRA is now the Company Union.
The WGA and a large contingent of S.A.G. members are standing up for themselves. That doesn’t translate into a strike. That translates into the BEGINNING of a resistance movement.
fiddlers await the burning of rome
Dave,
Though I sometimes find the undersides of bridges cool and comforting, I assure you that I’m neither a troll nor anonymous. I’m a S.A.G. member and I dissent.
Pat Skipper
Dear LP,
I hate to have to wake you up. Just because your prominent casting friend doesn’t know an Actor on the list – means nothing. There are many forms of working Actors in the Screen Actors Guild that are making a great living. i.e. Commercial Actors, Voice Over Actors, Stunt Performers, Background Actors, Stand Ins, Photo Doubles, Puppeteers, Singers, Dancers and the list goes on. And I’m sure many of these Actors are making a lot better living than you. And who are you anyways? And who’s this prominent casting director that doesn’t even know what SAG is made up of?
Support Your Union – http://www.sag.org
The WGA and a large contingent of S.A.G. members are standing up for themselves. That doesn’t translate into a strike. That translates into the BEGINNING of a resistance movement.
Darn you Dave. Now I have “Do You Hear The People Sing,” from Les Miz stuck in my head.
Member of another union says: I just do not understand how these actors can be members of a union and not support the leadership they elected.
Answer: Because the majority of people on this site are not Actors – just AMPTP trolls pretending to be upset Actors that are mad at S.A.G.
All the Actors I know are supporting their union the SCREEN ACTORS GUILD. Sure they’re some that don’t, but the majority does. Who else in there right mind wouldn’t want the best deal possible. It’s called negotiations and that’s what we’re doing right – even if we’re not at the table it’s all part of the Art of it. We are getting kicked from every angle with no support from our BTL Brothers and Sisters, who are just playing into the AMPTP’s hands – creating all this fear.
Relax people – there will be no STRIKE!
You go S.A.G.
Scott,
Once AFTRA takes over and we kick out all of the dead weight, you and the rest of your extra buddies can start your own union and strike all you want.
Scott-
You know, “LP” stands for line producer. You know the guy that helps decide if the show should be AFTRA or SAG. Keep going and lose TV forever Scott.
Let’s start crewing up those AFTRA shows.
notgoingtoTip- Man you are green or just plain dumb. When was the last time a PRODUCER went to a his line-producer (hired hand) to decide which talent union his show would be cover under? Never happens. A Line-producer is brought in after the fact – he’s the nut and bolts guy, just working the numbers. The talent unions are being decided way before the line-producer is in the picture. Line-producers have no say over Talent or Unions!
You AMPTP Trolls – Educate yourself before blogging…
To Steve and all of the others who talk about “AMPTP” trolls on this site: grow up, shake yourself. The AMPTP has an astonishing amount of leverage. They don’t need to flood this site with differing opinions. If you actually worked on a movie or TV set, you’d know this town, after the fiasco that is SAG, is stridently anti-sag. But I guess I’m just a troll to you and yours. Your loss.