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Today, SAG’s new leadership unveiled support for its “Vote Yes” campaign on the tentative TV/Theatrical Contract with the AMPTP from Tom Hanks who is starring in a video. There’s also a new SAG “Statement of Support” signed by George Clooney and others who “wholeheartedly recommend that SAG members VOTE YES on our tentative Television and Theatrical Contracts.”
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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I have a lot of respect for Tom Hanks and George Clooney. But this contract will have no affect on either of them, or other actors at their level, in any way. This contract, however, is terrible for mid-range, working actors, who know a lot more about ‘hard economic times’ than does Tom Hanks.
Hanks is a phoney giving the rank and file a big F U.
At least it’s mercifully short.
FUCK OFF PRODUCER TOM HANKS. YOU TOO PRODUCER GEORGE CLOONEY.
You producers won’t take advantage of me with your jedi mind tricks. You know the contract sucks and stop using this time/this economy as an excuse. When are we ever in the best of times?
By the time I’m your age, with this crappy contract, I won’t even have this same oppurtunity to coax our union members because you wil have diminished my salary so much so that I won’t be able to do this full-time and climb the ranks of Hollywood.
I voted NO and every SAG member with the heart of a struggling actor should too.
How could you not give a fuck about the next generation, Tom? We’re the ones on the internet all the time!
Thanks Producer Tom for your video, maybe if you were a rank and file actor it might have convinced me. (Oh, and thank your friend Producer George too!)
My stomach hurts. I’m not kidding. It looks like a really nice hostage video, like he can’t wait to get the fuck off that couch, but there’s a guy just off camera pointing a gun at his head.
It appears he just buys into some of the basic talking points and he’s got an incredible career, and these guys are his business associates and some are his friends and he JUST CAN’T GO THERE. He doesn’t want the fight – it’s overwhelming for him in a “bite the hand that has made me stupid rich” kind of way.
It truly saddens me. “The world is changing, our business is changing, we can align with the other unions in 2011, it (I’m paraphrasing) ‘gets us in the game’ in new media, it ‘a smart deal’” and so on…
Wow. It’s like in “Waterfront” when Steiger pulls the gun on Brando… you just… wow…
Tom Hanks’ other video to the AMPTP…
“Hi, I’m Tom Hanks, head of a large production company. Like you, I have become increasingly worried about the Screen Actor’s Guild rejecting (y)our last best (pauses to stifle laughter) final offer. Times are exceedingly tough and we’ve all had to make sacrifices. Why just recently I had to actually think twice about buying a vintage typewriter like the ones you see behind me due to the severity of our economy. Of course, that’s not a true story as I has plenty of money to continue a life of leisure long after they freeze my head. But by saying this, it helps jog my emotional memory of the times when I was a middle class actor and the terms of a terrible contract like this actually concerned me. If I strain to remember those times, I can almost feel the indignation at a union leadership that initially told us how bad this contract is but hires PR firms to convince us the opposite. I can almost get there I…No it’s gone. The image of me swimming in a pool of money, reinacting “Castaway” is too strong. But I’m taping a ‘Vote Yes’ video here and even at 30% acting power, I should sucka the masses. I Tom Fucking Hanks, after all. Thanks and good luck to us.”
When Tom introduces himself, he says, “Hi, I am Tom Hanks, Actor and Member of the Screen Actors Guild.” Only he forgot to mention another title he has — PRODUCER. Get real Tom!
Rank and file has already voted NO! Truth is, this contract won’t affect Hanks and A-Listers like him in the long run. So why the hell are they trying to talk to us, the rank and file? We don’t care unless you are willing to get us some more of that green stuff that you seem to like for yourself!
Anyway, shouldn’t a conflict of interest exist for A-List actors who are producers with “first look deals” at the studios?
Remember folks, the studios speaks thru these
A-listers so don’t be fooled. VOTE NO!!!
The leverage SAG has is crystal clear now, the studios DO NOT want a strike. So, we must force the AMPTP to play fair and go back to renegotiate in GOOD FAITH a better contract for the actors.
While AMPTP refuses to talk “percentages” on new media, claiming there is no $$ in new media, there is no harm in agreeing to an arbitrary percentage to insure our futures. You know, much like the arbitrary dollar amount AMPTP came up with for us ($26 for 6 months streaming online after 24 free days).
A percentage of zero is zero, but a percentage of “something” is, well, “something!”
AMPTP is not even close to playing fair because they play the same greed game all CEOs play. Just as the banking & insurance CEOs have ruined this proud country’s economy recently, these CEOs are destined to ruin the entertainment/media industry and the middle income actors livelihood. Many will quit. You think movies suck now? WAIT!
Just a quick word to any guest/co-star actors still on the fence — one point in this contract is residuals:
In this new contract instead of getting your “prime time first rerun” residual check in the amount of your day call as you usually do, in new media, you’ll get a $26 check for your episode while it runs for six months online — less 24 days of FREE streaming.
Check out Hulu.com — the CEOs have already said they plan to make all reruns stream thru Hulu eventually and you’ll get $26.
And this is just ONE of the bad ideas in this contract!
Ironically, even Hanks agrees in this video the new contract is not perfect, well then as professionals we make it perfect! Don’t we? We get another damn take! We keep shooting til we get it right dammit! We get it right the FIRST TIME before it goes into editing! We can’t fix this one in post Tom!
This is all SAG wants — a fair shake!
By casting VOTE NO on your ballot, the AMPTP is forced to go back to the tables to renegotiate with SAG and if AMPTP does not play fair, then it’ll be their own fault if there is an unfortunate strike. You know, 80% of SAG has already approved a strike authorization the last time it was called and it’ll happen again.
The only people this contract affects in the long run are the lesser-known actors, not Hanks et. al.
P.S. And I don’t wanna hear about the “sunstroke” clause, it’s not gonna happen. History has proved over and over that the AMPTP has NEVER EVER revisited an issue once it’s been signed off on!
VOTE NO!!! VOTE NO!!! VOTE NO!!! VOTE NO!!!
This should have been called “A message from AMPTOM”
So, Tom, will you be willing to negotiate extended deals for all the extras and line actors you’re going to be enlisting for your next HBO Miniseries following Band Of Brothers you’re producing? You know, “The Pacific” Whoops.. guess it’s already in the can, so this deal gets you.. oh that’s right, full ability to use and market all of the clips from it. Perfect!
How about you’re three films in production? Can you give me the breakdown in dollars how this impacts you on say, “Boone’s Lick” or “Where the Wild Things Are” to you, the producer?
HBO has now committed to two more seasons of your show “Big Love” that you produce….
So, dollars to donuts, Tom, where does the money come in, because it sure isn’t coming from the turkey that is “Angels & Demons”
I would love to know what Tom’s pal, Pete Scolari (from “Bosom Buddies”) thinks of this contract and about Tom’s support of it. Tom threw him a bone in “That Thing You Do”, but how is Pete earning a living these days – from residuals? Hmmmm?
What say you, Pete? Who’s your “buddy” now?
How is Peter Scolari voting?
Wow, give him a break, people… Tom’s a classy guy and he’s speaking how he feels. All he’s saying is that it’s a short contract and it’s better than the current one. Give the economy time to fix itself then renegotiate. You ain’t gonna get better now.
BRAVO TOM HANKS…!!! He makes a lot of sense…and I say vote yes — and revisit the issues in two years. VOTE YES..!!!!!
Nobody’s making any money on the internet. And nobody will for some time. If they were, it would be in all the papers. Instead, what do the papers say? Nobody’s making any money! New Media is in it’s infancy.
‘But the CEO’s say they’re going to make millions and that’s where the future is.’ How come you believe them when they say that, but you don’t believe them when they they’re going to open their books? I say don’t trust them either way.
You don’t like the deal? It goes away in two years. Gone. We start over again. It’s in writing. You don’t think the producers will honor that? Fine. That’s when we strike. A strike like a f**cking match and burn their house down. WHEN WE HAVE THE CLOUT. When we have the other unions by our side. Not when we’re out there all alone. It’s suicide.
AFTRA got peed on and they left. How long do you think the top tier of actors will stand being dumped on by their own union? Whatever you think of their behavior, we still need them. You don’t think these people would go Fi-core in a second if they thought we were striking for no good reason.
I don’t care what you think of their motives, we need their clout. We need the clout that AFTRA brings. WE need the clout that the other unions bring. We need the clout of a town that’s behind us.
If you don’t think that true, you’re living in a fantasy world of tough talk and ego buffing.
Not to mention:
If we go on strike for a contract that contains better provisions than AFTRA’s in New Media, it’s going to sit on the shelf unused, because AFTRA’s is cheaperand already being used. You can’t fight that logic. I dare anyone to prove me wrong.
Wow. All this hate directed toward an actor with an impressive body of work, who is universally revered as a great guy by those who work with him, and probably has better things to do than put himself on the line for other actors. And yet he is attacked on this site for simply speaking in favor of the contract, as any SAG member has the right to do. I get the feeling that those who have commented with such vitriol must be Membership First hardliners, threatened by a high-profile actor advising a YES vote. Methinks they doth protest too much…
I agree with “Anonymous”. I can’t believe what is going on with these posts, also the lack of credibility. Do your homework, listen to what is being explained positive and negative. Tweet in your concerns to get them addressed. IF you are a true member you can join in and get your issues addressed. Guess it is way to easy online to address someone you don’t even know in a horrible manner that more then earned his way up the ranks. bravo
This contract has nothing to do with what has happened to the newspaper business or the record business. It’s a completely different subject – unless of course you are a producer who wants to use fear to get people to vote yes.
Tom Hanks you are disgusting.
Scab Producer. Long before there was any pressure to make a rash decision, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, were Scab Producers of the HBO Mini-Series; “Band of Brothers.” This was before we enacted Global Rule One at SAG, which determined that out contract would go with us wherever we went. Hank and Spielberg got around this by taking American SAG actors to Britain, bypassing British Equity and the British Labor Department, with the help of David Putnam, former head of Columbia Pictures; then a Minister of Parliment; at the time of the Band of Brothers Coup; and with Putnam’s assistence; Hanks and Spielberg made a non-union Mini-Series with union actors; depriving them of Residuals and Pension and Health. This was told to us by Executives of British Equity at a meeting of FIA in New York City, in front of many witnesses. I was there and heard it first hand.
Tom Hanks is a Scab Producer and has no standing telling anyone how to vote on a SAG Contract
Tom Hanks wrote me an indignant email back in December ’08. He wanted to complain about something I’d written, and he’d gotten my address from Melissa Gilbert. That was the beginning of a correspondence about the strife that has beset our union. We debated, amicably, in exchanges of letters five to eight pages long.
Tom’s last letter to me was dated March 17. I worked sporadically on a reply, but I still hadn’t finished it when Deadline Hollywood reported that he had taped a message in support of the official S.A.G. campaign to persuade members to ratify the proposed contract. That report surprised me. It disappointed me. I’d half-hoped that our exchanges had somewhat tempered his partisanship. Until May 28th, I thought he was going to abstain. I rushed to finish my letter and I added these paragraphs at the end.
“Tom, you know how bad this deal will be for most of your fellow actors. You can’t be blind to the damage it will do. I’d like to believe that your honesty, your integrity and common sense will deter you from jeopardizing your good name and reputation to promote this travesty of fairness. You risk losing a tremendous reservoir of good will among tens of thousands of rank-and-file members of your union. I beg you not to do this.
“Have you watched the other official SAG videos? Do you think those actors acquitted themselves well, as human beings? Will you be proud to have been in their company, when the effects of this contract begin to be felt? Do you think you will come off any better, working your variation on the same basic material — a hollow, deceptive endorsement of a defective product?
“I think you will be seen as another out-of-touch, tacky, pampered shill. And a shill is what you will be. That’s not right. Don’t let that happen to you.
“Sincerely,
Dave
“Please call me if there is even a remote chance that a person-to-person conversation would give you cause to re-think your course of action. Mobile: 310/613-1505. Don’t make this contract a part of your legacy.”
Todd – you make a compelling argument, but SAG’s main jurisdiction IS theatrical films, something the producers do not have a glut of “in the can” right now. In 2 years a glut will have been shot to stockpile and then producers will have more leverage; so a strike will be meaningless if AMPTP has lots of time to wait it out.
So do we just let them roll over us?
All the other unions in town rolled and now they want SAG to do the same only to deal with AMPTP LATER when we can all have a massive strike? I don’t see it happening. Again, it’ll be every man for himself. I mean really, the WGA (who SAG greatly supported) got basically the same deal 100 days later and IATSE settled and is now having to work more hours for their benefits — SOMEONE HAS TO STAND THE FUCK UP AGAINST THESE BLOODSUCKERS. Let is be the actors, a most courageous bunch, you gotta admit, getting in front of an audience baring one’s soul is pretty brave.
We’re baring our souls now — PAY US or we strike!
p.s. Tom, the bad economy has NOTHING to do with this contract, nothing!
I wonder what Tom Cruise has to say too.
Perhaps Tom Hanks can kindly provide his 20/20 celebrity hindsight on our “imperfect” cable and DVD deals. The unions have really come together on those issues.
He clearly fails to understand members’ legitimate concerns about the Internet. He merely cites this as an imperfect contract. The Internet is here and now and is not some format shift. This is the most significant shift in entertainment since the creation of television. It is our survival.
And why do celebrities pay a lesser percentage to the union anyway? You’d think they’d have more to spare aside from their condescension.
VOTE NO!
If you are a working actor that actually goes to work on a daily basis you vote YES. If you are an actor that works occasionally and have other jobs to support your income you vote NO. Simple as that. Also, if you vote NO you actually don’t care about every small business, industry crew people and everyone else earning a living around LA. It’s just NOT the time! Economy is in turmoil!
Tom… You poor, sorry, bubble-isolated sap! This video is going to come back any haunt you for a long, long, time!
How thoughtful of Tom to deliver his opinion from the mount of his celebrity. Why not show up at a membership meeting and engage in a DEBATE? It is the height of arrogance and irresponsibility to join the YES pr campaign, especially as a producer.
What if you’re wrong Tom?
Have you ever considered that possibility? Have you ever considered that a likely majority of this union is correct in their concerns?
And your pseudo-concerns about the economy are ridiculous. You are speaking to a group of the poorest workers on earth. Most of us aren’t working at any given time and the fact that the huge portions of production budgets are being paid to celebutantes like Tom and George only worsen the burden. This contract is about our SURVIVAL. We have no room for error and setting bad precedent for the next contract is paramount to suicide. Yet, you righteously herd the cattle to the slaughterhouse.
Maybe you’re right Tom.
But what if you’re not…
Tom- The economy, the economy, the economy? You mean this economy? The economy where every month is another record breaking billions dollar month for the studios? Convenient the way you danced around it and left that part of the picture out. Yeah that economy- Tom, you suck.
That producer in the video, Mr. Hanks, doesn’t have the working actor at heart. He is a producer, who the public knows as an actor. However, he is a producer, first and foremost. Mr. Hanks, when he does work as an actor, does not work for ANY of SAGs rates. Nope. He has his own rate that he works for. The contract does not affect him one bit. So, Mr. Hanks has NO business telling working actors what they should do, or how they should vote. Go back to your ivory tower and eat cake, Mr. Hanks.