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This is what James Cromwell told SAG member Michael Heister's blog:
MH: "Are you absolutely ruling out running for SAG president? Under what circumstances - if any - would you consider a run?
JC:: "Yes, I am absolutely not running for SAG president. I would run if we had a consolidated union, which included AFTRA and AEA, a new constitution, which addressed the systemic inequities of the present one, and a system of governance that did not preclude sacrificing one’s career in order to serve."
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Thank G-D he’s not running. James Cromwell is an elisted PIG!!
The only man that can save this UNION is Martin Sheen.
Martin Sheen for SCREEN ACTORS GUILD PRESIDENT!!!!
“I would run if we had a…system of governance that did not preclude sacrificing one’s career in order to serve.”
Preclude? Either Mr. Cromwell is frustrated that he can’t sacrifice his career, or else he needs a dictionary.
I don’t agree with any of James Cromwell’s politics, but he is a stand-up guy, a very intelligent person. Hang with him at the next SAG meeting, you might learn something.
I whole-heartedly agree with Mr. Cromwell.
The unions are a mess.
I am sick of ‘professional’ representatives.
Strength in numbers.
Scott Brown –
Your outburst of name-calling just negated your credibility.
James Cromwell is one of the nicest people I’ve ever worked with in this business. He’s a kind and decent man. And, by the way, I was but a lowly PA when I worked with him, so I can unilaterally and soundly dismiss your accusations of elitism (which you misspelled incidentally).
Good. His stupidity helped fracture and destroy our union. He’s not wanted.
Mr. Brown, I think it’s very telling that you maintain the sanctity of God’s name by typing “G-D” and then you immediately follow with a personal attack. Classy. Karl Rove would be so proud. Truly, the MF machine is emulating Fox News tactics beautifully.
This is good news for SAG, which desperately needs some.
Wow.
It is absolutely shocking to read some of these posts.
Are all actors so petty and juvenile? Is it possible, that the people who rant and name call on this blog are WORKING actors? Yes, maybe. These could easily be the very same people that terrorize PA’s, fight with directors, and crap all over their 24/7 on-call assistants?? All this playground brutality, and only 33,000 of you cared enough to open your ballots, fill in a little bubble, and drop it in a mailbox? Please, “working actors,” spend less time misspelling insults on blogs and get back to work.
Unless and until SAG has qualified voting, it will remain in disarray. People who do not make a living acting should not be entitled to vote on things which do not affect them.
Of course, this will never happen.
so if the hard work was already done and he could just sit on the throne and blow hot air, then he’d run. asshole.
After reading the responses to this blog one can only come to one conclusion:
Whomever said that “Actors are like Children” insults children.
We need some real honest labor people to run the Guild if there is such a thing.
The current labor leaders(that’s what they like to call themselves)is they have no long term vision for the labor movement. All they want to do is collect a fat pay check and not make waves and that is why labor is weaker than it ever has been.
If what James Cromwell said about not running is true, then he knows it’s a thankless job, Just ask Allen.
The Guild members need to start thinking with their minds and not their hearts, and that’s why I voted No on this contract.
And remember nothing is going to change if you keep voting for slates.
CROMWELL: I’M NOT RUNNING. AND I’M NO ELITIST!
Congratulations to The Podosphere for breaking this story.
I’m sorry Cromwell is not running. He is fierce and articulate and he would have been the perfect opponent — Unite-for-Strength’s John McCain. His Masurite allies must be relieved that he will not be their standard-bearer.
Michael Heister had four other questions for Mr. Cromwell [mheister.com/thepodosphere]. Thoughtful questions. Here’s one:
[Heister]: You were quoted by a fellow actor as saying, “WE ARE PART OF THE 1%.” Did this actor quote you correctly? What did you say, and what did you mean to get across?
In his answer, Cromwell identifies me as the fellow thespian who quoted him. So, like the old stage actor I am — the old actor who thinks he hears his cue line and starts blurting out his dialogue, I must respond to James’s answer.
I would not call Cromwell entirely honest, but he is quite candid.
So, as you’ll see, he wriggles, and he squirms, and he fumes, but he does not deny the accuracy of my direct quotation: “We’re the 1%, David. We’re the ones who have the most to lose.”
He calls that statement a “fragment,” and he claims that I “twist it,” but he does not deny it.
I would like to comment more windily on Cromwell’s response to Michael Heister’s question:
[Michael Heister]: You were quoted by a fellow actor as saying, “We are part of the one percent”. Did this actor quote you correctly? What did you say, and what did you mean to get across?
CROMWELL: That fellow actor, DAVID CLENNON, by name, asked me why I was FOR the contract we have subsequently approved and AGAINST the strike proposed by Membership First.
[DAVE CLENNON: As you recall, "Membership First" never proposed a strike. Neither did Rosenberg or Allen. What Cromwell and I were debating was a proposed Strike AUTHORIZATION Vote. (Assertions like this show why Cromwell can be candid without being entirely forthright.)]
CROMWELL (continuing): I said, “85% of our union makes less than $10,000 a year as actors; 65% make no money at it, at all. Probably ONLY 1% OF US actually make a living under the contract, and it is those of us, DAVID, you and I, along with thousands of others in the industry whose livelihoods depend on OUR working, WHO WILL BE MOST AFFECTED BY a work stoppage and THE LOSSES incurred if we continued to work under the old contact.”
[DAVE CLENNON: This may be what Jamey meant me to understand. However, what he actually said was -- I repeat -- "WE'RE THE 1%, DAVID. We're the ones who have the most to lose." He said much more besides, but that direct quote was the essence of his sermon to me.]
CROMWELL (continuing): I spoke to him for over an hour, explicating in minute detail the rationale for my position. That a “friend” should take that fragment and twist it in to a supposed expression of my elitism is INDICATIVE of the SORRY PASS to which some in this guild have SUNK..
[DAVE CLENNON: Just call me "Mr. Indicative," Jamey. My friends refer to me as "Sorry Pass," or, if time is short, "Hey, Sunk."]
The beauty of the “1%” Statement is that it encapsulates the spirit of Cromwell’s entire faction, USAN/U4S. Or, as I like to think of them, the Masurites.
Yes, it’s true. GEORGE CLOONEY IS A MASURITE! Sadly, I was one, too, for 13 years.
Finally, it’s quite a stretch to include me in the “We” of James’s “1%.” (Sigh) I wish.
@ Comment by ClearingStuffUp — June 12, 2009 @ 8:43 pm
That’s not a UNION, stupid.
I agree with the comment by Amazed. All of you are fucking stupid. Your union is so way off from being a union it’s crazy. After all the bitching and moaning this last year not even half of your “union” even bothered to voice an opinion and vote. Pointless and lame. As for Cromwell I don’t know him but he seems to mean well. If you don’t like him or his views fine, but he is not the blame here. It is the SAG board, especially that fuck Rosenberg who dragged this on for nothing. Actors make good wages and benefits that a lot of people in the business don’t get. Most of you are a dime a dozen and if you don’t work much, maybe you just aren’t that talented. It’s the same in my end of the biz. If you don’t like it than get out and find another job. Let the people that enjoy it work without you holding the biz hostage every few years. And before you blame everyone else about your problems try fixing your own “SAG” house first. It is one of the poorest run, most infighting, and non-union unions I have ever seen.
“f/x” has a point.
SAG needs a cure. A permanent cure. This will never end, let’s face it – and it doesn’t matter about factions or not. It is simply a fundamental difference of opinion that’s, at least on the current National board, 50/50, with slight shifts to a few vote majority either way each year with a new election. The 78% vote notwithstanding, I honestly believe the union is basically split in two and the vote was, as I’ve written, more an expression of “PUNT!!” than anything else. More an expression of total disgust with the former and current government than anything else. “Get a contract – any contract, and let’s… whatever” kind of thing.
It’s not an affirmation of UFS, that’s for sure, simply because they got the SAME contract, arguably worse, than MF-led negotiators. I think it was just “we can actually VOTE on something?!” from the membership.
The bottom line for SAG going forward, in my opinion, is not about multi-union alliance. They don’t really like us all that much, and the feeling is mutual. And I’m in 4 unions myself. I have principally made my living off SAG jobs because SAG jobs, actually paid “you can make a living on this” type money.
That’s just me. Others have spent years on soaps (AFTRA) or doing commercials (both) or, whatever.
But SAG is where the real money has been for actors, let’s face it, because of the strong contracts, despite the prior collapses (VHS/DVD, cable) there was still plenty of beef in SAG contracts, that WHEN you worked, you got PAID, and KEPT getting paid off your work, from residuals.
So, SAG is stuck. Everybody hates SAG. SAG hates SAG. The AMPTP has us tied up in a little box with a neat fucking bow on it, and the box is taking fire from all sides.
We’re “dicks in a box.”
We COULD have gotten our shit together RIGHT away, recognized the offer OVER a year ago for what it was – an obvious attack on the SAG middle-class actor – rallied behind our leadership, gotten an SAV and struck if necessary.
Instead, the “moderates” made sure an already unsteady hand at the till (MF) was rendered completely ineffective, A YEAR HAS PASSED and we just signed the shit sandwich we were offered a year ago.
Now THAT’S “Leadership you can be proud of! Let’s get back to work!”
What work you say?
Well, you CAN audition for the NEW “SAG internet new media production” called “Nurses Who Kill” starring (wait for it) “2 time Emmy award winner KATHRYN JOOSTEN!” and, what is the pay?
CREDIT, MEALS, AND THE CHANCE TO WORK WITH AN AWARD WINNING TEAM!”
“credit”
Hi – Do you mind if I pay my light bill in “credits?”
Look folks – for all those assholes (Funny Farm, Pauly, truth teller) screaming bloody murder that this was all MF’s fault, HERE’S YOUR NEW MEDIA DEAL YOU FUCKING MORONS.
Jesus Christ on a fucking cracker.
IF – IF SAG doesn’t throw the “moderates” out by the fistfuls this September and get a BIG majority of people willing to at least FIGHT, I don’t care WHAT their allegiance is – MF – WHATEVER – as long as they have the willingness to FIGHT – for their benefits, pay, working conditions, residuals, and P&H (you know – all the stuff the people who came BEFORE you – “Pauly” and “truthteller” and “funny farm”? – the ones with BALLS?)
If SAG doesn’t turn it around and send this faction of the union that ALWAYS gives the producers whatever they want (just so I’m clear – the “moderates” who these assholes are crowing about, just gave us a contract that gave the producers WHATEVER THEY WANTED) SAG is D.O.N.E.
There is NO doubt in my mind: SAG must PURGE the “moderates” OUT of SAG government, then SURVIVE the next two years then STRIKE to get a COMPLETE REVERSAL in the shit sandwich 78% of those who voted just swallowed whole, by STRIKING in 2011. Period. There is no other way. These people are fucking POISON.
And guess what? We’ll have to strike BY OURSELVES.
Get used to it. Either we throw these shit-heels out in September and the September after that, and then go in saying “here’s the SAV. Hi.” to the AMPTP, and then, have a VERY SHORT MEETING. “NO?”
STRIKE. If the business collapses? So fucking what?
“CREDIT”!!!!!!!!!!
What the fuck do we have to lose?!