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5th UPDATE: One interesting note which both sides have pointed out to me tonight. If the SAG presidency race had just consisted of Unite For Strength’s Ken Howard and Membership First’s Anne-Marie Johnson (without spoiler Seymour Cassell whose positions were extremely hardline), then Johnson would have won the popular vote. More on this in a SAG/WGA election analysis I’m writing tonight.
4TH UPDATE: Here’s the official SAG announcement, finally:
KEN HOWARD ELECTED AS SCREEN ACTORS GUILD PRESIDENT;
AMY AQUINO ELECTED AS SECRETARY-TREASURER
Guild Also Announces Results of National Board ElectionsLos Angeles (September 24, 2009)—Screen Actors Guild today announced results of elections for its top two elected positions. Ken Howard will serve as Screen Actors Guild president and Amy Aquino will serve as secretary-treasurer. Both will serve two-year terms beginning September 25.
Ballots were mailed to 99,485 paid-up SAG members on August 25, and 27,295 were tabulated today, for a return of 27.44 percent. Presidential candidates Ken Howard received 12,895 votes, with Anne-Marie Johnson coming in second with 8,906 votes, Seymour Cassel got 4,838 votes, and Asmar Muhammad received 402 votes.
“I’d like to be among the first to extend my heartfelt congratulations to our newly elected Screen Actors Guild national leadership. I look forward to working closely with our new president, Ken Howard, and new secretary-treasurer, Amy Aquino, as we focus on the wide range of critical issues facing our members in the coming year,” said SAG Interim National Executive Director David White. “I also extend my thanks, and the gratitude of SAG members and staff to Alan Rosenberg and Connie Stevens for their service and sacrifice on behalf of our union.”
“I am deeply honored to be chosen by the membership to lead the Screen Actors Guild,” said Ken Howard. “I campaigned on the promise that I’d do everything in my power to strengthen our position at the bargaining table by building a greater unity with AFTRA and the other entertainment unions, and that’s exactly what I intend to do. Despite the sharp differences that those of us active in Guild affairs sometimes have over strategy and tactics, we need to continually remind ourselves that we’re all on the same team, fighting for the same thing — and by pulling together, we’ll only grow stronger.”
“I am truly honored that the members have entrusted me with this responsibility,” said Amy Aquino. “Progress has already been made toward strengthening SAG’s finances and I want to make sure it continues. Only by fortifying SAG in this way can we hope to ensure the protections that performers need in these challenging times.”
Screen Actors Guild also announced election results for the National Board of Directors. Twenty-two of the 69 national board seats were open for election this year, representing Screen Actors Guild’s Hollywood, New York and Regional Branch divisions.
“It is my privilege to welcome and congratulate our newly elected Screen Actors Guild National Board of Directors for 2009-2010,” said White. “Along with our staff nationwide, I look forward to working with them to pursue a robust agenda as we navigate the Guild through these changing times.”
The National Board members elected today will assume office on September 25 for terms of three years.
SAG’s Hollywood Division elected eleven National Board members; the New York Division elected four National Board members; and seven National Board members were elected from the union’s branches in Chicago, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Philadelphia, Portland and San Diego.
National Board members elected from the Hollywood Division: Martin Sheen, Ed Harris, Elliott Gould, Ed Asner, Anne-Marie Johnson, Connie Stevens, Diane Ladd, Dulé Hill, Hill Harper, Nancy Travis, and Marcia Wallace (all three-year terms).
The following were elected to serve as National Board alternates and to the Hollywood Division Board of Directors (all one-year terms). Gabrielle Carteris, Jenny O’Hara, Michael O’Keefe, Clyde Kusatsu, Dawnn Lewis, Doug Savant, Michelle Allsopp, Alan Rosenberg, D. W. Moffett, Joe Bologna, Robert Hays, Jason George, L. Scott Caldwell, Clark Gregg, Patrick Fabian, Bill Smitrovich, Ellen Crawford, Stacey Travis, Mandy Steckelberg, Renee Taylor, Bernie Casey and John Carroll Lynch.
National Board members elected from the New York Division: Sharon Washington, Monica Trombetta, Sam Freed and Liz Zazzi (all three-year terms). Additionally, New York Division members elected Mike Hodge as NY Division President.
The following were elected to serve as national board alternates and to the New York Division board of directors (all one-year terms.) Manny Alfaro, Sheila Head, Marc Baron, Joe Narciso, Jay Potter, Dave Bachman, John Rothman, Kevin Scullin and Justin Barrett.
National Board members elected from the Regional Branch Division: John Carter Brown (Chicago – three-year term), David Hartley-Margolin (Colorado – three-year term), Dave Corey (Florida – three-year term), Scott Rogers (Hawaii – three-year term), Helen McNutt (Philadelphia – three-year term), Mary McDonald-Lewis (Portland – three-year term), Don Ahles (San Diego – three-year term).
Ballots for all eligible SAG members in Hollywood and New York were mailed on August 25 with a September 24 return deadline and were tabulated today by the independent election company Integrity Voting Systems. A total of 13,718 ballots were tabulated in the Hollywood Division (representing 25.25 percent of ballots mailed in the Hollywood Division) and 5,997 ballots were tabulated in the New York Division (representing 26.11 percent of ballots mailed in the New York Division). The number of ballots returned in the Regional Branch elections varied by region.
For complete results, please visit SAG.org.
—
3RD UPDATE: (story coming) There are still no official announcements yet. But the coalition partners Unite For Strength and United Screen Actors Nationwide strangely broke the embargo that SAG set for itself today and leaked to reporters that Ken Howard has defeated Membership First’s Anne-Marie Johnson and is SAG’s new president while USAN’s Mike Hodge is the NY Division’s new president. In addition, UFS told reporters that it picked up several seats on the Hollywood board while its partner USAN picked up MF-siding independent candidate Eric Bogosian’s seat since he chose not to seek re-election.
2:30 PM UPDATE: There are still no official announcements yet. (SAG has told media to expect results at 3 PM.) But I’ve confirmed that Mike Hodge has been elected president of the Screen Actors Guild’s New York Division. And sources are telling me that SAGNOW did not win a single new seat in the New York Division contest. This means it is unlikely that MemberShip First, which was affiliated with SAGNOW, can re-take the majority of the Guild. And it is likely that Unite For Strength and its coalition partners in the NY Division, United Screen Actors Nationwide, and the Regional Branches Division, have widened their majority and thus strengthened their powerbase over the Guild as a whole. (The Regional Division results won’t be known until 5 PM or later today.
This was the first election when an opposition slate, SAGNOW, was formally fielded against USAN. MembershipFirst had been counting on picking up some NY Division seats in order to regain the SAG majority. Instead, SAGNOW was blanked despite the slate containing some well-known names. But, even worse for MF, its supporter, independent Eric Bogosian who was serving a one year term on the NY Division Board, did not run for re-election. So his seat was regained by USAN. (He also was an alternate on the National Board, in the second position in New York.)
As for the Hollywood board, every extra seat Unite for Strength wins (presuming it does) means a loss for Membership First, which is still expected to retain its domination of the Hollywood board.
NY Division’s Hodge succeeds Sam Freed, who did not seek re-election. “I am thrilled,” Hodge told Backstage. “We absolutely have a mandate to work and build for our members.” Hodge defeated Mitchell Green, who ran on the SAGNOW slate, which was aligned with the MembershipFirst faction. Like Freed, Hodge is a member of USCAN, the block that has held control over the New York division for years.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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For some insight into why MF didn’t win…see the above vitriolic posts.
One interesting note which both sides have pointed out to me tonight. If the SAG presidency race had just consisted of Unite For Strength’s Ken Howard and Membership First’s Anne-Marie Johnson (without spoiler Seymour Cassell whose positions were extremely hardline), than Johnson would have won the popular vote
Nonsense. This assumes that every one of Cassell’s votes would have gone to Johnson. If 80% of Cassell’s votes had gone to Johnson and 20% had not voted (a much more likely scenario than assuming 100% of votes going to Johnson), Howard would still have won.
richard,
You contradict yourself with your nonsensical response.
Nikki’s post does not assume, as you stated, “every” Cassel vote would have gone to Anne Marie Johnson. It only assumes that around 80% of the Cassel vote would have gone to AMJ. Big difference.
You yourself said only 80% of Cassel voters would have had to have gone to AMJ.
Which is probably more likely, than your simplistic assumption that they would just declined to vote. Likely voters are always likely to vote.
You are having some, fun with numbers, but your conclusions are faulty.
Ann Marie Johnson does not represent the system,she can’t be bought and would work for ACTORS….
and what’s right.
That’s why she was knocked out
ANN MARIE IS not a part of the system,she’s for the actors and what’s RIGHT
She can not be bought
To Matt Mulhern’s point that it was the “vilification by the moderates” that caused MF’s downfall, this is the problem with MF. They take no responsibility for their actions. It’s not that the membership has responded to the failure of MF, it’s essentially blaming the marketing of UFS for the election results. Man up Mulhern, take some responsibility. You were the Glen Beck to Rosenberg’s George Bush.
The trouble with the ‘spoiler’ theory is the assumption that all of Cassel’s votes would have gone to AMJ.
I don’t think that’s a given. It would have taken only 850 (17.5%) of Cassel’s votes to either go to Howard or stay home in order for him to have won in a head-to-head with AMJ.
I think there’s a great likelihood that Cassel pulled some people out of the woodwork, who might not ordinarily have opened a their ballot packets. I think it’s also reasonable to assume that some that voted for Cassel were protesting against AMJ and would have voted for Howard, instead.
Would that number have totaled 850? We’ll never know. It’s certainly a possibility. But it’s erroneous to assume AJM would have won in a two-way race against Howard.
mf has “deep pockets?”
uh, when tom hanks – let’s just stop right there, shall we? – and the amptp want ken howard to win, I think any conclusion that money from the moderate faction didn’t play a decisive role in this fight, is, let’s just say, somewhat disingenuous.
I have already gone on record making fun of my vote total. I actualy think it was around 1500, but, when I saw solidarityandgainsnow got SWEPT, I sort of realized masur has ny locked down like rikers. tony lobiance and melissa leo? nope. NOBODY was gettin in THAT boardroom, and eric bogosian is so sick of the ny boardrooms behavior in his year of service: issuing press releases without consulting or informing him, having votes in his absence, he just tossed in the towel and didn’t run for reelection.
aint NOBODY gettin elected in ny with a different point of view till boss tweed is dead and gone.
the utter ridiculousness of trivializing what was predicted from day one of cassel’s misogynist, rage-filled, self and union destructive announcement he would run for president (while being convicted on sexual harrassment charges) is going to be seymour’s legacy, his last spit of tobacco juice, as it were.
he actually wants to kick ass and take names for actors, which I’m all in favor of, but he lost this election for anne-marie johnson. period. it was predicted, amj knew it, I predicted it – EVERYONE predicted it, and you add cassel’s total and amj’s and she wins going away. cassel cost her the election. period.
so, the pendulum has swung and 24-ish% of the union has decided to go, yet again, with the “makey nice-nice” approach to union politics.
of course, if the a-list actors had come out FOR rosenberg and allen last year and said, in no uncertain terms “give the sag middle-class actor a fair deal, or you don’t have us,” sag would be working under a fair deal now. period. the a-list betrayal had as much, if not more to do with this debacle as anything.
celebrity rules in this country and when tom hanks looks in the camera and says “vote for ken howard” many actors, especially young ones, will go lemming, and walk right over the cliff.
so, now, I guess tom is partially responsible for how sag is going to survive, how sag is going to achieve a good contract which means a percentage of distributors gross, hopefully across ALL platforms, to systemically change the way sag actors are paid heading into the 21st century, and therefore tom should explain how sag will get back clip consent, product placement protections, residuals, force majeure,etc.
look into the camera and tell us your take on THAT, tom.
I’m not even especially interested in ken howards answer or amy aquino’s or richard masur’s, because I know one thing for certain from them: they have NO IDEA how, minus at LEAST an sav or a strike, sag will survive without being absorbed into aftra, (which they actually WANT) or get those things back, resulting in a good, solid contract, making a good, solid, future a real possibility for sag middle-class actors going forward.
so, tom, how about you dial up another video now, since you run our show a lot more than ken howard, amy aquino or richard masur ever have or will, and tell us how YOU see the sag middle-class actor getting out of this hellish new media deal and achieving a good contract going forward without an sav or strike?
I’m dead serious – any ideas tom? any clue at all?
Matt Mulhern -
Every post you have ever made – here, there, or anywhere – has been characterized by what you call “cross-eyed rage.”
You seem to be incapable of communicating a single thought or sentiment without diving into a bottomless bag of cant.
SAG voters in New York have placed you at the bottom of the list of what they want. So why not take a timeout?
And yet, he has the facts, while you have none.
We’ll see who’s gloating in a couple of years, when his predictions — which are already coming true — are undeniable to all. Not that he’d gloat. He has more class than that.
I just wonder, how do you breathe through all that sand?
Just out of curiosity, is SAG not going to have a VP position, or will Anne Marie remain VP until the next election?
Very confused.
At the first Hollywood Board meeting (in October) the (newly-elected) Hollywood Board will elect the 1st National Vice President from among the ranks of their National Board members.
The Hollywood Board could avoid continuing to be the premier laughingstock of the entertainment industry by electing someone other than anyone who has already been in that position.
Morgan Fairchild, Adam Arkin, or Amy Brenneman would be among the best options, in my estimation.
Let’s assume that without Cassell AMJ does win. (I agree with Richard & Mars. Remember, Connie Stevens lost, too) AMJ would be Pres and the board would be solidly UFS & their allies. Seymour Cassell did not affect the other board seats.
As to Matt Mulhern’s “well, it won’t be CALLED sag, it won’t be STRUCTURED like sag, it won’t be RUN like sag, it will clearly be an aftra-centric, less democratic, top-to-bottom, (rather than sag, which is bottom to top),” the democratic, bottom to top SAG voted for UFS. By your own annalysis, UFS won a democratic, “bottom to top” election. Are you saying that only way that MF could have won was with an “aftra-centric, less democratic, top-to-bottom” structure?
I don’t think the AMJ cheerleaders and apologists appreciate how despised she is by many. Had Seymour not run, A good number would have voted for Howard, voted for the astronomy metaphor guy, or just abstained altogether. She would not have picked up the 91% of Seymour votes needed. Not a chance.
Cassel is smart enough to know the sheep would vote for Ken Howard because they remember him from his prominent TV series where he was the lead. TV recognition is a powerful tool and is used to sell all kinds of things from Sally Field selling Boniva to Kate Walsh selling Cadillacs. It’s undeniable.
Now as for the thinking members, some may vote for Howard some may vote for Johnson some may vote for Cassel. But Cassel’s play to give the thinking members three choices knowing he would never ever win was a clear play by Cassel to get Howard in office–or more correctly to keep Johnson out. Thanks Seymour. As you said at a recent meeting–and I paraphrase only slightly: none of this affects me anyway. I’m gonna get work.
Go team!
SAG members had two choices in this election, one group put the SAG Membership First. Another whose platform was (is) UNITE with aftra FOR the STRENGTH of someone other than the rank and file SAG member. Most SAG members who voted chose the latter. But not me. If Ken Howard is afraid of hissing and jeering, wait until he speaks at the next membership meeting.
Dr. GigglesMatt, “you’re right…in your reference to the 1951 jurisdiction definition, “ALL film, is sag, ALL tv, EXCEPT THAT DONE IN A LIVE MANNER IS SAG”…however, that does not in any way include DIGITAL. Now you might claim that the ‘ecept that done in a live manner’ covers it, but legally, it does not cover digital.”
Actually, that’s a misconception that has been perpetuated by AFTRA in order to justify their poaching of cable and other shows. According to the charter issued by the AFL-CIO Jurisdiction arm the 4A’s is not determined by the means of delivery, whether film, digital, or whatever, but rather by the manner of the broadcast.
Here are two pertinent excerpts from that document.
“Jurisdiction is hereby by confirmed in SAG over all actors, (including singers, announcers, stuntmen, and airplane pilots,) employed in motion picture field, including without limitation, all motion pictures for use over television; also over all extras employed in such motion picture field in the state of New York.”
“AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED; that jurisdiction is hereby vested in the TVA (Television Authority) in all talent employed on live Television programs. Live Television programs are defined as live broadcasts, kinescope to supplement live broadcasts, film sequences made especially for, and integrated into the entertainment portion of a live program and any other program by kinescope or similar device done in the manner of a live program.”
If you would like to read the entire document go to: to:http://sagwatchdog.com/cgi-bin/admin_config.pl/read/710
Or you can use the SAG Watchdog search engine, entering the words “rare” “derived” and “jurisdiction”
A.L. Miller SW Editor & Chief
Seymour Cassel hates AMJ. Everyone knows that. He wasn’t going to let her win. BTW Seymour has devoted his life to actors and the Guild so if he wants to run, he’s earned the right.
Psst!!! Mattie!!!!
Cassel wasn’t “convicted of sexual harrassment.” He was found to have violated the SAG Constitution by means of conduct unbecoming a member. There’s quite a difference.
May I suggest you shut up until you get a clue what you’re talking about, especially when what you say verges on character defamation? I don’t know if Cassel’s the suing type, but if he is, you’ll be among the first to know.
But thanks for running. By doing so, you established an important baseline; there are 1,500 SAG members in New York who will vote for ANYTHING on the ballot. Hugh Jackman’s shoelaces could get 1,500 votes. From now on, future candidates will be judged on their ability to transcend the MULHERN LINE. Congratulations on becoming a cultural referent, you earned it.
well, it’s all over but the shoutin’. one question: does anybody have any answers to any questions I’ve asked in my posts above about HOW howard is going to get sag a good contract in 2011?
try to dispense with the personal insults for a few minutes and think REAL HARD.
please now, try to be honest and realistic. how will howard get a percentage of distributors gross across all platforms, or, at the very least, new media, how will howard get BACK clip consent, which the moderates just gave away, how will howard get BACK product placement protections, which the moderates just gave away? how will howard get BACK force majeure, which the moderates just gave away, residuals anyone?
in all the “we WON! ding-dong mf is DEAD!” vitriol, there isn’t a SINGLE substantive argument or policy proposal from ken howard and amy aquino, or the guy speaking into ken howard’s earpiece, richard masur from ny.
so, what? lay it out there somebody- at least take a swing. you won! fantastic! now, HOW ARE YOU GOING TO GET THE CONTRACT I DESCRIBE ABOVE which is the bare MINIMUM to qualify as “fair?”
you gonna go get an sav? you ready to strike?
I mean, it’s amazing! I just got finished watching bill maher with paul krugman, and “the rich get richer” statistics are astonishing. ASTONISHING.
and we just elected a sag government that, unless someone can point to ONE SINGLE PUBLIC announcement describing in detail something otherwise, is proposing “be nice!” as it’s platform.”be nice!” to aftra, who wouldn’t piss on sag if it was on fire. “be nice!” to the dga, same. “be nice!” to the amptp, same.
don’t you people realize the middle-class is going right down the tubes in this country, and the MAIN cause is the lack of spine of unions, which created the middle-class in the first place, through hard fought and won strikes, or threats of strike? do you people think the amptp is going to give ANY of this stuff back to us, because you just elected a “be nice!” government?
It’s SO INCREDIBLY STUPID it defies characterization. tom hanks says “be nice!” to the other unions and the producers. tom hanks says “things are changing, and we better change,” apparently by taking it right in the chops on wages, working conditions, residuals, p&h, clip consent, product placement protections, force majeure, etc., and “be nice!” to the amptp!
there is NO PLAN!
merge with aftra? 44 thousand of us (sag actors) are already IN AFTRA. doesn’t it make more sense, plain common sense, to cut out the double representation by being ONE ACTORS UNION, instead of actors, broadcasters (who do, and will, continue to work non union all the time) and recording artists, who couldn’t give a flaming fuck about the “actors” silo, when we come to them if they can duct tape richard masur in a basement somewhere long enough to get an sav? do you think those other branches will strike with us?
WHY?
richard masur, DURING HIS PRESIDENCY, said “there will be no strike during my presidency!” and folks – HE’S IN CHARGE NOW. he and aquino are joined at the hip – and will be speaking directly into ken howard’s earpiece for the entire time howard is president.
so, we have just elected people who, whether we merge with aftra or not – WILL NEVER STRIKE! and strike or threat of strike is the ONLY weapon sag has to get the producers to take us seriously! that’s it! we got nothin else. nothin’.
we just elected people who will never use it, whether we merge with aftra or not, and have gone on record WHEN president SAYING JUST THAT.
that UNIFIES actors, michael o’keefe? HOW?
I believe that when it all boils down, SAG suffers from the same illness that America suffers from: apathy; followed by a close second, ignorance. That translates into, “I don’t know, and I don’t care.”
But you just want to act, right? You don’t want to deal with all of that icky name-calling and having to actually learn the facts before making a decision, right? That’s for those other people, right?
You bunch of lazy, self-absorbed, whiny bitches. Yeah, that’s right SAG members, you are effing LAZY! 25% return on ballots? You should be ashamed. You joined a labor UNION, people. And with that membership you owe not just dues, but responsibility and involvement in how your union is run. But alas, too much “let the other guy do it”, and “it’s just one vote – I don’t even know which way to go”… and here we are. Besides, Tom told you what to do in case you had any questions.
The irony is that the people reading this (and these) post(s) mostly all voted – one way or the other – so I’m preaching to the choir. The lazy-asses left their apathetic heads in the sand and cried “I don’t wanna have to make an effort! And by the way, where’s my residual check?!!!!!”
The ignorance in and about American politics is staggering, and SAG is as political as any government or union you ever heard of. The worst part is that management (the AMPTP, in this case) knows this, and has known it all along – and they have beaten us handily because of it. (And by the way, Tom Hanks, among others, is the AMPTP by association.)
So welcome to your ass-kicking, SAG. As ye sow, so shall ye reap. In other words, you deserve this.
Congratulations to Ken Howard, Amy Aquino and all of the newly-elected board members. Truly. You all have obviously done something that enough SAG members care enough about to make their voices heard. The silent membership? Not so much – not that they care.
I’m not sure I want to continue to stand and fight for SAG when SAG doesn’t want to do it themselves. I’m exhausted with all of this. I’m getting, you know, apathetic. Can you blame me?
THERE IS NO WAY OF KNOWING IF ANNE-MARIE WOULD HAVE WON IF SEYMOUR DID NOT RUN. I SUPPORTED SEYMOUR, AND I WOULD NOT HAVE VOTED FOR ANNE-MARIE. I HAVE SAT ON CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS WITH HER, AND AS MUCH AS I LOATHE KEN HOWARD WINNING, I COULD NEVER SUPPORT HER FOR PRESIDENT OF S.A.G.
RE: Seymour Cassel as spoiler candidate? Horse pukky. He got votes from the 95%’ers because he is a star. If he hadn’t been in the race, Anne Marie Johnson still would have lost. Most of the non-thinking SAG voters vote a face only. The thinking voters vote quality and common sense…and the winner is: Ken Howard.
1) a combined union that has the power to strike and shut everything down is by no means in the interest of the AMPTP. A combined Union that says no more Runaway to Canada etc under any circumstances for membership.. but concentrates it’s lobbying on getting tax credits to increase production all over the country can only result in more production all over the nation for actors,and crew and thus serve it’s membership. Hollywood SAG for years has done what it could to weaken opportunity in other states like NY, Mi. La Tx etc…and keep S. California the center of all work opportunities..thusly limiting opportunities for the rest of actors outside of Hollywood
2)We all got fed up when Hollywood SAG tried to institute block voting so that the majority board votes in Hollywood would nullify the voices of the NY and regional boards in joint contract negotiations.
I can’t speak for everyone, I have akid that works pretty steadily in NY but I also know she would work more and make alot more if more productions were done here and not everything on TV is on the West Coast.. so the truth is..the membership have spoken and the sooner the Unions merger and carry leverage that can stop production everywhere by everyone the better off we will be with new media and all others.
So, now that democracy works, the MEMBERSHIP is now “duped”? And does ANYONE remember The White Shadow and would vote for Ken because of THAT? I certainly don’t think so.
The key is that a majority of SAG members have spoken in this election. Not for the Presidency (because I’m sure people here will complain about that), but the BOARD. Look at the make up – 21 U4S and 12 MF were elected out of the 33 Hollywood seats. It’s a MESSAGE.
We the membership are tired of fighting our sister union.
We the membership see that the course we have taken was destructive and is counter productive to getting us better contracts.
We the membership WANT to merge SAG and AFTRA (and Matt, you seem to have completely forgotten or never knew the terms of the consolidation under Melissa Gilbert where U4S worked WITH MF in the board room to come up with a plan, only to have MF work against it once many of the MF members voted for it in the board room. It would have been called SAG and Actors would have had their own section as well as a vast majority of board seats).
We the membership DO NOT WANT a jurisdictional battle (again someone posted inaccurate information – the quote from Walter Pidgeon was NEVER THE POLICY. Film vs tape was the jurisdictional lines that got blurred with digital).
Now, everyone here and MF have a choice here. They can become PART OF THE SOLUTION and work with Ken Howard and the majority of the board to make the best possible merger we can… OR they can continue to damage SAG by shooting everything down.
Don’t be the party of NO. Remember, consolidation was passed by a MAJORITY of SAG members last time. It was just shy of 59% but we needed 60%. This time IT WILL PASS!
You can be part of the solution or you can continue the war of egos. The choice is yours.
Sincerely,
Peter Elliott
I don’t think any of you have any idea what the fuck you’re talking about..the reason SAG is in the position it’s in, is the exact reason the USA is in the position it’s in politically: an apathetic, ill-informed, uninformed populace/membership. SAG has been a cluster fuck since the 2000 strike(maybe way before that,dunno, only been a member since 1997). I’d love to know how many people actually bothered to vote at all, of the paid up members..I bet it’s pretty fucking low.
As a member, I have no idea who’s telling me the truth, what to believe, or WHO to believe. All I know is every contract and election cycle, it’s mindless bullshit, stupid fucking e-mails about how this slate is SO in our corner, THAT slate sucks, meanwhile, Ken Howard didn’t even have the BALLS to have a simple debate. And he won. Because Tom Hanks likes him. AWESOME. The problem isn’t the leadership, really: It’s all of us who put up with this bullshit. and, I know why: this is a town full of cowards. everyone is so afraid of offending someone who might employ them someday that no one takes a stand for ANYTHING, and the ones that do(Like Anne-Marie Johnson, for instance) don’t get elected because their LACK of cowardice makes the cowards feel bad; they’d rather throw their lot in with other cowards like them. Utterly, completely pathetic. FAIL. Residuals are about gone, the move to new media is almost complete, the AMPTP got the monetization figured out on their end, and we got fucked, but good. Thanks, SAG,thanks AFTRA. This actor applauds your efforts..good going. Now, let’s merge with AFTRA so Ryan Seacrest and Ernie “keep fucking that chicken” Anastos get to have a vote on our theatrical contract. I always wanted to know their thoughts on the matter…
You elect a guy who wouldn’t even debate? A guy who wouldn’t even stand up in front of the membership and give his point of view? I’m not sure who is more clueless in your union, the membership who voted for this guy, or the sub-groups pretending to run the show. And, I hate to tell you guys, but your big merger strategy is a joke at the studios. Good luck.
Bought and paid for.
MF had a Fundraiser just days before the end of the race precisely because they were out spent by an educated guess amount 3 to 1 or 4 to 1 and I’m sure they thought a final fundraiser might help them buy another e-mail blast, or pay existing campaign debts.
Now the Tom Hanks thing is interesting.Others may suggest his mere endorsement and celebrity swayed the votes. I wonder if it wasn’t more than just persuasion?
IF Mr. Hanks wrote a check for 10 grand — or better yet, handed Ned Vaughn a paper sack filled with 10 grand in cash, Mr. Hanks would only have been technically guilty of ‘buying’ a SAG election if it could be proven that he as currently in a position to hire Actors, or was involved in casting.
If he was just a ‘concerned member’ who was not actively hiring Actors as an employer, I know of no SAG rule that would have been broken by him giving huge sums to get ‘his team’ elected. Or maybe Matt Damon kicked in few thousand, or Sally Field or some of the other “Don’t ever strike we want to keep our gravy train going” stars paid big bucks to keep SAG ‘compliant’?
However, if Agents A, B or C donated even a penny — or Studio Heads X, Y or Z did — UFS/USAN had better hope they NEVER get any disgruntled candidates who decide to switch sides and spill the beans.
Because buying a Union election by Employers is a crime punishable by doing some time in a Federal pokey.
You telling us Ned Vaughn and Bill Smitrovich and Clyde ‘what’s his name’ all contributed 5 grand each?
Please.
Any decent accountant could go back and do a forensic audit of the amounts spent by both sides.
Just compare the number of mailers, the number of e-mail blasts and the robo calls and flyers sent by both sides.
Then a person could ‘assign’ a dollar amount spent per candidate.
I’ll bet MF spent a grand per candidate, maybe a little more.
My guess in UFS/USAN spent 4-5 grand per candidate in Hollywood — who knows how much was spent in New York.
This election was bought and paid for, ladies and gents.
And, just like the ‘grassy knoll’ back in 1963 I doubt if we will ever know exactly how it was done.
So now Ken (“Don’t Wake Me – I’m Snoring”) Howard and his puppet mistress Aquino (and her ‘controller’ Masur from New York) have the task of getting SAG Members a living wage while refusing to even consider a strike as a possible weapon.
Let’s see how the Members vote after they realize how willing the current Leadership is to give away the farm to ‘keep working’.
This new team almost makes me want to go to work for the AMPTP as a negotiator. Nothing like having an adversary lie down, expose their jugular and hand you the knife on the first day of negotiations.