USAN Unveils Pro-Merger SAG Slate

COMMENTS (6)

• Lewis Black – Producer.
  Manny Alfaro – 5 tiny roles in 20+ years
  Dave Bachman – 5 tiny roles in almost 30 years
  Marc Baron – Actor-Producer-Location Scout 5 nothing roles in 25 years
  Mark Blum – Producer
  Rebecca Damon – AFTRA Soap Operas
  Traci Godfrey – AFTRA Soap, Video Games, 1 TV show
  Ezra Knight – 1 TV Show mostly crappy credits.
  Jay Potter – Actor
  John Rothman – Producer
  Kevin Scullin – AFTRA, and lots of extra work.

  This slate is bad for rank & file SAG members. I won’t vote for any of them. Perhaps one of them will grow some balls and divulge the truth about the behind-the-scenes destruction of SAG and get Ken Howard and Amy Aquino thrown into federal prison where they belong.

  Comment by Simon — Tuesday July 26, 2011 @ 4:16pm PDT  Reply to this post

• I know every single one of those USAN candidates, and I can tell you that a more honest, intelligent and dynamic group of actors concerned about our union and its members does not exist on planet earth.

  If an actor’s IMDB listings determined their worth to the guild there would have been a valueless desert leading our union for the past 50 years.

  It’s so easy to denigrate another actor’s work. But I also know the person who wrote the above comment and happen to know he doesn’t earn his living as an actor and has been fired from more than one production because of his unprofessional behavior.

  God’s watching, pal, and may you get what you deserve.

  Comment by working actor — Tuesday July 26, 2011 @ 6:16pm PDT  Reply to this post

  • You have no idea who I am you lying idiot. No one has ever fired me from a set in my 20-year career. I’ve worked multiple times for EVERY studio in town. I have more Indie credits than most of the USAN slate combined. I have a SAG project lined up for August. And despite your lame assertion, having credits/having worked as an actor ARE vital to understanding actors’ needs. You are a creepy USAN shill. Stop lying to the SAG membership. And since you mention God, if that happens to be real, God have mercy on the UFS/USAN slates because Satan is waiting for those sorry SOBs.

    Comment by Simon — Wednesday July 27, 2011 @ 1:27am PDT  Reply to this post

• Putting aside ones IMDB page, (although this list is pretty consistent with the level of acting experience of the new re-elected AFTRA president Roberta Reardon) let’s just look at what is motivating these performers: Merging with one of the weakest (soon to be eclipsed in weakness by SAG) talent unions in the world. If we just concentrate on one of the differences between the two unions (and there are tons of differences), but let’s just look at one key difference: SAG’s pension and health compared to AFTRA’s. SAG’s, in all areas, is SUPERIOR to AFTRA’s. Do these proponents for merger think that the new union will have plans as good as SAG’s current plan, or more like AFTRA’s employer friendly, inferior plan? Will the new union have a pension accrual rate that is twice that of AFTRA’s, like SAG is now? Will the new unions health premiums be a fraction of what AFTRA’s are for a family of 4 like SAG’s health plan? Will the new unions pension plan allow contributions made on up to $225k per employer/job like SAG or $200k per YEAR like AFTRA’s?

  Any duel card holder knows that SAG’s pension and health plans are just better than AFTRA’s. So, what will happen if we merge? The trustees will have to create new pension and health plans. Half of the Trustees are AMPTP members.( our employers) Does anyone in their right mind think that these employers are going to strive to replicate the actor friendly, more expensive (for the employer) SAG plans? Or will they fight to replicate the more producer friendly/ cheaper (for the employer) AFTRA plans? But here’s the funny/pathetic thing. It has been said publicly, by members of the Presidents For One Union Task Force, that nothing will be discussed, studied or evaluated about the merging of the retirement and health plans until the unions merge.

  Will USAN candidates demand that the unions do some sort of study about the merging of the plans prior to any vote regarding the unions merging? Will these USAN candidates demand that the new union prohibits AFTRA broadcasters from working non union jobs like ESPN, MSNBC, CNN etc… Will these USAN candidates demand that AFTRA stop their open door policy before merger takes place?

  And regarding the previous comment about how “honest and intelligent and dynamic group of actors concerned about our union and its members….” Many on the list are not so bright when it comes to union matters. And as for Lewis Black… I used to be a fan until I heard him rail against SAG regarding the 2000 commercial strike and the hard stance SAG took, supporting the WGA strike and fighting for a better contract in 2008. Oh yeah, he’s a true unionist. A truly WAK unionist. Good luck NYC.

  Comment by union advocate — Tuesday July 26, 2011 @ 7:04pm PDT  Reply to this post

• For those that think IMDB credits don’t matter think again. It let’s you know how much they have vested in their pensions and how important it is to them on how this merger works. If someone doesn’t work much as an Actor in either union, then the issues of their pension plan doesn’t really matter, because they don’t have much vested in it.

  For those of you who will say maybe they’re working contracts that don’t get credits i.e. extra work – well think again, they’re not working the same contracts that working Actors are working. So how will they know what is best for the working Actors? Since they don’t work those contracts and have no idea what is best for us. So the point of having a slate of non working Actors, representing working Actors makes no sense to me – it’s just not that important to them, they don’t have that much vested, so they don’t have that much to lose!

  Give me a slate of working Actors or at least Actors who have worked!

  Comment by Scott — Tuesday July 26, 2011 @ 10:58pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Commercials contract is the biggest income earner for SAG — Followed by Motion Pictures, and then by TV. Commercial credits are not listed on IMDB, so it is very easy to be a working actor, making a damn good living, and not have ANY credits on IMDB. Union Advocate, Simon = Idiot Nation. Scott — most of those actors on the USAN slate work: and a lot of it is in the contract that keeps SAG afloat.
  Up yours, elitist assholes.

  Comment by eyeroller — Thursday September 1, 2011 @ 9:42pm PDT  Reply to this post