Results tagged “actors”

Finally. "The nine-month stalemate between the Screen Actors Guild and producers came to an end Tuesday night as SAG members overwhelmingly voted to approve the union’s new TV/theatrical contract with the AMPTP. The final tally: 78 percent voted 'yay', and 22 percent voted 'nay'," reports the The Warp. "The contract includes a 3 percent wage increase, a .5 percent increase in pension and health contributions and residuals for new-media work similar to the guild’s home-video residuals."

Crisis averted (for some) in Hollywood: "A union that represents more than 35,000 film and television workers has approved a three-year contract with Hollywood producers," according to cbs2.com. The new contract goes into effect on the 1st of August, and was unanimously endorsed by all 15 Hollywood local groups of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). Reflected in the new contract are "some modest pay hikes but also cuts in health and pension benefits." Although some members of the longstanding union felt their leaders were negotiating outside their best interests, the majority were eager to get the contract settled, particularly in light of "the industry's recent struggles."

The Screen Actors Guild announced last night that they will put off having their members vote on a possible strike. Rather than send the ballots out on January 2nd, they have opted to wait until January 14th to mail them, cbs2.com is reporting. Many people in and out of the entertainment industry believe this is the wrong time for SAG to strike because of the obvious and immediate impact it will have on the many people who are employed in connection to television and film production. Further, the New York branch of SAG recently voiced their objection to the strike--a move SAG has been talking openly about for some time now, and particularly after negotiations with Hollywood studios failed.

The movie studios, represented by the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), published an ad this weekend accusing the actors of demanding more than all the other unions that have come to agreements with the group. In a statement, they said actors are "demanding that the entire industry literally throw out all its hard work because it believes it deserves more than the 230,000 other working people in the industry."

The four men who play Captain Jack Sparrow from the popular Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise were told it was time to walk the plank, so to speak, when they lost their Disneyland jobs recently. So why did the Mouse cut the swashbucklers loose?

Yesterday, thousands of homeless were served at the Los Angeles Mission, home of the Anne Douglas Center for Women. Actor Kirk and Anne Douglass hosted the Thanksgiving dinner with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Cindy Crawford, Corbin Bleu, Jennifer Love Hewitt and other notable names joining in on the serving line.

Following an unsuccessful period of meetings between the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) at the request of federal mediator Juan Carlos Gonzalez, according to the AMPTP, "the parties were unable to reach an agreement and the mediator has adjourned the mediation process."

As the Screen Actors Guild and the movie studios, represented by AMPTP, meet for the first time in four months today, the Writers Guild of America announced that writers are not getting paid for new media residuals, which was the core issue they held a 100-day strike over. That can't help today's meeting, which will include a federal mediator, because new media is one of the big reasons that SAG and AMPTP have not come to a deal yet.

Now three months without a contract, the Screen Actors Guild is trying to get the movie studios to restart talks by looking into "three make-or-break issues," according to Variety. But studio execs aren't budging saying SAG needs to change their position on those issues. "If we can reach agreement on three threshold issues, we can finish these negotiations," SAG wrote in an open letter. "Other issues divide us, certainly, but we believe those other issues can be successfully addressed once we have resolved these three threshold issues." The last face-to-face meeting between SAG and studios was on July 16.

The votes came in and were counted: members of AFTRA--the nation’s second largest performers’ union--overwhelmingly voted to ratify a contract with the AMPTP, who represents movie studios and producers, by a 62.4% margin.

The Screen Actors Guild announced today that they will "present its response" to the "last best final" contract offer by movie studios and producers, who hope it will be accepted. With that, Nikki Finke opines: "... 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."

Now that the contract between the largest actors guild and the movie studios has expired, with talks to resume Wednesday, the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers is using a tactic on their website to show the economic pain the actors will supposedly cause if they authorize a strike. Two flash animation boxes on their homepage give out these statistics based on an Milken Institute study (for the writers strike) and Screen Actors Guild's reported earnings.

Day 42 into the negotiations between the Screen Actors Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and no result. The contract expires Tuesday at 12:01 a.m. and the next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday.

Today, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers took out an ad (to the left) in both Variety and Hollywood Reporter stating their concerns over another strike.

Movie studios are preparing for the worst, an actors strike, which could begin in July if contract talks go sour, according to the LA Times:

Studio Reps: "'Frustrated and discouraged' at the guild's attitude."

Screen Actors Guild members outside of Los Angeles are reportedly fuming over Monday's rally, which was billed as a pro-SAG "solidarity" event, but ended up having anti American Federation of Television and Radio Actor tones. Around 500 actors and supporters of the movement rallied outside SAG's Wilshire Blvd. headquarters chanting "Vote No!"

Although the Screen Actors Guild said today was a "solidarity" rally, Variety plainly headlines the event: "SAG rallies against AFTRA, Guild member encourage to vote down deal."

UPDATE: About 500 people showed for the rally. See photos here.

---

This morning, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) will hold a "solidarity" rally at their Wilshire Blvd. Headquarters, a move the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) is calling decisive and possibly illegal. "It’s disingenuous of SAG to call it a ‘solidarity’ rally when it’s clear that it will be an anti-AFTRA rally,” said AFTRA President Roberta Reardon.

• Hey, who's ready for another strike? The actors might be after the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists voted to split with the Screen Actors Guild, heightening fears that Hollywood may be in for another work stoppage. The last one cost Los Angeles County more than $1 billion. Time to switch from Whole Foods to Trader Joes, actors.
• OK, so the Dodgers lost last night, but the experience was pretty frickin' awesome. If you were not one of the 100 grand lucky enough to attend, read some prose from DodgerThoughts and view some of the sights from what was a very special day and night. But, it wasn't all pretty, the Daily News found.
• Guess who does not like Sam Zell. I'll give you a hint: most people.
• Former Laker, et al, Isaiah Rider was arrested Saturday and released Sunday for driving an allegedly stolen vehicle. This follows a string of arrests for the former basketball star who told courts that his life had spun out of control.
• A mom who stands accused of driving her son and a car full of other gang members to kill a 13-year-old will be tried for murder and could face the death penalty. Police say the mother plotted the attack.
• "There’s a crisis in L.A. city hall," City Councilman Dennis Zine said to LA City Beat about the city's financial deficit. By July 4, Los Angeles could be in a $400 million hole. Better get used to those potholes.
• Shoving matches, tense confrontations and police back-up have characterized a terse and ongoing battle for the state of Texas. First Clinton won the primary, then Obama won the caucus. Now no one is sure who should get all those extra delegates.
  Continue reading "Extra, Extra: A Strike for Hollywood and a Home Run for Los Angeles"

State Senator Sheila Kuehl is at it again, but this time it's not about speed cameras in Beverly Hills, it's about writers and other artists getting their fair share of residuals. In a press release from the Writers Guild of America, they explain the problem of underselling television series and movies and what SB1765, the "Fair Market Value Bill," aims to do:

Since the major media networks in the United States have come to own many cable channels, the practice of selling TV series or movies for less than the fair market value of the content has become more and more prevalent. In many cases, the product is sold or licensed from one entity to another entity within the same parent company. This creates a problem for actors, writers, and performers who rely on the amount of a sale of material for their residuals – payments made to the creators or performers of a work for showings or screenings after an initial use.

Kuehl, who represents parts of Los Angeles and Ventura County is a SAG member herself. "Many of my constituents work within the entertainment industry, and I have recently heard more and more about the growing practice of selling entertainment content, such as television series or films, for less than their fair market value. This practice has a deeply detrimental effect on the amount of compensation for creative talent like writers and actors. But the damage goes further because so-called below-the-line staff, like the Teamsters, rely on the proceeds from such a sale of content to fund their health and pension plans. This bill simply ensures that workers in the entertainment industry have the protection they need."