Monday, December 22, 2008
In a new development late today, the Screen Actors Guild put the brakes on a plan to send out strike authorization ballots to its membership on January 2, 2009. SAG’s National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator, Doug Allen, announced the change in a message to the 122,000 members posted on the guild’s website. Allen says the much publicized No SAG Strike petition drive has prompted […]
Monday, December 22, 2008
Despite the demands of the holiday season, the battle over the Screen Actors Guild’s upcoming strike authorization vote is picking up steam. Yesterday, an article on the Variety website touted the addition of more celebrities to the No SAG Strike petition; among the new signers George Lopez, Susan Sarandon, and Charlie Sheen. That petition drive kicked off three weeks ago and has accumulated […]
Thursday, December 11, 2008
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers wasted no time in creating a response to yesterday’s announcement of a strike authorization vote by the Screen Actors Guild. On its website the AMPTP, the representative for the big studios, slammed SAG’s leadership for the breakdown in the contract talks. The AMPTP warned the actors that, “… no strike can solve the problems […]
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
The Screen Actors Guild is gearing up for a strike authorization vote. Today on its website, SAG announced the ballots for that vote will be going out to the membership on January 2, 2009. This is a serious step in the direction of another crippling labor strike in the entertainment industry. On Monday, SAG leaders reportedly got a lot of positive feedback to their […]
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Even with the help of a mediator, negotiations between the Screen Actors Guild and the producers imploded early this morning. SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have been haggling over a contract for months. The meeting with federal mediator Juan Carlos Gonzalez was seen as a last ditch effort to avoid a strike by the union’s […]
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Those long-running Screen Actors Guild negotiations appear to be stalled in a nowhere zone. The most recent press release posted on SAG’s website is dated August 15 and it claims “informal discussions” are happening. Ah, but wait, over on the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers’ website a posted statement denies there are ANY talks underway. Not a good […]
Monday, July 28, 2008
Over the weekend, SAG’s National Negotiating Committee got some heavyweight support from the union’s National Board of Directors. On Saturday, July 26 the board passed a resolution reaffirming the importance of jurisdiction over all new media productions as well as residuals for all made-for-new media programs. The resolution passed unanimously 68-to-zip. This is a vote of confidence for the […]
Thursday, July 17, 2008
No new talks scheduled between SAG and the AMPTP, but the rumble over the actors’ contract flared up again today. This time the battleground was the Internet. SAG sent out an e-mail titled, “It’s Not New Media – It’s Now Media” to its members explaining why the studio bosses’ final offer is not good enough. The e-mail from National Executive […]
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
SAG and the AMPTP met for a few hours in a sidebar today, but apparently little progress was made. The meeting took place at 1 p.m. in AMPTP’s Sherman Oaks headquarters. SAG sent out a very brief press release tonight — only about four lines. It stated both parties agreed to keep the contents of the meeting confidential. Still, a clue was reportedly dropped on where […]