A Day in the Life of David Clennon

There are a lot—and I mean A LOT—of long, passionate emails going around from SAG members endorsing either Membership First or Unite for Strength. Some are meant for my eyes only and some are sent in mass forwards. There are simply too many to record on this blog.

But one sent yesterday from Membership First supporter David Clennon caught my eye as worth running here. Now, I don’t like taking cheap shots at anyone and I still consider myself an objective observer in this kerfuffle of an election. Plus, I’m particularly loath to assail Clennon, because he played one of my favorite characters on one of my favorite shows of all time.

Say what you will about this letter or Membership First, but Clennon’s creepy, mysterious Miles Drentell on thirtysomething was one of the best villains on TV ever .

Wasn’t I too young to be watching thirtysomething in the late ’80s? Probably, and thank you for noticing. But there wasn’t any prime-time programming for ’tweens when I occupied that demographic and Hannah Montana was nothing but a glimmer in her dad’s achy breaky heart. thirtysomething was my mom’s favorite show, thus it was mine. We had crushes on Michael Steadman, one of the hottest Jewish guys on TV ever--a close second to Seth Cohen on The OC. And we both feared and coveted his weird, subtly manipulative boss Miles. As I understand it, thirtysomething isn’t available on DVD or currently in syndication, which is a shame. And—like all actors--Clennon certainly deserves his fair share of residuals. What’s “fair,” of course, is a complicated determination.

Despite my love of Clennon’s work 20 years ago, I was amused, then kind of annoyed reading his email sent to “some friends” yesterday. In it, he expresses to his friends in the Membership First camp his frustration, particularly regarding Ken Howard’s recent letter that took SAG to task for spending $100,000 on the now infamous 12-page mailer and polling card. Clennon writes that UFS members are intentionally weakening the guild and affecting actors’ personal lives.

Clennon then gives a little snapshot of his life as an example of how actors are already struggling. It goes like this:

“We have twins in elementary school (the first children either of us has had). We bought our first house in 2001. It’s a modest, two-bedroom place, but we bought on the south side of Santa Monica so our kids could go to public school here. Of course, we paid a huge premium to gain that opportunity. Our mortgage is $3,400 per month. As I said, I’ve been lucky: We bought our house in a year when I could afford the down payment.

The exterior is long overdue for painting. Can’t afford it, Ken. We drive a 2002 Prius and a 1993 Honda. My wife’s computer is a first-generation iMac, c. 1999, inherited when her mother died. I have a 2002 eMac, with the original operating system. Our one television is a 1989 Trinitron given to us by my wife’s nephews, when they moved this year. Our DVD player is the Cinea that was sent free to members of the Academy five years ago, or longer. We don’t have iPhones or anything comparable.”

OMG, people! I had no idea a talented actor like Clennon was living in such dire circumstances. His Prius is six years old! He can’t afford to repaint his $1 million house in Santa  Monica! His TV is analog and he doesn’t even have an iPhone! No iPhone?? Will the injustice ever end??

Clennon says he’s not complaining that he’s “right in the middle of the middle class” and he's been luckier than most actors. He offers his sob story as means of “protesting against what Unite for Strength is doing to degrade our standard of living.” What’s more—according to Clennon--UFS leader Ned Vaughn is a Republican and Howard “doesn’t care that you could be destroying the rank and file’s hopes for winning a livable future.” I’ve pasted the whole letter in the Comments section for your perusal.

Clennon’s letter got me thinking of actors’ and other artists’ living situations. A Membership First supporter with whom I’ve been trading emails referred to two actor-friends yesterday. He wrote that one guy, who appears in HBO’s Generation Kill "was in  Africa  for five months! At HBO wages! And I'm sure he had to take a low-ball one-time buyout on the DVD, along with the rest of the cast…. And the guy is married with three kids--one born just after he returned from Africa, leaving his wife through the bulk of her pregnancy.” The Memb. Firster then referred to a friend “who just found out he's doing seven of 13 in a new sci-fi series that shoots in Mexico. I told him ‘congratulations’ and ‘bring a gun.’”

The point my email pal seems to be making is that actors have to spend long periods away from home in order to work, which is particularly unfortunate for those who have families or who may be shipped to dangerous places like the capital of Mexico (where I think a portable tank of oxygen would be more useful than a gun). But does that come as a surprise to anyone pursuing an acting career? Travel comes with the territory, along with long periods of unemployment, crappy day jobs, and residing in neighborhoods far less desirable than Santa Monica.

I chose a profession that comes with all of the above, too. I chose to purse a career as a writer knowing I might face 30-, 40-, 50-, and 60-something without the economic security, respect, or fame I’d like to have. But I guess I owed it to that nerdy kid watching thirtysomething with her mom to give it a try. Like Clennon, I’ve been pretty lucky. I even have a used, first-generation iPhone, so maybe even luckier by his standards.

Of course, actors deserve compensation that’s commensurate with how much their employers profit from films, TV shows, commercials, webisodes, etc. Such is the benefit of helping to produce products that make money in perpetuity. But before more “middle class” actors start grumbling about their Prius, let’s remember that you took a gamble and it paid off, which is great. But do you deserve more than other middle-class workers eking out the American Dream?

Twenty- and 30-something actors are always telling me that they don’t yearn for superstardom. They’d just like to live comfortably, work consistently, and raise a family doing what they love. I don’t think that’s bullshit or unattainable. But if you want assurances, becoming a full-time actor/writer/filmmaker/screenwriter/comic/painter/dancer/etc. isn’t the smartest move.

--Lauren Horwitch

Comments

[Lauren Horwitch]

Clennon’s complete letter as I received it:

From: David Clennon
Date: Fri Sep 04, 2009 02:44:32 PM US/Pacific
Subject: AN OPEN LETTER TO SOME FRIENDS

HOW THE POLITICAL BECOMES PERSONAL.

When Your FRIENDS Threaten Your Livelihood.

An open letter to “Unite-for-Strength” candidates,
who are my friends — To Ken Howard. Richard Speight. Keith Szarabajka.
Matt Letscher.

To William Charlton. Morgan Fairchild. Pamela Reed. And Tom Verica –

And to my friends among their “Unite for Strength” supporters: Tony
Shalhoub. Meshach Taylor.

To Ed Begley. Peter Coyote. Eric Stoltz. Mike Farrell. Richard Masur.
Kevin Kilner & Ron Perlman –

I’ve had the pleasure and the honor of working with every one of you,
and I’m comfortable calling you friends, or, at least, “friendly
co-workers.”

Ken, (I’m going to address you personally, because I’ve known you the
longest, but my questions are directed to the rest of you, as well) —
Ken, and my other friends — I don’t understand your behavior: If you
have ANY comprehension of what you’re doing to the rest of us in
S.A.G., Does your conscience trouble you?

If you don’t know how you’re hurting us, will you please do some
research, assess the current balance of forces between us and the
AMPTP, and then ask yourselves WHY you want to weaken our S.A.G.
negotiating team as it strives to secure us, the members, a livable
wage, at this turning point in our lives?

It’s not “just” Guild politics. Your political actions have real
PERSONAL consequences, for real people.

Let me give you an example, Ken, of the kind of person you’re hurting:

You’re hurting me. And my family. I’ve had ups and downs. I’ve been
luckier than most, and luckier than I ever deserved to be. But I have
never squandered my earnings. Let me give you a snapshot of my family’s
current situation:

We have twins in elementary school (the first children either of us has
had). We bought our first house in 2001. It’s a modest, two-bedroom
place, but we bought on the south side of Santa Monica so our kids
could go to public school here. Of course, we paid a huge premium to
gain that opportunity. Our mortgage is $3,400 per month. As I said,
I’ve been lucky: We bought our house in a year when I could afford the
down payment.

The exterior is long-overdue for painting. Can’t afford it, Ken. We
drive a 2002 Prius and a 1993 Honda. My wife’s computer is a
first-generation iMac, c. 1999, inherited when her mother died. I have
a 2002 eMac, with the original operating system. Our one television is
a 1989 Trinitron given to us by my wife’s nephews, when they moved this
year. Our DVD player is the Cinea that was sent free to members of the
Academy five years ago, or longer. We don’t have iPhones or anything
comparable.

In recent years, we would have lost our S.A.G. health insurance, Ken.
RESIDUALS, far more than my few scale-plus-ten salaries, put us over
the threshold. I’d say we’re right in the MIDDLE of the middle class.
And I’m NOT complaining about our standard of living. I’m protesting
against what Unite-for-Strength is doing to DEGRADE our standard of
living.

You are threatening me and my family. And you are threatening thousands
of your fellow actors, Ken, who have been LESS FORTUNATE than you and
I.

Your leader, Ned Vaughn, is a Republican, a member of the party of Dick
Cheney. I know an individual’s outside party affiliation is not
supposed to matter inside the Guild. (And the G.O.P. of Cheney was also
the G.O.P. of Eisenhower, Leach and Chaffee.) But, I’m sorry, that HAS
to tell you something. Again, the political becomes PERSONAL: The
eight-year reign of Cheney/Bush has negatively impacted my family and
all but a few Americans. Just one example, NED — American workers,
those in unions and those without, are battered and de-moralized,
thanks to your Secretary of Labor and your entire Administration.

I don’t believe that the driving force behind “Unite-for-Strength” is
the wish for merger, as sincerely as most of you may wish for it. I
believe the engine behind your campaign is driven, in large part, by
HATRED of MembershipFirst. The fantasy of merger is a pretext; the
goals are revenge and vindication. Look at the literature, look at the
blogging comments. Read Mike Farrell’s letter to his email list. The
rage and the hatred leap off the screen.

I’ve tried to figure out the motive behind their destructive behavior.
What I come up with isn’t pretty. Could it be that the people who are
steering your campaign DON’T CARE that you could be destroying the
rank-and-file’s hopes for winning a livable future? Is it possible that
they see a S.A.G. failure at the bargaining table as a DESIRABLE
outcome? One that will discredit their enemies, AT THE EXPENSE of the
majority of Guild members?

For thirteen years I was a loyal follower of your S.A.G. faction, which
has re-branded itself as “Unite for Strength.” In one earlier guise, we
called ourselves “Restore Respect” and, in general, we thought of
ourselves as “THE WORKING ACTORS.” During the writers’ strike, as I
walked their picket lines, and argued the writers’ case with friends
and strangers, I came to realize that I no longer belonged in the
company of “The Working Actors.”

Recently this faction made a concerted push to DISQUALIFY less
successful actors from voting on ratification of Primetime/Theatrical
contracts. Almost every one of you, Ken, endorsed the plan. I won’t
argue the merits here. But the TIMING of your divisive campaign, as we
were recovering from the writers’ strike, as we were preparing to face
the AMPTP, ourselves — your timing was unconscionable.

I voted twice for merger. I have never voted for a MembershipFirst
candidate or for any of their positions on referendums. But OUR
MEMBERSHIP ELECTED THEM to fight for us, to fight for a contract we all
can LIVE with.

I don’t care, now, that our negotiators MAY have made mistakes, in the
past. I don’t care, now, that MembershipFirst played rough in Guild
politics. I don’t care if they’re rude and obnoxious and
confrontational. I doesn’t matter to me now whether they’re gentlemen
and ladies. I don’t care that they have made a distinction between the
mass of our members and the Fortunate Few — a distinction your faction
trumpets as “divisive.” I don’t care if they, and our negotiators, are
the spawn of Beelzebub. They are OUR NEGOTIATORS, Ken. They are not
action-figures that you and your friends can smash if they don’t work
the way you think they should. They are the MEMBERSHIP’s negotiators.
And rank-and-file members need them to be strong.

I never thought I’d say something like this to another actor whom I
regard as a friend: This isn’t “just” POLITICAL. This is PERSONAL. You
are hurting a real PERSON, Ken. You are hurting MANY real persons,
including a whole younger generation of actors.

If you sincerely believe that merger is desirable and possible, then
DROP OUT NOW, and run again on that issue AFTER we’ve had a fighting
chance to win a fair contract. Do you have the decency NOT to disregard
the rest of us as less-than-pawns in your drive to destroy your
adversaries?

In my first draft of this letter, I wrote, ” . . . You are hurting MANY
real persons. And you should be ashamed of what you’re doing to us.”

But that doesn’t really capture what I feel. What I want to say is that
I’m disappointed. And I have to say that I take no pride in once having
thought of you all as friends.

Sincerely,

Dave Clennon

[Mark Carlton]

Elegantly said David. I guess we all forget that the membership voted for our Board members, the board in turn voted to seat the negotiating committee, which by the way is apportioned to represent all three divisions of SAG. The membership voted in the past on numerous occasions not to merge with AFTRA. Yes 58% of those voting in SAG voted for it, but that was not 58% of the union, only 58% of those that voted. Our founding fathers placed a 2/3 super majority requirement on the issue and that level was not met period! Get over it.

Ken and cohorts are helping the producers undermine our negotiating efforts.Why discredit our negotiators and try to hamper their efforts over a dead issue that a misguided faction wants to resurrect now. Let's stand together and get the best deal we can. We can always fight amongst ourselves later.

[Tom Ligon]

SAG election campaigns always take place this time of year.

SAG negotiations are usually done by now.

Because Membership First has been unable to make a deal, no one is supposed to run against them?

No one has "discredited our negotiators" as much as our negotiators have by their own actions.

Our misguided SAG "leaders" in Hollywood have fought, obstructed, and voted "No" before, during, and after negotiations long before they were ever the "leaders." Why are they whining "unfair" now?

[Carlton's SoDumb]

He doesn't even remember that it's 60%, not 2/3rds.

Oh well...

[Remind Myself]

*

Recently an insurance company nearly wind up....

A bank is nearly bankrupt......

How it affect you? Did you buy insurance? Did you buy mini note or bonds?

Who fault?

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Some might feel that it sound stupid….. as there is long and Short position…but in reality there is still many different caliber CEO…..so there is still long and short…..

Are you a partisan?

Sign a petition to your favourite president candidate, congress member, House of representative again and ask for their views to comment on this, and what regulations they are going to raise for implementation.....If you agree on my point, please share with many people as possible.... Media, please help to highlight also...

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