Blog Stage - Acting in Film, TV, Theatre - Backstage

Strike Watch Has Moved to Espresso

You can now find all union-related news in Espresso, under Unions.

Espresso is Back Stage's news blog, a compendium of the latest entertainment news from various sites, along with analyses and original reporting.

--Andrew Salomon

SAG Board Approves Two Contracts

For one day at least, the SAG national board had a common sense of purpose, unanimously approving the commercials contract and preparing to send it to the rank-and-file for ratification. It brought to mind the days before the guild was riven with internecine fighting.

Then Sunday came around and the board was divided again over whether to send the tentative deal with TV and film producers on a new two-year contract to members as well. Still, the self-described moderates were able to get the votes they needed, raising the possibility--and we underscore possibility--that SAG's two biggest contracts could be settled by Memorial Day.

SAG, Producers Reach Tentative Deal

It is not certain that the long stalemate between SAG and producers is over, but it does appear to be coming to a close. Both SAG and the AMPTP issued a statement Friday afternoon stating that a tentative deal has been reached.

In a news release, the two parties said they would give no details of the settlement "prior to review by the SAG national board of directors this Sunday, April 19, at a previously scheduled board meeting via videoconference in Los Angeles and New York."

However, a guild source who has been close to the negotiations told Strike Watch that SAG achieved its latest demand--that this contract expires at the same time AFTRA's does, June 30, 2011.

Key Deadlines for SAG Awards

   We pause a moment from our usual news of Sturm und Drang (und Stillstand und Konflikt) to bring you something positive: The key deadlines for the 16th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, to be held Jan. 23, 2010.

The first deadline is Friday. Members must pay their November 2008 dues to be eligible for random sample drawings for nominating committees. On April 22, those drawings will take place.

Here is a complete list of dates of deadlines and key events.

--Andrew Salomon

Variety, LAT Report of Motion on Picture Talks

Dave McNary of Variety reports today that there has been movement between SAG and the AMPTP on getting a new deal. However, the story doesn't say much, except that members of the guild negotiating task force "have been summoned" for an update on the talks.

Richard Verrier of the Los Angels Times seems to have a story that's a bit more solid, reporting that the two sides are close to resolving a number of issues, including the most recent sticking point: the contract's expiration date.

If you'll recall, the two sides seemed close to a deal in mid-February, but the talks fell apart over the expiration date. SAG wants its deal to expire June 30, 2011, when AFTRA's contract terminates, to have more leverage for its next round of talks. The studios want a full three years from the ratification date.

Cancellation of 'Guiding Light' Could Mean Darker Days

Wednesday must have been a strange day for AFTRA and Procter & Gamble.

Representatives for the nation's second-largest performers union and largest advertiser concluded marathon negotiating sessions for a new commercials contract at 7 a.m. Eastern. A few hours later, the cast and crew of Guiding Light, the longest-running scripted program in broadcast history, were told the show was being canceled, ending a 72-year run that stretched back to the radio days.

But the cancellation is about a lot more than the likely conclusion of a historic run. It's the first significant development in what could be a radical restructuring of daytime television.

No Foolin': Unions, Advertisers Have a Deal

Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay.

I went to bed at 2:45 this morning. Sue me if the headline for the previous post is a touch inaccurate, now that unions have a tentative deal with advertisers on new, three-year commercials contract.

The deal was announced just after 7 a.m. Tuesday morning. Here is a full text of the announcement.

Peace and Happiness and Resolution in Union Town ... Psych!

All the strife in the Hollywood labor unions is over.

April Fool's.

We're all still in limbo.

Representatives for the performers' unions and the advertisers bargained past the official deadline of the commercials contract Monday night and into Tuesday morning, a source close to the talks said.

Though there was no consensus an hour after the existing deal expired, there was no indication from the source that the talks would collapse without an agreement.

As actors have learned over the past nine months with SAG's expired TV/film contract, they can work according to the terms of on an old contract indefinitely, as long as they don't strike or management doesn't lock them out.

Membership First Marches On

   Membership First partisans and other SAG members, about 100 in all, demonstrated outside the L.A. outpost of the U.S. Justice Department yesterday, Variety reports. The group contends that AMPTP companies are violating anti-trust laws, because they create and distribute content in such a way that, in effect, lowers wages.

The Gilla Roos Story

A little bit of self-referential treatment today: Gilla Roos, Ltd., a New York-based talent agency that shuttered Feb. 20, has shortchanged its performers by at least $150,000, according to an investigation by Back Stage. At least 75 actors and models are claiming to be owed money, with the average person missing roughly $3,000.