SAG, Producers to Talk Thursday

Representatives for SAG and the AMPTP will meet officially for the first time since midsummer on Thursday, sources close to the process have told Back Stage. The meeting follows weeks of shuttle diplomacy by federal mediator Juan Carlos Gonzalez in which he "mostly listened," one source said.

Although the two sides will meet in the same room, it is not at all certain they will negotiate. The AMPTP has insisted since late June that its offer was final. SAG negotiators, however, are demanding that the terms for work in new media be improved, even though they are comparable with those accepted in contracts this year with the directors guild, the writers guild, and AFTRA.

The terms SAG finds most objectionable:  1) AMPTP companies would be allowed to make nonunion work for new-media platforms if costs fall below certain thresholds ($15,000 per minute/$300,000 per program/$500,000 per series order); 2) residuals for new-media work would be limited to content that costs more than $25,000 per minute.

If Gonzalez is unable to facilitate an agreement, the guild's national board could declare that mediation has failed and then send a strike-authorization referendum to the rank and file. If 75 percent of voting members approve the measure, the national board would have the authority to call a strike.

Nevertheless, it is uncertain the board would call a strike, even if given authority. Some board members in the New York and regional-branch divisions have said the new-media terms, while not ideal, are not bad enough to strike over, particularly in an uncertain economy. Unite for Strength, a group of actors who favor merger with AFTRA, replaced some of the board's more hawkish members in the Hollywood Division during elections last September, giving moderates a razor-thin majority on the national board.

However, board members in Hollywood, particularly those who belong to the Membership First faction, have said that accepting the new-media terms would set a dangerous precedent that would erode union jurisdiction and actors' residual payments, particularly those working in television.

--Andrew Salomon

Comments

[Michael Russnow]

It's increasingly necessary to realize what is at stake, and nothing demonstrates this better than the following video featuring German TV star Andreas Stenschke, who explains how most Europeans receive no residuals or royalties at all for use of their work after they are initially paid. SAG Members should heed this, as it's an eye opener and should not be forgotten:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PPZV3dTzbg

[Michael Russnow]

It's increasingly necessary to realize what is at stake, and nothing demonstrates this better than the following video featuring German TV star Andreas Stenschke, who explains how most Europeans receive no residuals or royalties at all for use of their work after they are initially paid. SAG Members should heed this, as it's an eye opener and should not be forgotten:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PPZV3dTzbg

[Michael Russnow]

It's increasingly necessary to realize what is at stake, and nothing demonstrates this better than the following video featuring German TV star Andreas Stenschke, who explains how most Europeans receive no residuals or royalties at all for use of their work after they are initially paid. SAG Members should heed this, as it's an eye opener and should not be forgotten:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PPZV3dTzbg