Studios' 'final offer' safe for now
When the AMPTP made what it calls its final offer to SAG on June 30, it came with a caution: The offer would remain on the table unless there's a drastic change in the economy.
Full story
Oct. 5, 2008
SAG's strike call was no balk
When SAG's negotiating committee sent the strike-authorization decision back to the guild's national board, some members suggested internal politics were the driving force behind the move.
Full story
Oct. 1, 2008
SAG panel: Board should take strike vote
After months of seeing its talks with the AMPTP go nowhere, SAG's negotiating committee Wednesday urged its national board to take a strike authorization vote of its membership.
Full story
Sept. 30, 2008
SAG closes in on strike vote
SAG's negotiating committee is expected to approve a measure Wednesday asking for the rank and file's approval for a work stoppage, and the measure probably will pass, according to SAG sources with knowledge of the meeting.
Full story
Sept. 29, 2008
SAG asks to meet with AMPTP
In an attempt to extend an olive branch to the studios, SAG's leaders sent a letter Monday to the AMPTP's Nick Counter, Fox president Peter Chernin and Disney president Bob Iger, posing the question "What do you say: When can our committees meet face-to-face?"
Full story
Sept. 22, 2008
SAG negotiator 'on thin ice,' or is he?
In the wake of MembershipFirst losing the majority on SAG's national board -- and losing seats on the Hollywood board as well --the big question facing the guild is this: Will national executive director Doug Allen keep his job?
Full story
Sept. 18, 2008
SAG members vote for change
SAG members on Thursday voted for change, electing members of a faction that has promised to unite the union as it faces its toughest challenge in negotiating a new contract with the major studios and production companies.
Full story
Sept. 17, 2008
SAG members polled on contract
With SAG and the AMPTP deadlocked on a new TV/theatrical contract, a recent poll by the actors union has revealed that 87% of its members who voted think leaders should continue negotiations and not accept the studio's final offer.
Full story
SAG/AFTRA supports Canadian union
In a rare show of solidarity, SAG and AFTRA have sent out a joint statement throwing their support behind their sister actors union in Canada and its current stalemate in commercials contract talks.
Full story
Sept. 14, 2008
Stakes high in SAG elections
Who will control SAG and what it will mean for labor contract negotiations is the big question this week as results are tallied in two pivotal elections.
Full story
Sept. 12, 2008
AMPTP inks deal with casting directors
The AMPTP said Friday that it has inked yet another deal with a union, this time with casting directors and casting associates, and suggested that Hollywood is indeed back to work.
Full story
Sept. 2, 2008
SAG's letter to members raises ire
The AMPTP said Tuesday that SAG's 12-page missive sent to members this week outlining the faults the union has with the studios' final offer is nothing more than a one-sided mailing designed to tell the actors' negotiators the only answer they want to hear: that the deal is bad.
Full story
Aug. 28, 2008
Pinewood Shepperton profits up, but SAG could have impact
U.K. studio facilities behemoth Pinewood Shepperton posted solid interims despite the global economic downturn, but warned that the ongoing SAG dispute could have a major impact on fortunes for the group in the months to come.
Full story
Aug. 27, 2008
Another add-on for ads contract
SAG and AFTRA have agreed to another six-month extension of their commercials contract with two ad industry groups.
Full story
Aug. 22, 2008
Accusations flying ahead of SAG elections
If this past week is any indication of what's to come with the SAG national board elections, get ready for a lot of back-and-forth rhetoric and AFTRA-bashing/defending by the two factions fighting for control.
Full story
Aug. 18, 2008
SAG, AFTRA together for ad contracts
Leaders of SAG and AFTRA are finally on the same page. Unfortunately, the newfound harmony comes not on the subject of SAG's long-stalled contract negotiations with Hollywood studios but rather the actors unions' next round of talks with advertising industry groups.
Full story
Aug. 17, 2008
N.Y. board turns up heat on SAG brass
SAG's New York regional board on Sunday demanded that the union make meaningful steps toward negotiating a new contract by Aug. 25 or bring in a federal mediator.
Full story
Aug. 14, 2008
Another deadline has come and gone
The latest deadline in the stalled talks between SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers has officially passed.
Full story
Aug. 13, 2008
Upstart SAG faction has A-list backing
Unite for Strength, a SAG faction bent on replacing the guild's current leadership, rolled out a list of several actors including Tom Hanks and Sally Field who support the group's slate of candidates in the upcoming national board elections.
Full story
Aug. 5, 2008
SAG factions battle for board
A divided SAG is nothing new. When the union was formed in 1933, there were actors who supported forming a performers union and those who opposed it. Not much has changed in 75 years as Tuesday's announcement of 84 candidates out of Hollywood vying for seats on the union's national board demonstrated.
Full story
Aug. 4, 2008
SAG, AMPTP: Are they talking?
SAG and the studios, locked in a stalemate and having held just one sidebar meeting since the guild contract ran out nearly a month ago, are taking their disconnect to new heights.
Full story
July 31, 2008
Two-sided pressure mounts on SAG leaders
SAG's leaders are coming under increasing two-sided pressure -- from an impatient membership and from the studios that are gingerly ramping up film production -- to put the AMPTP's "final offer" up for ratification.
Full story
July 26, 2008
SAG board standing firm on new media
The union's national board met Saturday for an 11-plus hour marathon meeting that included passing unanimously, 68-0, a resolution indicating jurisdiction over new media and residuals for all made-for new media productions are of the utmost importance during the current stalled contract negotiations.
Full story
July 25, 2008
MembershipFirst unveils potential board candidates
The controversial MembershipFirst faction of SAG announced Friday a slate of 33 potential candidates who will vie for openings on the national and local boards and go head-to-head with the newly formed opposition group, Unite for Strength.
Full story
July 19, 2008
SAG says negotiations continue
SAG leaders had one message for their Hollywood members Saturday at its membership meeting in Studio City: we're still negotiating.
Full story
July 17, 2008
Emmy nominees to SAG: Let us vote
The SAG leadership got a kick in the rear end Thursday morning from several outspoken Emmy nominees commenting on the guild's stalemate with the studios.
Full story
July 16, 2008
No apparent progress at SAG sidebar meeting
Wednesday's sidebar meeting between SAG and the studios provided more of what industry watchers have become accustomed to: talk and no apparent progress. No statement was issued by either side after meeting for more than two hours at AMPTP headquarters in Sherman Oaks.
Full story
July 15, 2008
SAG and AMPTP to meet Wednesday
The stalemate between SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers may all come down to a sidebar. Negotiators for SAG and the studios are set to meet Wednesday afternoon at the AMPTP's Sherman Oaks headquarters for an off-the-record sidebar.
Full story
July 13, 2008
De facto impasse?
Talks between Hollywood actors and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers have become so fractured that it appears they are in the state of a de facto impasse, with SAG saying they're still bargaining and the studios saying talks have ended.
Full story
July 11, 2008
Transcripts of SAG/AMPTP meeting released
As Hollywood attempts to digest what transpired Thursday at the meeting between SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers, details of what took place at the bargaining table have been released.
Full story
July 10, 2008
Studios, SAG still can't agree
After a five-hour meeting between SAG and the studios Thursday, Hollywood is in the very same place it has been since talks started April 15: without a new actors contract. The studios said Thursday that SAG officially rejected their final offer. The guild says it didn't.
Full story
SAG responds to AMPTP's 'final offer'
Representatives of SAG met with Hollywood studios Thursday in the groups' first face-to-face sitdown since AFTRA's members ratified their contract.
Full story
July 9, 2008
Studios ratchet up pressure on SAG
One day after AFTRA ratified its pact and left SAG as the only Hollywood guild without a new labor contract, the studios ratcheted up the pressure.
Full story
AFTRA pact brings hope in Toronto
News of a tentative deal between AFTRA and the major studios has fed optimism here that Hollywood producers will once again be greenlighting projects for production in Canada.
Full story
July 8, 2008
AFTRA ratifies contract
After months of publicly battling with sister union SAG over its primetime/TV contract, members of AFTRA voted to approve the union's new deal with the studios by a 62.4% margin.
Full story
Full statement from AFTRA president Roberta Reardon
SAG to respond to producers' deal Thursday
SAG has made a date with the studios on Thursday to respond to the $250 million last, best and final offer it received more than a week ago.
Full story
July 7, 2008
AFTRA makes votes count
AFTRA isn't taking any chances with the ratification of its primetime/TV contract Tuesday. The performers union has recruited longtime industry go-to firm Integrity Voting Systems to oversee the results of the vote on whether to pass the recently brokered contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers.
Full story
July 6, 2008
Industry awaits AFTRA vote
The potential for a strike by SAG or a possible lockout of the guild's roughly 120,000 members by the studios will be greatly affected by the results of AFTRA's contract ratification vote. Ballots are due back Monday with the results expected to be announced Tuesday.
Full story
July 2, 2008
SAG needs time to analyze offer
With actors working under a contract that expired a day earlier, SAG officials met Wednesday with studio reps for roughly four hours, discussing details of what the studios called their "final offer."
Full story
July 1, 2008
SAG painted into a corner
With its final offer just hours before the screen actors contract expired Monday night, the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers issued a dare to SAG: Take the deal or go take your strike vote.
Full story
Guild pores over AMPTP package
Relative silence gripped the Hollywood labor front Tuesday, one day after SAG's TV/theatrical contract expired on the heels of a final offer from the studios.
Full story
June 30, 2008
AMPTP makes final offer to SAG
Hollywood studios and networks broke off talks with SAG on Monday, issuing what it termed a "last, best and final offer." The Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers' 42-page offer, coming just six hours before the guild's contract expired, puts the ball squarely in SAG's court.
Full story
SAG contract to expire at 12:01 a.m.
Negotiators for SAG and the studios kept bargaining Monday as the final hours of the guild's contract ticked away.
Full story
June 29, 2008
SAG talking, clock ticking
As the final hours of SAG's contract with Hollywood's studios slide away, it's clear that fans of final-reel turnarounds are likely to be disappointed.
Full story
June 27, 2008
Film and TV production lagging in Canada
TORONTO -- Canadian studio operators are eyeing the horizon for U.S. film and TV shoots like sailors lost at sea as the SAG contract talks in Los Angeles put a damper on production.
Full story
June 26, 2008
George Clooney pens letter over talks
If SAG and AFTRA were warring countries, then George Clooney would be Switzerland. The actor on Thursday released a two-page message that gives a neutral position, laying out both sides of the fighting union's positions and focusing on the issues of the working actor.
Full story
June 25, 2008
It's decision time for SAG
For the industry, D-Day is Monday, when SAG's contract with the Hollywood studios expires. But does that "D" stand for disaster? Denouement? Or simply delay?
Full story
WGA blasts hidden integration
The WGA West has called for the FCC to establish guidelines that require on-screen "real time" disclosure when placement or integration of a product on a TV show occurs.
Full story
June 24, 2008
A-listers fire back for SAG
The battle of dueling A-listers heated up Tuesday as SAG enlisted 67 actors -- including Jack Nicholson, Ben Stiller and Martin Sheen -- to back its campaign against the ratification of AFTRA's tentative pact with the studios and networks.
Full story
Arbitrator rules against SAG in ad tiffs
A New York arbitrator has ruled that SAG must engage in mandatory bargaining when it comes to determining how much money advertisers should allocate to the union's health and pension fund when it involves a campaign that includes covered and noncovered work.
Full story
June 23, 2008
More oppose SAG's quest
The blowback from SAG's decision to oppose the ratification of sister union AFTRA's agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers increased Monday.
Full story
June 22, 2008
Headache for SAG
SAG celebrated its 75th anniversary this weekend in the face of a grim reality: There are only eight days left to negotiate a deal with the major producers and studios before its TV/theatrical contract expires.
Full story
June 18, 2008
SAG, Sandra Oh go 'robo'
SAG members answering the phone Wednesday might have heard a familiar voice on the other end: Sandra Oh.
Full story
June 17, 2008
Questions loom in SAG-AMPTP talks
As SAG inches closer to the June 30 expiration date of its TV/theatrical contract, two questions come to the fore. Will SAG extend the contract, enabling its members to keep working while negotiators keep bargaining?
Full story
June 16, 2008
SAG's Rosenberg proposes debate
On Monday, SAG president Alan Rosenberg, citing the spread of misinformation, proposed that SAG and AFTRA hold an official debate on the issues involving AFTRA's newly brokered primetime/TV contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers.
Full story
June 15, 2008
SAG tries to mend fences
With 15 days left before SAG's contract with the producers expires, the guild's national negotiating committee pushed a message of unity on Friday in an effort to salvage the divisiveness that has erupted in its battle against AFTRA and its newly brokered primetime/TV contract.
Full story
June 12, 2008
SAG deal in June? Don't count on it
Chances for an actors deal by a June 30 deadline grew considerably slimmer Thursday. In a three-page update on film and TV contract talks with SAG, the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers told 350 member companies its negotiators are "frustrated and discouraged (that) SAG's Hollywood leadership is already saying that it's unlikely a deal will be made by June 30."
Full story
Strike would spell big trouble for TV
Two of the biggest victims of the WGA strike -- the Television Critics Assn. press tour and the Beverly Hilton hotel -- might be among the first to face a fallout from a potential SAG strike.
Full story
Potential strike already affecting film
As the clock ticks ever closer to the June 30 end of SAG's contract, the industry is nervously contemplating the possibility of yet another strike -- even as it admits that, at least in terms of film production, a de facto strike already exists.
Full story
June 11, 2008
SAG fact-checks AFTRA deal
SAG continued its anti-AFTRA primetime/TV contract campaign Wednesday with a Town Hall meeting in Hollywood for its members to educate them about the new deal by their rival actors union.
Full story
June 10, 2008
East Coast SAG brass: 'We were lied to'
East Coast members of SAG's national leadership board are fuming over what they say were lies told by union president Alan Rosenberg and national executive director Doug Allen about the nature of Monday's rally.
Full story
June 9, 2008
SAG holds rally to oppose AFTRA deal
SAG took its battle with the studios to the sidewalk outside its headquarters for a Monday morning rally with members, vowing to fight the good fight for a fair deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers and urging them to vote against the newly brokered AFTRA contract with the majors.
Full story
June 8, 2008
SAG's ploy has AFTRA brass furious
As SAG enters its 25th day of negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers, the union will hold a rally Monday morning at its Los Angeles headquarters for members.
Full story
June 4, 2008
SAG might twist sister's arm
SAG will hold a special session of its executive committee Friday, at which president Alan Rosenberg and national executive director Doug Allen will seek to persuade dual card-holders to oppose ratification of the primetime TV deal recently agreed to by AFTRA and the studios and networks.
Full story
June 3, 2008
SAG, AMPTP return to table
SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers returned to the table Tuesday after a three-day weekend break.
Full story.
May 30, 2008
SAG, AMPTP take a three-day break
SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers will take a three-day break before starting up talks again Tuesday.
Full story
May 28, 2008
AFTRA, AMPTP sign tentative deal
After burning the midnight oil Tuesday into Wednesday morning, AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers have reached a tentative three-year deal on the union's primetime TV contract.
Full story
Gilbert hopes SAG returns with open mind
SAG president Alan Rosenberg's immediate predecessor applauded the AFTRA agreement Wednesday and said she hopes its terms aren't rejected out of hand by SAG negotiators.
Full story
May 26, 2008
No holiday for contract negotiations
There were no barbecues or trips to the beach this Memorial Day weekend for members of the contract negotiating teams for AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers. The two sides spent the weekend continuing their formal talks over AFTRA's primetime TV contract, known as Exhibit A of the Network Code. The weekend bargaining, the first since talks began May 7, is an indication that both sides might be close to a tentative deal.
Full story
May 23, 2008
AFTRA members approve Sound Recordings Code
AFTRA members have ratified a new national Sound Recordings Code by a 98.5% margin, the union announced Friday.
Full story
May 20, 2008
SAG brass cheered as members coalesce
SAG made a major push at solidarity with more than 400 of its rank-and-file members at a town hall-style meeting to discuss the recent formal negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers.
Full story
May 19, 2008
AFTRA hits new-media stumbling block
AFTRA has apparently run into "challenging issues" with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers that may not have a "quick or easy" resolution, the performers union president Roberta Reardon told members Monday in an e-mail.
Full story
May 18, 2008
AFTRA, producers head back to table
After a second weekend break, AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers head back to the bargaining table Monday to continue formal talks on a new primetime TV contract that expires June 30.
Full story
May 15, 2008
Image is all sorts of things
For actors, image is everything. And misuse of that image is enough to take someone to court for using it without consent.
Full story
May 15, 2008
AFTRA says it is 'making progress'
As AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers continue their negotiations, the union sent its members an e-mail newsletter Thursday indicating that though it's limited in what it can divulge about the current talks because of a media blackout, the union is "making progress."
Full story
May 8, 2008
TV networks still testing new production cycles
More television series than ever are staying in continuous production after wrapping their current seasons or starting production on their next season's orders early this year. At the same time many pilots for new shows have yet to be shot. All of this follows the writers strike, which brought production to a halt for two months during the middle of the shooting cycle.
Full story
May 7, 2008
AFTRA meets with AMPTP
A last ditch effort by SAG to keep the negotiations alive between it and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers has been shuttered by sister union AFTRA, which refused to postpone for a third time its scheduled talks with the producers.
Full story
May 6, 2008
AFTRA, AMPTP to begin talks
After two delays at the request of SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers, AFTRA comes to the negotiating table and formally starts talks Wednesday on its three-year primetime/TV contract with the producers.
Full story
May 4, 2008
SAG backs off on DVDs
SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers will return once again to the bargaining table Monday for what will likely be two days of intense negotiations on the actors' contract, which expires June 30.
Full story
May 2, 2008
Actors, producers to continue negotiations
SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers have agreed to continue their formal talks on the actors contract through Tuesday.
Full story
April 30, 2008
AMPTP splashes cold water on SAG
Any chance that SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers will ink a new contract by Friday is all but gone.
Full story
April 27, 2008
SAG, AMPTP make little progress
SAG's contract talks with Hollywood studio reps enter their third week today amid a growing sense that progress has been meager behind closed doors.
Full story
April 25, 2008
In L.A., no shelter from strike fallout
The 100-day writers strike left quite a bruise, as it turns out. Production tracker FilmLA said Thursday that on-location film, TV, commercial and other shoots fell 23% in the first quarter, the sharpest quarterly decline ever recorded.
Full story
April 24, 2008
SAG outlines new-media value
As SAG continued its negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers on Thursday, the actors union sent its second report to membership, outlining their position on new media and why it is important to actors.
Full story
AFTRA keeps the window open
AFTRA is giving SAG an extra week. Whether that's more time to hang itself or to produce an upbeat Hollywood ending to the town's long-running labor drama remains to be seen.
Full story
Strike's effect still stings
The 100-day writers strike left quite a bruise, as it turns out. Production tracker FilmLA said Thursday that on-location film, TV, commercials and other shoots fell 23% in the first quarter, the sharpest quarterly decline ever recorded.
Full story
April 23, 2008
AFTRA postpones AMPTP negotiations
AFTRA is giving SAG an extra week. Whether that's more time to hang itself or to produce an upbeat Hollywood ending to the town's long-running labor drama remains to be seen.
Full story
April 22, 2008
SAG details 'the squeeze' on members
As SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers entered their seventh day of formal negotiations Tuesday, the union sent its first update to members since talks began April 15.
Full story
April 21, 2008
SAG talks in second week as AFTRA ponders options
As SAG and the majors enter their second week of talks, there are a lot of questions and not too many answers about what has happened behind the closed doors at the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers headquarters in Sherman Oaks.
Full story
No-strike pacts on Yari agenda
At least two indie film projects starring A-listers likely won't be disrupted if there's an actors strike in the summer. On Monday, producer Bob Yari said he plans to get SAG no-strike pacts for "Killing Pablo" and "The Governess."
Full story
April 19, 2008
SAG, AMPTP to resume talks Monday
As SAG and the majors enter their second week of talks, there are a lot of questions and not too many answers about what has happened behind the closed doors at the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers headquarters in Sherman Oaks.
Full story
April 18, 2008
Sides huddle up before Day 4
SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers will reconvene this morning in separate caucuses before entering the fourth day of talks in the afternoon, the two sides said Thursday.
Full story
April 17, 2008
SAG, Film Dept. ink first deal
If there is an actors strike, at least one indie film company won't be affected. The Film Department said Wednesday that it has inked completion agreements with SAG for nine pictures that are gearing up for production in the spring and summer.
Full story
April 16, 2008
SAG, AMPTP talks kick off
Negotiators for SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers sat down for the first time Tuesday to begin what is expected to be two weeks of intense talks on the actors union contract, which expires June 30.
Full story
April 14, 2008
SAG, studios head to table
After months of industrywide angst, SAG will sit down at the bargaining table Tuesday with Hollywood studios and the networks.
Full story
Ahead of talks, SAG axes petition
SAG's national board has sidelined attempts by a faction of members that would have limited voting on the upcoming TV/film contract, as well as any strike authorization.
Full story
April 9, 2008
IATSE, AMPTP agree to break
IATSE and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers have agreed to continue at a later date their "opening round" of contract talks to make way for the upcoming separate negotiations the producers have with SAG and AFTRA.
Full story
April 7, 2008
AMPTP: Share revenue 'fairly'
The Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers on Monday issued an "open letter" indicating its desire to "share fairly" the revenue generated from new media and other areas with the industry's talent.
Full story
April 3, 2008
AFTRA leaving a window open
SAG will have less than two weeks to negotiate its film and TV contract before its sister performers union AFTRA sits down to negotiate its own pact.
Full story
April 2, 2008
SAG has first line in talks
SAG has beaten AFTRA to the bargaining table. On April 15, SAG plans to sit down with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers to begin formal negotiations on a new contract.
Full story
AFTRA sets date with AMPTP
SAG will have less than two weeks to negotiate its film and TV contract before its sister performers union AFTRA sits down to negotiate its own pact.
Full story
April 1, 2008
Actors rush to get in first word
As the waters receded Monday from the labor tsunami that hit Hollywood two days earlier, leaders of SAG and AFTRA began moving forward in preparations to sit down with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers.
Full story
March 31, 2008
SAG, AFTRA face a race to the table
The feud between SAG and AFTRA is nothing new. But the decision Saturday by AFTRA's national board to suspend its joint bargaining agreement with SAG has heightened the bad blood between the actors unions to Hatfield and McCoy status.
Full story
March 30, 2008
Actors unions butt heads over negotiations
The feud between SAG and AFTRA is nothing new. But the critical decision Saturday by AFTRA's national board to suspend its joint bargaining agreement with SAG, known as Phase One, has heightened the bad blood between the actors unions to Hatfield and McCoy levels.
Full story
Is SAG going to strike?
Though its contract will expire at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, July 1, no strike authorization has been given by membership, nor has one been sought by SAG leadership. It is expected that SAG will continue to negotiate a new contract and members will continue to work under the old agreement.
Numerous A-list actors, such as Jack Nicholson, Ben Stiller and Sandra Oh, have weighed in on the SAG/AMPTP negotiations. What affect will these statements have on the talks?
Hollywood's big names have come down on both sides of the issue. Some, like George Clooney , have come down in the middle. These statements will likely have some affect, but the impact is difficult to measure.
What is at the heart of the dispute?
SAG is seeking, among other items, residuals for members' work seen online, increased residual payments for DVDs, and increases in pension and health contributions from studios.
What happens July 8?
Results from a deal, worked out between AFTRA leadership and AMPTP, and put to a vote of the general membership, are expected. SAG is urging its members -- approximately 44,000 belong to both SAG and AFTRA -- to vote down the proposal.
Why has no contract materialized?
SAG blames claims that AMPTP's offer is considerably worse than what AFTRA's leadership has negotiated with the studios. AMPTP, on the other hand, claims SAG is refusing to negotiation in earnest until after July 8, when the results of its anti-AFTRA will be known.
Has the stalemate caused any financial impact?
Studios and production houses are postponing starting work until a deal is reached, effectively causing a work stoppage. The pinch also is being felt across the border in Canada, where studio operators say the SAG contract talks are putting a damper on production there.
Key Dates & Figures
May 28:AFTRA's leadership strikes deal with AMPTP, subject to ratification by members.
June 18:Sandra Oh urges dual SAG and AFTRA members to vote down AFTRA proposal. The following week, she is followed both additional A-list talent, including Jack Nicholson and Ben Stiller.
June 30:SAG's contract with the studios expires
July 7:Deadline for AFTRA members to cast vote on AMPTP contract
July 8:AFTRA members approve contract with AMPTP with nearly two-thirds, or 62.4 %, voting in favor
Length of WGA strike:100 days
Estimated Cost:$2.5 billion in lost revenues
Key items of dispute between SAG, AFTRA and AMPTP
|
HOME ENTERTAINMENT
|
| SAG | AFTRA |
AMPTP
|
| Wants DVD residuals doubled. | Withdrew its proposal to double DVD residuals.
|
Claims SAG proposal would cost it $500 million, seeking no change.
|
ACTORS' CLIPS
|
| SAG | AFTRA |
AMPTP
|
| Wants consent for use of actors' clips in new media. | Preserved consent of clips. For productions that begin after July 1, actors can approve or deny consent. |
Wants same deal with SAG as it has with AFTRA
|
NEW MEDIA RESIDUALS
|
| SAG | AFTRA |
AMPTP
|
| Still negotiating with AMPTP regarding residuals. Wants jursidiction over all programming maid for new media productions. | Established jursidcation and payment schedule for Internet-based programming |
Established jurisdiction and payment schedule for Internet-based programs.
|
WAGE HIKES
|
| SAG | AFTRA
|
AMPTP
|
Seeks increases in, among other items, minimums, pension and health.
| Agreed to a 10% increase over three years.
|
Took issue with SAG's proposed hikes, issue still under negotiation.
|
|
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