I wouldn't get too excited about this 11th hour "Last Best Offer" by the Big Media cartel before SAG's contract expires at 12:01 AM on July 1st. Because WGA exec director Dave Young had already informed his SAG counterpart Doug Allen that the AMPTP offered the writers "at least 10 last best offers" before a contract settlement was finally reached. SAG has said it will keep bargaining and has no plans for a strike. It said the AMPTP offer looks like the AFTRA contract but the screen actors agreed to examine it before the next negotiating session on Wednesday. So there will be no last-minute theatrics tonight by either side, which means Hollywood can get a good's night sleep. (Although the British press headlines for Tuesday are blaring "actors strike" as if a labor action is as imminent as, say, tomorrow. Get a clue, people.)

SAG statement:

Los Angeles, June 30, 2008 – The Screen Actors Guild national negotiating committee has bargained with the AMPTP for the last 42 days and remains committed to negotiating a fair deal for actors as soon as possible.
The AMPTP today delivered a last-minute, 43-page offer that upon initial examination appears to be generally consistent with the AFTRA deal, particularly in its provisions relating to new media. The union is reviewing the complex package and will prepare a response to management once that analysis is complete.

The parties are scheduled to meet Wednesday, July 2, at 2:00 p.m.

“This offer does not appear to address some key issues important to actors. For example, the impact of foregoing residuals for all made-for-new-media productions is incalculable and would mean the beginning of the end of residuals,” said Screen Actors Guild National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator.

The Screen Actors Guild Codified Basic and Television Agreements covering television programs and motion pictures expire tonight at midnight. Work will continue and all SAG members should report to work and to audition for new work past the expiration date until further notice from the Guild.

AMPTP statement:

Our industry is now in a de facto strike, with film production virtually shut down and television production now seriously threatened.  In an effort to put everyone back to work, the AMPTP today presented SAG our final offer - a comprehensive proposal worth more than $250 million in additional compensation to SAG members, with significant economic gains and groundbreaking new media rights for all performers.

Our $250 million offer is consistent with the four other labor agreements already reached this year with DGA, WGA, AFTRA Network Code and AFTRA Prime-Time Exhibit A.  In addition, our offer addresses issues that SAG identified as being of utmost concern to its members, including tailoring our new media framework for SAG in areas such as feature films and significant gains for working actors.

In short, our final offer to SAG represents a final hope for avoiding further work stoppages and getting everyone back to work. That is our goal, and we hope it is shared by the members of SAG.  The economic consequences of a work stoppage would be enormous.  If our industry shuts down because of the unwillingness of SAG's Hollywood leadership to make a deal, SAG members will lose $2.5 million each and every day in wages.  The other guilds and unions would lose $13.5 million each day in wages, and the California economy will be harmed at the rate of $23 million each and every day.

As SAG's leadership considers our final offer, we will continue for now to work under the terms of the old contract as current productions wind down.

Background Materials

Negotiations History and the De Facto Strike

SAG's Hollywood leadership has, by its own design, created the difficult predicament that SAG's working actors now find themselves in.  Immediately after the WGA settlement, on February 14, 2008, we invited SAG to engage in early negotiations but the Guild's Hollywood leadership insisted that only last-minute bargaining can bring notable gains.  Calls for early talks were further ignored as SAG engaged in a W&W process that got underway months later than usual because of the Hollywood leadership's longstanding campaign against AFTRA.

Since talks finally began on April 15th, we have spent 42 days attempting to convince SAG's Hollywood leaders that we should build upon the New Media Framework already established in four different labor agreements this year, with DGA, WGA, AFTRA Network Code, and AFTRA Prime-Time Exhibit A.

In early June SAG's Hollywood leadership announced an anti-AFTRA campaign, and since that time SAG's Hollywood negotiators have squandered almost a month of negotiating time trying to defeat AFTRA's tentative agreement instead of making its own deal.

The result of SAG's stalling is a de facto strike that is inexorably bringing our entire industry to a full stop.  Our final offer is designed to bring an end to this de facto strike and put our industry back to work.

The Economic Impact of an Industry Work Stoppage

If SAG rejects our offer and continues with its misbegotten anti-AFTRA campaign, SAG's Hollywood leaders will unnecessarily harm not only SAG members and sister Guild members, but also the tens of thousands of below-the-line workers whose families depend on our industry and the millions throughout California whose businesses benefit from our industry's growth.  With each passing day after June 30th, there will be less work for those whose livelihoods depend on our industry.

SAG participated in the WGA strike and saw first-hand the economic damage it inflicted on the industry and the thousands of workers and businesses that had no stake in the fight.  If our industry shuts down because of the unwillingness of SAG's Hollywood leadership to make a deal, SAG members will lose $2.5 million each and every day in wages.  The other guilds and unions would lose $13.5 million each day in wages, and the California economy will be harmed at the rate of $23 million each and every day.  A halt in production will also bring economic harm to a number of communities around the country where film and television production bring millions of dollars into local economies.

Roadblocks

The producers were put in a challenging position by having to bargain separately with AFTRA and SAG for the first time since 1980.  After 17 days of tough negotiations, we reached a tentative agreement with AFTRA but have yet to do the same with SAG after more than twice as much time at the negotiating table.

With four major agreements concluded with the Guilds this year alone, the Producers entered the SAG talks with eight narrowly tailored proposals meant to get an agreement that much quicker. Unfortunately, SAG came in with 36 proposals - including several true deal-breakers - and thus put itself in the position of having to work harder to find common ground.  While we have made some progress, SAG continues to hold to several of these unacceptable proposals including increases in DVD residuals, restrictions on product integration and excessive increases in money and schedule breaks, stand-in minimums and mileage increases.

In addition, SAG is seeking to undermine the New Media Framework that we have constructed with three other Guilds.  This includes a demand that SAG have exclusive jurisdiction in content made for the Internet, which would prevent AFTRA from having the shared jurisdiction that it bargained for only a month ago.

Making the Framework Work

So far this year, the Producers have reached four major Guild agreements - DGA, WGA and two with AFTRA - that build on a fundamental set of new media terms. These terms are groundbreaking for a number of reasons.  First, at no point has the industry ever established so many residual formulae and jurisdictional agreements in one negotiation cycle.  Through a series of major concessions, the Producers have established standards for permanent downloads, Internet streaming, made-for new media productions and the use of clips in new media.

The New Media framework offers terms that are rich by traditional standards but also gives the Producers some flexibility to adapt and experiment.  Most of the residuals are based on a percentage of revenue that matches the best existing residuals in the SAG contract.  Further, the New Media framework allows full access to the Companies' un-redacted new media deal memos and includes a Sunset Clause so that the parties can revisit the terms in three years with a better understanding of how the market is developing.  The New Media Framework has been adapted to the unique needs of SAG by preserving performers' right of consent over non-promotional uses of their clips in new media, and securing a definition for "covered actors" in low-budget original made-for new media.  In short, the Producers have now proven they can make the framework work for all Guild members, and there is no reason we should not be able to do the same with SAG.

The AMPTP's Final Offer

Our final offer is worth more than $250 million to SAG members over the course of the three-year deal, over and above what SAG members would have made under their old contract.  Our final offer includes significant gains in minimums, pension and health contributions and terms for working actors.  In addition, we have offered groundbreaking new media terms - with fair and appropriate modifications for actors -- that have already served as the cornerstone of four other major Guild agreements this year, including one that ended the 100-day WGA strike.

We hope that SAG's Hollywood leadership will not make the tragic mistake of misleading their members by suggesting that additional stalling will lead to a better offer at a later time.  We have compromised again and again this year to reach four major labor agreements -- agreements that satisfied the DGA, WGA and AFTRA -- and we have now reached the end of this process.

AMPTP Final Offer Fact Sheet

The Producers' final offer includes groundbreaking terms and residuals for actors in all forms of new media, as well as significant increases in minimums, pension and health contributions and terms affecting working actors.

MINIMUMS:

Increase minimums by 10% over the course of the contract - 3.5%, 3%, and 3.5%.
Increase network primetime rerun ceiling by 2.5% in the first and third years of the contract.

PENSION & HEALTH:

Increase contributions by 0.5% in second year of contract, bringing SAG's pension and health rate to 15% - the highest Guild rate in the industry.

GUEST STARS:

Increase the premium payment over the day player rate from 7.5% to 10%.

BACKGROUND PERFORMERS:

Increase the number of covered background actors in television from 19 to 20 and on features from 50 to 52.

MONEY BREAKS:

Increase the trailer money break from $2,500/week to $3,000/week.
Increase three-day performer overtime money break from $2,700 to $3,000.

SCHEDULE BREAK:

Increase weekly salary figure for Schedule B performers from $4,400 or less per week to $4,650 or less per week for TV and from $5,500 or less per week to $6, 000 or less per week in feature film.

NEW MEDIA:

Establish residuals for streaming television programs and features.
Establish jurisdiction and residuals for derivative and original made-for New Media programs.
Doubling of residual rate for permanent downloads.
Preserve performers' consent over non-promotional uses of clips in New Media.
Broad definition of "covered performers" in low-budget New Media productions.
Full access to Companies' un-redacted New Media deal memos.
Sunset Clause to protect both sides in future negotiations.

COUNTDOWN TO JUNE 30TH
Part II: The Details They Don't Want You To Know
Part I: SAG/AFTRA/AMPTP Overview: Calm Down. There Will Be No Strike Sequel. But When Will Hollywood Ever Get Back To Work?

PART II: The Details They Don't Want You To Know

As soon as the striking Writers Guild went back to work, the Hollywood moguls and Screen Actors Guild secretly held their first confabs. In late February, SAG national president Alan Rosenberg and national executive director Doug Allen had a meet-and-greet with Disney CEO Bob Iger. Then, the guild duo agreed to confer again with Iger plus News Corp No. 2 Peter Chernin (the pair credited with backchannelling their way to a WGA strike settlement). This was exactly what SAG leadership had told members they would do: hold informal get-togethers with the moguls to lay groundwork for formal bargaining. 

But the March 3rd sitdown didn't go well. As a source told me, "When the SAG guys said they're not going to accept the DGA or WGA deal and want to renegotiate DVDs and New Media, Peter said, 'Then I guess we have nothing to talk about.'" Rumors immediately spread that the "two Allens" had blown it by being hotheads. SAG tried to set the record straight. "The tone and tenor is completely false. There was no hyperbolic rhetoric. Conversations were cordial and constructive."

It was then that the Hollywood CEOs came to a collective decision about how to proceed with the SAG negotiations. Had the Big Media managers been interested in a quick settlement, they would have agreed that Chernin and Iger go back to backchannel bargaining. Instead, the moguls decided to change up the way they would conduct the contract talks for Hollywood's biggest union: they decided to hand the negotiations back over to their AMPTP. In other words, back to Nick Counter for his last hurrah as the cartel's negotiator, and back to the studios' and networks' labor lawyers who had grown increasingly restless for more control over the process. In fact, several moguls have admitted to me that, since then, they haven't even bothered to read the memos that their labor lawyers file each week. "I told my people, 'Don't bother me unless there's a breakthrough,' " one studio bigwig informed me. 

The result is that Counter and this crew have been running every facet of the SAG-AMPTP negotiations right now. Little wonder that they're stalemated. And the moguls have been content to view the status of the talks through their reps' prism, no matter how skewed. In fact, one studio boss didn't even give it a second thought when he received a late April memo from his labor negotiator that warned, "We believe that if a deal can be made with SAG without a strike, the earliest we'll conclude it will be July 15th."

Frustrated, Doug Allen met four weeks ago with Bob Iger and CBS boss Les Moonves in the Disney honcho's NYC office. There were some discussions of issues like New Media, product placement, clips consent for New Media, and DVD residuals. But the message conveyed by the moguls was a deliberate brush-off, according to both sides, along the lines of: "Guys, let the process continue. The CEOs are not going to get involved unless its June 24th and everyone is close to a deal. Then they'd roll up their sleeves. But they need to hear that or else they don't plan on getting involved." A SAG source found the implication "disturbing", and even more so when AFTRA breezed through its talks with the AMPTP and reached a deal in a scant 17 days. It was deja vu writers strike all over again, only this time AFTRA was playing the DGA's role and SAG the WGA's.

So the Two Allens went to visit the different moguls in their corporate enclaves. Once again, the SAG leaders' request for the Hollywood CEOs to get involved in the talks fell on deaf ears. As a mogul explained to me, "We did AFTRA in the room. We did the DGA in the room. It's ithe preferable way of doing it. That's what their job is. This is not supposed to be done by us per se." 

Word leaked out to the media about SAG's June 2nd meeting at Sony Pictures Entertainment in particular, and a studio spokesman issued this statement, "There was a frank and cordial exchange of views, and we said how important it was to the industry that a deal be reached as soon as possible. And the best way to do that is by negotiating with the AMPTP, so we hope everyone's energies can be focuse in that direction."

At Sony, Rosenberg and Allen sat down with SPE chairman Michael Lynton, considered a moderate among the moguls, and Jean Bonini, seen as a militant among the labor lawyers. Among the points made by the Two Allens were their extreme disappointment that the moguls decided to negotiate first with smaller AFTRA and leave bigger SAG hanging. Lynton expressed disapproval at SAG's intent to oppose the AFTRA contract. "Our view was that the best place to focus their energies would be in the AMPTP negotiations," a Sony insider told me.

And when Rosenfeld and Allen this time asked the moguls to get individually involved because the AMPTP seemed to be engaged in delaying tactics, the SAG duo were turned down cold. "This was not in any way a separate negotiation," a source explained. "It's a one-time courtesy meeting and no others are expected." When told that strategy would lead to a longer de facto strike, not a shorter one, the moguls exhibited no sense of urgency. Called on that by the SAG pair, Lynton turned angry and pounded the table with one hand, 'Do you think I like having my production facilities idle?" 

All the more reason it came as a huge surprise to SAG leaders when, on June 18th, a story on the Variety website was posted under the headline, "Chernin, Iger May Resume SAG Roles." Doug Allen immediately reached out to Iger and left the CEO a message asking whether it was an invitation. Iger called him back five days later and reiterated that the moguls were not getting involved this time around. ("That Variety story was just flat-out wrong," another Big Media bigwig told me. Not surprising since its author Dave McNary kept writing untrue articles during the WGA strike.)

In fact, Iger and Allen had a prickly conversation. I'm told that Iger said, "Why don't you just take what the writers and directors took." To which Allen responded, "Just because we're the last ones at the table doesn't mean we don't get our turn at the table. Actors have particular issues that are not dealt with in the DGA or WGA deals or because we cover 100% of motion picture actors."

There have been no mogul/Allens communication since, I'm told.

So right now the studios and networks claim to be counting on its AMPTP negotiators even though, during the starting day of the AMPTP-SAG official negotiations, "the first thing that came out of Nick Counter's mouth was, 'These proposals are unreasonable. Well, I guess you'd better prepare for a strike.' "

Before talks began, the dilemma for the AMPTP all during the writers strike had been the incessant murmuring throughout Hollywood to "Wait for SAG". Because as the biggest and most powerful Hollywood union, SAG earnings over the last three years of its 2005-2008 TV/theaterical contract is more than $4 billion in earnings to actors. Somehow the AMPTP had to undermine the union's mystique. The employers cartel found a willing and ambitious collaborator, AFTRA. whose total earnings over the last 3 years on the same contract totaled only $40 million. (FYI: no one officially from AFTRA has yet to email me disputing this figure or any of my reporting.)

Whatever AFTRA negotiated or didn't negotiate should have been a mere afterthought. Instead, the AMPTP and AFTRA (both of whose statements to members and media at times have been nearly identical) claimed that the smaller union's tentative deal should be the template for SAG in these negotiations. "On what planet? Well, one where AFTRA wants to undercut SAG rates and sell out actors to secure more jurisdiction," one SAG insider bitches. "For all the cries that SAG is the membership first guild, AFTRA's weak deal makes it the producers choice. SAG really is the only true union actors have. The AMPTP's strategy is to make AFTRA a low-cost union alternative."

Of course, the moguls tell me they won't exploit AFTRA's new contract to give it preference over SAG for jurisdiction over new TV shows. Oh, puh-leeze. "I suppose we could. It's doubtful. But it could happen. I don't see us trying to stick it to SAG. But it is in our rights to do that," one network honcho mused to me. If that starts to happen, SAG pledges to switch into "super high-outreach mode'". It doesn't help that the AMPTP walked away from the table in May in order to make a deal with AFTRA. Few people know that, when talks were resumed between the two sides after the enforced hiatus, the AMPTP refused to even offer the big actors guild either the WGA deal or the AFTRA deal. Instead, the Big Media cartel forced SAG to negotiate up from ground zero for weeks on end so that only as of now is the lousy AFTRA deal even on the table. How is that fair pattern bargaining?

"Since returning to bargaining with SAG, the employers have dragged everything out in order to slow the pace of negotiations while furiously dialing the media to background them on how the SAG team is not taking it seriously," a SAG source tells me. "Doug and Alan are really just disappointed in these people that they're truly are so juvenile. They're not willing to even make the deal they made in the past. Why does the union submit to this process when it's such a colossal waste of time? These weeks have been just what anyone might expect: so completely predictable, so unoriginal, and so boring. And there's no one in authority at AMPTP to make a deal."

SAG insists it has made concessions on a number of terms and will tweak some more. The biggest surprise came three weeks into the process when SAG agreed to withdraw its demand to double residuals from DVD sales and instead ask for what would effectively be a 15% hike in DVD pay. But SAG complains that the AMPTP has not made counterproposals to SAG's proposals. "Truly, they have not tried to negotiate at all," a SAG board member gripes. "Obviously, their only job description is 'Don't make a deal.' "

While Nick Counter's methodology is to craftily and contemptuously maneuver the unions into negotiating against themselves and taking issues off the table just for the promise of AMPTP bargaining, he and the other reps go on and on inside the talks about how there's nothing they'd like more than to be partners with SAG. To which a SAG board member responded to him one day, "There's nothing about what you've done over the last 3 years that suggest you want to be partners."

The AMPTP also constantly makes comparisons during the talks between actors cira 1997 and 2007 in terms of earnings. But that sparks SAG to snark, "Are you now going to announce how much the corporations made in 1997 versus what they made in 2007?"

SAG leadership, rightly or wrongly, have refused to go public with their many complaints during much of the negotiations with the AMPTP. However, the moguls keep using the mainstream media and the trades as its mouthpieces. So both sides sit down together and try to bargain, but it's the AMPTP's news claiming SAG is stalling that gets play. The AMPTP also sends out stealth press releases bashing SAG. This tactic was used on the WGA as well. Most recently, SAG and the AMPTP sat in negotiations going over the guild's new media proposals which SAG had just changed. "And no one even made mention of the press release brutally badmouthing SAG. To get around the media blackout, the AMPTP sent it to company members and didn't put it on website," the actors guild member recalled.

Still, overt acrimony is being kept to a minimum, so the mood is outwardly cordial. Much of that is due to the personality of Doug Allen, whose even temper and friendly demeanor is disarming to Nick Counter. Despite his encyclopedic command of contract minutiae and his physically imposing size dominating the proceedings, Allen "knows when to stand down and let others handle areas that are their expertise" like John McGuire, SAG's senior advsor based in New York whose specialty is product integration. "That confidence comes from Doug dealing with the NFL on multi- mutlti-million dollar contracts."

However, the WGA's Dave Young was a far better labor organizer. The actors have yet to use YouTube effectively for their side, which the WGA did so cunningly, or many of the other PR weaponry available to the communications-savvy . For instance, there's only been one big SAG solidarity rally -- and that was demeaned as little more than the debut of its anti-ratification Down With AFTRA drumbeating. Nor have the actors turned the New Media boasts of the Hollywood CEOs and their Big Media parents against them. 

SAG also has not adequately explained to members what the guild sees as its leverage opportunities now. SAG has long felt that pressure from within the shutdown movie industry would beat the AMPTP. Because if this is drawn out by employers, then some Oscar-worthy films may not be completed in time to screen them for the Academy Awards.

But probably no single planned event had more impact to end the WGA strike than when both SAG and the WGA planned to meet with CBS institutional investors and complain. Here's what happened: CBS Inc boss Les Moonves had an off-the-record dinner during the strike he later described to pals as "extremely pleasant and productive" with WGA leaders Patric Verrone and David Young at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. A few days later, the mogul returned to NY only to discover that Young had helped organize a conference to talk to CBS institutional investors about how much the strike was costing and how much the corporation was losing as a result. "David, we just had a terrific dinner. This will not be helpful to bring in the investor community and tell them your side. I'm asking you to call it off," Moonves said in an urgent phone call to Young. The guild executive director would only cancel the meeting if Moonves pledged to pressure the rest of the moguls for a quick end to the strike. Moonves did, and Chernin and Iger got the media credit. Blackmail is a sound strategy that SAG could use on the Big Media companies this time around. 

In addition, the big actors guild can try to leverage Big Media's hefty force majeure liability payments ranging from $10M to $60M per company left over from the writers strike and still owed to SAG, which has offered to engage in reasonable settlement talks with the AMPTP only if progress on the contract is made. "It's a huge liability that the companies are worried about," a SAG board member explained. "The employers reneged on the collective bargaining agreement and even changed the language in the contract. But our attorneys have been winning arbitrations on most of these issues."

So the sooner the moguls take over their contract talks with SAG, the sooner all of Hollywood can get back to work.

EXCLUSIVE: I'm told that Warner Bros will now aggressively push Diane English's remake of The Women skedded for release September 12th with wider distribution and bigger marketing in the wake of the success of Sex And The City. This is an about-face from the studio's earlier decision to leave plans intact for about-to-shutter Picturehouse to debut the chick flick in limited release and with a small P&A. But after weeks of hemming and hawing, Warner Bros now believes that the low budget $16.5M remake could make money. I'm told that as a result The Women's marketing budget has moved north from a planned $7M-$8M to $25M-$30M. Back on June 2nd, I criticized Warner Bros for sitting on a pic written, directed and produced by one of the biz's best women comedy writers (of seminal Murphy Brown fame), and starring a quality cast of Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Bette Midler, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Debi Mazur, Joanna Gleason, Carrie Fisher, Lynn Whitfield and Cloris Leachman. Forget about the merits of the movie: there's potential for box office moolah stirred up by some savvy Sex-exploiting, Even if the movie is no good, it could reach SATC's two-quadrant audience with ad slogans like: "If you loved Sex And The City, then you need to see The Women who started it all." After I posted, a top Warner Bros exec phoned me and said, "We should give it another look." And the studio did. I bet women eager for another pic about female friendships and upscale lifestyles and urban sex will open The Women for a $20+M weekend. If not, well, I don't own Time Warner stock.

Why Won't Warner Embrace 'The Women'? Or Will It?

Los Angeles, June 29, 2008 – Screen Actors Guild released the following statement from SAG National President Alan Rosenberg: “We have taken no steps to initiate a strike authorization vote by the members of Screen Actors Guild. Any talk about a strike or a management lockout at this point is simply a distraction. The Screen Actors Guild national negotiating committee is coming to the bargaining table every day in good faith to negotiate a fair contract for actors.”

This is the Part I: SAG/AFTRA/AMPTP Overview which I posted Friday: COUNTDOWN TO JUNE 30TH: Calm Down. There Will Be No Strike Sequel. But When Will Hollywood Ever Get Back To Work? Parts II and III coming today.

SUNDAY AM: North American box office numbers show that No. 1 Disney / Pixar's futuristic Wall-E blasted off with a $23.1 million Friday and $22 million Saturday from 3,992 theaters for what was a $62.5 million opening weekend. This means arty Wall-E is big and transcended from a kids movie into a four-quadrant hit. But it wasn't quite the $70+M record breaker everyone thought it would be. Still, it was the 3rd biggest Pixar opening (behind The Incredibles at $70.5M and Finding Nemo at $70.2M, but equal to Monsters Inc. at $62.5M) and the 7th all-time animated opening. And its opening day gross was the biggest of all nine Pixar titles ($23.1M, which passed The Incredibles' $20.5 million of 2004) and its opening weekend the 2nd best overall for June (behind Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban's $93.7M). Disney is looking for a Best Picture Oscar nomination for the computer-generated G-rated toon, very possible with 97% great reviews from top critics and even rival studio bigwigs gushing: "It's just adorable and smart and interesting. It has more character development and emotion than any movie I've seen this year." One wrinkle in Wall-E's marketing was that the 1 hour, 37 minute pic has no dialogue for the first 40 or so minutes. And it can be hard to find something funny to say from a character who doesn't talk.

More and more, films with different ratings and different genres can happily coexist at the box office -- Alvin And The Chipmunks and I Am Legend,  American Gangster and Bee Movie. So Wanted, Universal's Angelina Jolie/James McAvoy starrer, debuted to $19.1M Friday and $17.5M Saturday from 3,175 venues for a $51.1M weekend. It marks a new franchise for the studio which expected only $35+M from this stylish summer actioner fueled by the Matrix-like high octane provided by hot Russian director Timur Bekmambetov. It turned out to be the best June opening ever for an R-rated movie, beating Knocked Up's $30.6M, and the 6th highest R-rated opening of all time (behind The Matrix Reloaded, The Passion Of The Christ, 300, Hannibal, and Sex And The City) as well as the 3rd biggest R-rated action film (behind The Matrix Reloaded's $91.7M, and 300's $70.9M). It's also the biggest opening ever for a live-action Angelina movie and she proved a big draw: the studio said the main reasons given for choosing to see Wanted were the action (67%) and Jolie (61%). Exit polling showed the audience breakdown was 52%/48% male to female, 51%/49% under age 30 to over age 30.

Warner Bros comedy Get Smart took No. 3 with $6.5M Friday and $7.8M Saturday for a $21M FSS (-45% from its opening) and new cume of $77.2M. At No. 4, DreamWorks Animation / Paramount's Kung Fu Panda took in $3.4M Friday and $4.5M Saturday for a $11.7M weekend and $179.3M cume. And in the 5th slot, Universal's The Incredible Hulk managed $2.8M Friday and $3.8M Saturday for a $9.7M weekend and new cume of $116M. A Paramount's The Love Guru dropped 61% from its opening for No. 6 with $1.8M Friday and $1.9M Saturday for a $5.4M weekend and cume of $25.4M.

The rest of the Top 10: At No. 7, Paramount's Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull took in $1.3M Friday and $2.1M Saturday for a $5M weekend with a cume that is about to zoom over $300M. M Night Shymalan's The Happening for Fox was No. 8 with $1.1M Friday and $1.5M Saturday and $3.8M for the weekend, with a new cume of $59M. At No. 9 was HBO Films / New Line/ Warner Bros' Sex And The City which earned $1.1M Friday and $1.4M Saturday for a $3.7M weekend and new cume of $140.1M. And in 10th, Sony's You Don't Mess With The Zohan made $990K Friday and $1.2M Saturday for a $3.2 weekend and $91.2M cume.

Overall, the domestic gross this weekend was up 20% over last year's to complete the June sweep . No reason to think July won't keep the winning streak going.

Here is my COUNTDOWN TO JUNE 30TH package:
Part I: SAG/AFTRA/AMPTP Overview
Part II: The Details They Don't Want You To Know
Part III: Battle of the Superstars

PART I: SAG/AFTRA/AMPTP Overview

The sense of panic among actors, writers, directors and below-the-liners is palpable in Hollywood right now. Matched only by the angst of agents whose phones aren't ringing, and out-of-town journalists struggling to write "strike sequel" stories for Monday. Strange, isn't it, that the only Hollywood types without any visible flopsweat from the de facto shutdown of production are the network and studio moguls. Because they are the puppeteers pulling everybody else's strings. From behind the scenes, they order Hollywood to jump, and the town asks how high. And never more so than during all these guild negotiations. If only the entire industry could stay focused on the actions of Big Media and start pressuring the Hollywood CEOs to put people back to work. But instead everyone's attention has strayed to the carnival sideshow of SAG vs AFTRA, and AFTRA vs SAG, and Big Star vs Big Star, and all the other diversions in an already confused situation. Now take a deep breath and calm down. To understand what's going on right now, I first need to ask you to do the following: reflect on everything you knew surrounding the writers strike, and then throw it all out the window. What's going on with SAG and AFTRA and the AMPTP is the complete opposite of what happened a few month back. The writers were for the most part united. The actors are divided to the point of distraction. The writers went after the AMPTP and the Big Media behemoths. The actors are going after each other. The agents and moguls backchannelled negotiations with the WGA. Hardly any backchannelling is going on right now between the moguls and SAG, while the agents are sitting on their hands. All the moguls kept close tabs on pre- and post-strike talks with the writers. Now some CEOs are so disengaged they're not bothering to read their labor lawyers' memos, much less to demand updates. The writers strike crippled television while movies went virtually unscathed. But the de facto strike or de facto lockout, depending on your POV, has seemingly halted moviemaking while television production continues mostly uninterrupted.The result is that Hollywood has to rewire, reboot and rethink everything. In this case, past doesn't have to be prologue. There doesn't have to be a strike. In fact, I can definitely tell you that SAG has "never suggested that a strike was an objective or essential," I'm told by an insider. "Yes, it is an option. But SAG leadership has not been the ones threatening it or sabre-rattling." And another insider puts it even more forcefully: "Not only is there no strike plan, there is no strike authorization, and there is no requirement that SAG has to go on strike once the contract expires on June 30th. It's not uncommon in labor disputes for union members to agree to extend the contract or to remain working under the existing terms of the previous contract while negotiations continue."

The Screen Actors Guild released the following statement Sunday from national president Alan Rosenberg confirming it's not in strike mode: “We have taken no steps to initiate a strike authorization vote by the members of Screen Actors Guild. Any talk about a strike or a management lockout at this point is simply a distraction. The Screen Actors Guild national negotiating committee is coming to the bargaining table every day in good faith to negotiate a fair contract for actors.”

And yet there are highly organized factions at the top of the studios and networks, IATSE locals, AFTRA leadership, and even SAG's own board that want to scare everyone into thinking a walkout is inevitable unless there's complete contract capitulation by SAG leadership. I'm here to tell you this is untrue. So is SAG, which told members Sunday: "Unfortunately, there are a few press reports and blogs erroneously reporting misinformation based on false statements made by a few people who oppose our objectives to continue negotiating for a fair contract. Some have even implied that a strike is looming this week. Don’t let these scare tactics fool you." 

Yes, there's a countdown to June 30th when SAG's contract with the AMPTP expires at midnight. What happens then? In all likelihood, the two sides will continue bargaining. (After all, the AMPTP is on record saying that the only reason it left the negotiations with the WGA after the writers' contract expired is because the guild called an immediate strike.)

A more defining deadline is July 8th when AFTRA announces its ratification vote results. So what happens then? Again, not a SAG strike. The guild's leadership understands that there's no urgency within the membership at this time for such an extreme call. Which is precisely why there's no impetus atop the guild to even consider holding a strike authorization vote. If one were held and no authorization given, SAG would suffer a psychological blow from which it probably couldn't recover this contract cycle. Ergo, no push for a vote.

However, it's underhanded for AFTRA to try to put one over on its members with language that a "yes" vote ratifies its recently drawn up AMPTP contract but a "no" vote doesn't just send the pact back to the negotiators to try for better terms but actually puts in motion something far more draconian which is to authorize the AFTRA board to call a strike.

Will AFTRA members ratify the new contract with the AMPTP? Two weeks ago, I would have said definitely. Last week, probably. And this week, I really don't know. All anyone is operating on is anecdotes and tea leaves. But every day that passes before that announcement is made, AFTRA gets more shrill and hysterical, and SAG gets more over-reaching and arrogant, as they battle over 44,000 dual members. Which is why I felt before, and still feel now, that SAG's anti-AFTRA ratification campaign was a big waste of time. Even SAG's board is divided on this issue. SAG leadership's explanation to its members is that a "no" vote is crucial to let the moguls know that AFTRA's lousy deal (undermining residuals, clips consent and other primetime network issues valued by actors who have those protections under SAG) won't go down with dual members. But the reality is that, even if ratification is rejected, AFTRA will still find a way to suck up to the AMPTP and redeliver only a slightly less lousy contract to its members. It's simply in the smaller union's nature to do that given its inferiority complex. However if the AFTRA pact is ratified, then SAG leadership will have been seen as squandering time and energy on a losing cause

But all this importance bestowed on AFTRA is absurd. The union is responsible only for three scripted network primetime series, one of which has been cancelled. The union should pick up a few more scripted network pilots by September. But its business in relation to SAG's is like a chihuahua pestering a mastiff. SAG, however, is worried about AFTRA's growing control over scripted cable shows and wants to "draw a line in the sand" on that issue. But I say this is not the proper time or place to deal with that now. Let the two unions stage a cage match after Hollywood gets back to work.

Finding itself SAG's target gave AFTRA more credit than it deserved. And so it emboldened AFTRA leadership to nip at SAG's heels. AFTRA president Roberta Reardon came up with a pitiful excuse to justify what was clearly a predetermined decision not to bargain alongside SAG. Instead, AFTRA truly made a deal with the devil in order to do the AMPTP's bidding. AFTRA relentlessly villified the bigger actors guild's current leadership which continues even now. Unfortunately, SAG bit back -- and the result has been spin and propaganda from both sides that is unsavory and unnecessary.

AFTRA also added insult to injury by starting this terrible bloodsport of pitting Big Actor vs Big Actor even though none of these AMPTP pacts affect any of these superstars. Not only have most not worked under AFTRA's contract for eons, but they have top agents who negotiate their individual deals. But AFTRA nonetheless was the first to officially email members and media a graphic of Sally Field, James Cromwell et al supporting ratification. Yes, AFTRA played the emotion card by spotlighting Sally Field, the woman who won an Oscar for her portrayal of union organizer Norma Rae. (But, interestingly, the email sent to members announcng her support was sent to "Everyone (Minus LA)". Hmm.

Guild contracts are all about strength in numbers, the power of collective bargaining, and looking out for the little guys. In entertainment, they're about protecting residuals which allow creatives to lead middle-class lives. They're not about Tom Hanks, Jack Nicholson or George Clooney. Do these A-listers have the right to express an opinion? Of course. Do their names carry weight? Sure. Are they relevant to this discussion? Hardly. I'd so much rather see all the superstars collectively call the moguls and put pressure on the AMPTP to deal seriously with SAG. (I'll have more about the SAG vs AFTRA Battle Of The Superstars in Part III posting on Saturday. There's so much that hasn't been reported...)

It was bad enough when the DGA and WGA were pitted against each other by the AMPTP. But now the Hollywood CEOs have found a new scapegoat for the de facto strike/lockout stalling Hollywood, and it's SAG. It's true that SAG has signed more than 350 guaranteed completion contracts with independent producers of films, the top 50 or so of which boast budgets between $14 million and $40 million dollars and represent in total hundreds of millions of dollars. But pro-AMPTP factions are out and about in Hollywood claiming that SAG has shut down the town. I don't know how that's possible. The Hollywood CEOs own the means of production and so only they have the power to stop principal photography on big studio films based on their own "fear" of a looming actors strike. But there is no evidence that the guild is contemplating such a labor action either in the near or distant future. So that fear is either irrational or manipulative.

As for the negotiations between SAG and the AMPTP, they are at a complete standstill. SAG national executive director Doug Allen recently broke his media blackout to make clear that it's not SAG who has been stalling. For instance, few people know that, when talks were resumed between the two sides after the May hiatus, the AMPTP refused to even offer the big actors guild either the WGA deal or the AFTRA deal. Instead, the Big Media cartel forced SAG to negotiate up from ground zero for weeks on end so that only as of today is the AFTRA deal even on the table. How is that fair pattern bargaining? Yet the moguls demand that SAG settle for the contract terms accepted by every other guild, especially on New Media. That's where the writers chose to draw their line in the sand, however faint, after failing to make lucrative agreements for each new technology that came along -- first VHS, then DVDs, now streaming and downloading. Had the Hollywood CEOs been honest and open to renegotiate the contract terms each time a new format caught on, these guild negotiations wouldn't be so arduous. Instead there are years and years of resentment to contend with -- as well as an infamously unmoveable AMPTP force, soon-to-retire Nick Counter, who craftily and contemptuously makes each guild essentially negotiate with itself by forcing the other side to drop issue after issue without any reciprocity. The writers got a little, but not a lot. Now it's SAG's turn to try for a little more which, under Favored Nations, will trickle down to the WGA and DGA. 

So where are the moguls themselves in all this? Nowhere. I've been told in absolute terms that the Big Media CEOs have decided to return the process of negotiating these guild contracts to the AMPTP's sole oversight. That means neither Peter Chernin (News Corp/Fox) nor Bob Iger (Disney) nor Les Moonves (CBS), who all at one time or another took leadership roles during the WGA strike settlement, will volunteer to get involved this time around with SAG. A story which appeared back on June 18th in Variety under the headline, "Chernin, Iger May Resume SAG Roles," is untrue, I have been assured by several major moguls. (I'll provide more details behind the scenes of the negotiations in Part II posting tonight.)

Hollywood's top agents are no longer neutral parties. Unwilling to absorb another round of commission losses and bridge loans, they are very privately backing the studios and networks against SAG. "If I could break the union, I would," one tenpercentery topper tells me.

Finally, let's look at what leverage both sides in this labor contract negotiation have. It would seem on the surface that the moguls hold all the cards since they decide when Hollywood gets back to work and how much actors will be paid and the conditions under which the thesps will work. So, at some point soon, probably on or around July 8th, the AMPTP will pull the same maneuver it did with the WGA (and even with SAG back on May 6th) and walk out of the talks while at the same time issuing an ultimatum and blaming SAG for the stalemate. As for the arbitration process known as "last best offer," which would seem to favor the AMPTP in the likelihood the standoff continues, WGA exec director Doug Young has already informed his SAG counterpart Doug Allen that the Big Media cartel offered the writers "at least 10'last best offers" before the contract settlement was reached.  

SAG, for its part, can start to organize rolling sick-outs of actors to delay TV and studio productions. It can threaten a boycott of the Emmys. And most moguls will admit that they can't keep a lid on movie production forever and need to start principal photography on many projects no later than September 1st. In addition, the Hollywood CEOs still have hanging over their heads those hefty force majeure liabilities ranging from $10M to $60M per company left over from the writers strike and payable to SAG, which has offered to engage in settlement talks if progress on the contract is made. Moreover, SAG can start meeting around the country with big institutional investors who own sizeable stakes in the Big Media companies. That latter strategy distressed the moguls enough to start getting serious about ending the writers strike as much as the guild's promise of Oscar picket lines threatened to KO the biggest night in moviedom.

And although the entertainment companies plead poverty to guild negotiators, the fact is business is very very good for Big Media even in today's down economy despite the recession and the writers strike.  Meanwhile, New Media has become this sector's newest profit center, with NBC.com alone expected to generate "tens of millions" of dollars in revenue next year "in a business that didn't exist" a few years ago, NBC TV Network President John Eck said at a PricewaterhouseCoopers sponsored media conference just this week. So why shouldn't creatives share? But unless they negotiate a bigger piece of the pie now instead of later, history has shown that the corporations simply won't renegotiate new technology terms in 3 years, or ever, even as the business grows. That's certainly what happened to DVDs. 

In conclusion, the quicker Hollywood realizes that SAG is not the obstacle here, the quicker this town will get back to work. No one knows better than the writers what torture dealing with the AMPTP really is. So it's important to note that whatever better New Media terms negotiated by SAG leadership will be enjoyed by both the WGA and DGA. That's because of a verbal "Favored Nations" agreement negotiated during the final days of the writers strike and considered binding by the guilds even if it was never formally written down. In other words, this is not just SAG's fight with the AMPTP anymore. It's creatives vs Big Media corporations. Let's hope Hollywood is back to work by July 21st.

(Culver City, June 27, 2008) -- Sony Pictures Entertainment has promoted Valerie Van Galder and Marc Weinstock to co-presidents of Worldwide Theatrical Marketing, it was announced today by Jeff Blake, chairman of worldwide marketing and distribution for the studio, to whom the two will report.

Van Galder and Weinstock will collectively develop and oversee worldwide marketing campaigns for all films released by Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Animation.

The two have worked together for more than a decade, first joining forces while working at Fox Searchlight. Van Galder originally brought Weinstock to join her at Screen Gems in 2000, when she oversaw marketing and publicity for the genre label. When Van Galder moved from her role as president of TriStar Pictures in January 2006 to take over the reins of the domestic marketing division at Columbia Pictures, Weinstock made a seamless transition to lead motion picture marketing for Screen Gems and has since launched eight #1 films.

Van Galder and Weinstock have been the marketing architects for a total of 28 #1 films.

Blake has reunited the two longtime colleagues to work together in developing and implementing the global marketing blueprint and launch strategy for more than 20 motion pictures a year.

“Val and Marc are recognized as two of the most creative, imaginative and strategic motion picture marketers in the industry today,” said Blake. “They have worked magnificently well together as partners for more than a decade, and they have an incredible and enviable track record of success. By reuniting their talents, we will bring their experience and leadership to our offices overseas where we will deliver their consistent innovation and skill and make sure that our campaigns get the same strong care and treatment abroad. As we place our global marketing structure under one roof, Marc and Val each bring with them the trust and confidence of the studio’s top filmmakers, talent and executives, and we couldn’t be in better hands.”

Over the next several months, the two will begin working together to shape the marketing campaigns for upcoming titles such as Columbia Pictures’ Quantum of Solace, the 22nd James Bond adventure; Angels & Demons, the feature film adaptation of Dan Brown’s bestselling novel; Roland Emmerich’s 2012; The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3; and Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist.  They are also overseeing the campaigns for Screen Gems’ Lakeview Terrace; Quarantine; Underworld: Rise of the Lycans; and District 9, from producer Peter Jackson, among many other films. The two will also oversee marketing for the upcoming feature films from Sony Pictures Animation including the Smurfs movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and Hotel Transylvania.

Van Galder was promoted to president of domestic marketing in 2006. She previously served as president of TriStar Pictures, and before that served as executive vice president of marketing for Screen Gems and previously senior vice president of marketing and publicity at Fox Searchlight. Weinstock has served as president of marketing for Screen Gems since October 2007 and has headed up marketing for the division since January 2006, when he succeeded Van Galder as executive vice president. Prior to SPE, Weinstock spent three years as director of marketing for Fox Searchlight Pictures.

I'm told this is the last day of employment for as many as 550 laid-off New Line employees. But Toby Emmerich has been driving around in a shiny new car and parking in the 116 North Robertson lot since June 10th. Like the jackass couldn't have waited until July to show it off to the world.

UPDATE: One of Toby's pals whom I normally respect is all in a lather and just emailed me this explanation: "The guy had a lease on a Mercedes that just ended.  He just leased a less expensive Lexus hybrid. He's had the same exact parking place for 8 years, and he expressly declined to take Bob Shaye's better space. What's he flaunting? What has he done to deserve your implication that he's gleefully driving over the graves of ex-New Line employees in his new red Ferrari? You think New Line's absorption into Warner Bros is what he wanted?"

Where do I begin? Like a Lexus hybrid isn't a pricey car. And what an immense sacrifice for Toby to decline Shaye's parking space. For crissakes, Emmerich is as responsible as Shaye and Lynne for the debacle that New Line became. And worst of all, Toby is now funneling projects back to Bob and Michael. I still maintain that Emmerich should have been shown the exit door, not the car door. 

I'm told that not only is Pixar/Disney internally hoping for a $70+ million dollar opening for Wall-E, but also a Best Picture Oscar nomination for the L'il Robot. It's possible with 100% great reviews from top critics and even rival studios bigwigs gushing about the pic: "I saw it on Wednesday and it's just adorable and smart and interesting. It has more character development and emotion than any movie I've seen this year." My box office gurus are projecting a $65M to $70M opening, and maybe more from 3,992 theaters. Clearly it'll be another giant box office since Universal's Angelina Jolie / James McAvoy starrer Wanted now looks like an all-round date movie instead of just a guyfest. 

Universal is hoping for at least $35M and maybe even $40M from 3,175 venues for Wanted's Fri/Sat/Sun total. My box office gurus are projecting $40M to $42M. "In terms of comps, that would be an extraordinary result for an R-rated summer action movie," a source tells me. "So anything above $35M is absolutely a franchise." The appeal for well-reviewed Wanted is a surprise: women want to see it as almost as much as men, young and old are coming in nearly even, and relative newcomer McAvoy is almost as much of a draw for the film as veteran Jolie.

Wall-E and Wanted will compete for older females. But it won't matter. "All the Wall-E reviews have been extraordinary. And Pixar is a brand that has earned the complete and total trust of the public," a rival marketing czar gushed. "But we have seen over and over and over again that films with different ratings and different genres can happily coexist at the box office -- Alvin And The Chipmunks and I Am Legend,  American Gangster and Bee Movie." One wrinkle in Wall-E's marketing was that the 1 hour, 37 minute pic has no dialogue for the first 40 or so minutes. "It's a bitch when the characters don't talk. Finding funny things for the TV ads is way hard." 

Looking ahead to Fourth Of July weekend, my box office gurus think Sony's Hancock will be massive. They're predicting a floor of $100M all the way up to $115M over the 5-day holiday since Will Smith owns that holiday weekend.

I'm told that Disney and Pixar are going to push hard for a Best Picture Oscar nomination for Wall-E on the basis of its anti-toon moody darkness and rave reviews by critics who matter. Certainly many toons have tried for that high honor over the years, and then settled for "just" a recently added Best Animated Feature nod. Only one animated movie has made it into the most competitive Academy Award category -- Disney's Beauty And The Beast in 1991 -- but, alas, didn't win. But that may not be the obstacle in Wall-E's way. No, I'm hearing the problem may be Andrew Stanton's arrogance in that interview in last Sunday's New York Times:

"Stanton, who wrote and directed the film, doesn’t care if the kiddies want to hug Wall-E or not when the movie comes out on Friday. 'I never think about the audience,” he said. “If someone gives me a marketing report, I throw it away.'” Because them thar's fightin' words in the movie industry. "Half of Hollywood went, 'You've got to be kidding!' " a bigwig Hollywood marketer said, echoing sentiment heard within the Industry. "Nobody can say, 'I don't care what the audience thinks', especially when making a mainstream movie for families. Nobody can live outside the envelope like that. His disdain for the audience was really obvious."

Ah, I love the smell of nastiness at the start of Oscar season. Smells like... controversy! 

While SAG has been fighting product integration in its ongoing negotiations with the AMPTP, Hollywood writers have been fighting it in Washington DC. For non-insiders, that's when Aiden on Sex And The City keeps talking about KFC, or when The Office refers to real corporations like Staples. (Though episodes of 30 Rock keep spoofing the practice, like when Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin spoke dialogue praising Verizon Wireless, and then Fey said directly to the camera, "Can we have our money now?") Specifically, the WGAW, which attempted to bargain this issue with the moguls and got nowhere, has asked FCC chairman Kevin Martin to help protect creative artists and audiences from product integration and its increase in use within the entertainment industry. The guild also called for a mandate on “real time” disclosure. In response to today’s decision by the Federal Communications Commission to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on product integration in TV programming, WGAW issued this statement:

“While the WGAW applauds the FCC decision to seek federal rules to address the increasingly pervasive use of product integration in today’s television programming, the Writers Guild urges the FCC to require on-screen ‘real-time’ disclosure when product integration occurs, in order to make viewers fully aware they are watching a paid advertisement. The WGAW believes the most fair and effective way to alert consumers that products have been integrated into programming is real-time disclosure whenever a product is being mentioned, referred to, and/or exhibited, to help viewers differentiate TV programming from paid advertising.”

Among other concrete actions, the WGAW has called for the FCC to establish guidelines requiring on-screen real-time” disclosure on TV programming whenever product integration occurs "to make viewers aware of the range of products they are overtly – and more often covertly – being sold". The WGAW has been active in the area of product integration fever since it published a white paper on the issue back in 2005. WGAW president Patric Verrone and TV writers such as Everybody Loves Raymond creator Phil Rosenthal testified before both Congress and the FCC last year on product integration and its implications for creative artists and the viewing public. And Verrone wrote to Martin on June 24th:

"Should the FCC initiate a rule-making process concerning the growing use of product integration, as recent news reports have suggested, the WGAW hopes this process will address the concerns of consumers and content creators.
 
"The concept behind product integration is the embedding of commercial products within the storyline of a program, so as to subliminally advertise to viewers.  The hope is that consumers, not expecting to find a commercial within their program, will fail to realize they are actually being advertised to.  This practice exploits the emotional connection viewers have with shows and their characters in order to sell a product.  The WGAW believes that broadcasters must adequately disclose the products that are integrated into a story in order to insure that viewers know they are watching a paid advertisement.
 
"Additionally, we hope that the NPRM can serve to protect writers and other creative talent from the adverse effects of product integration.  When writers are told we must incorporate a commercial product into the story lines we have written, we cease to be creators.  Instead, we run the risk of alienating an audience that expects compelling television, not commercials.  In support of these goals, the WGAW supports the following rules regarding the rampant use of product integration.
 
"The WGAW believes the proper policy would be to ban product integration from the already extremely commercialized public airwaves.  We believe in principle that there should be a clear and distinct separation between advertising and entertainment content.  As Andy Burnham, the United Kingdom’s Secretary of Culture so eloquently stated, “Here and now I do want to signal that there are some lines that we should not cross, one of which is that you can buy the space between programmes on commercial channels, but not the space within them.    
 
"However, since that line has already been crossed in the United States, we believe the best way to alert consumers that products have been integrated into programming is for the FCC to create rules requiring 'real time' disclosure at the time the product is mentioned, referenced, or exhibited.  Since DVRs and other such devices allow viewers to skip or fast forward through opening and closing credits, requiring disclosure at some other moment in the programming will simply not offer adequate protection.
 
"The WGAW believes that 'real time' disclosure will be the most effective way to protect consumers from disguised commercials.  The practice of placing text along the bottom of the screen, also known as a 'crawl,' is already used by many networks to announce news reports, sports scores, stock market updates, as well as to promote upcoming programming.  Since crawls are used with relative frequency, and viewers are accustomed to this practice, such a crawl would be no more intrusive than the warnings required for pharmaceutical ads or the network identifiers or 'bugs' that are now a mainstay of our TV visual field.
 
"In order to insure maximum disclosure to viewers, the WGAW believes that a crawl should appear for a reasonable period of time, should move at a reasonable speed, should be clearly readable by the viewer with a reasonable degree of color contrast between the background and the text, and should not include logos or other product-related graphics.  In addition, we would hope that any disclosure rules would require the name of the product and the parent company to be included in the crawl."

All my box office gurus think Hancock will be massive. So they're predicting a floor of $100M all the way up to $115M over the 5-day holiday since the Sony pic is starring Mr Independence Day Weekend, Will Smith. Let the prognosticating begin... Meanwhile, Sony is rolling out its long awaited and much rumored new multi-platform video service this summer in the U.S. and will offer Hancock to owners of internet-connected Bravia TVs before the movie is available on DVD. 

Wouldn't Lew Wasserman be proud. With only a handful repping the entire basketball pactice, Casey Wasserman's sports management agency had a cost-effective slam dunk at this year's 2008 NBA draft. And there's another showbiz connection: WMG principal and NBA player superagent Arn Tellem is married to CBS' Nancy Tellem. Wasserman Media Group had 7 athetes selected in the Top 15 of the first round, including 6 lottery picks. Its client Derrick Rose (pictured above), the freshman point guard for the Memphis Tigers, was the No. 1 pick and went to the Chicago Bulls, his hometown team.  The others were Russell Westbrook, sophomore guard UCLA (4th pick; Seattle Supersonics); Danilo Gallinari, forward Italy (6th pick; New York Knicks); D.J. Augustin, sophomore guard University of Texas (9th pick; Charlotte Bobcats); Brook Lopez, sophomore center Stanford Cardinal (10th pick; New Jersey Nets); Anthony Randolph, freshman forward Louisiana State University (14th pick; Golden State Warriors); and Robin Lopez, sophomore forward Stanford Cardinal (15th pick; Phoenix Suns).