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.
This Deal is Great ACCEPT IT NOW SAG
THen AFTRA will ratify the Primetime deal and everyone can stay working
Comment by John — June 30, 2008 @ 6:49 pm
Sounds like a New Economic Partnership to me!
Comment by Writer Bob — June 30, 2008 @ 6:57 pm
Okay, I never need to see THAT old lady/clock graphic again. Just the sight of it reminds me of my ulcers from last fall.
Comment by Fielding Mellish — June 30, 2008 @ 6:59 pm
Well…..SAG blowes it again.
Comment by paris timberline — June 30, 2008 @ 7:18 pm
This is exactly what the Food stores did to their union members, blinded them with a 1.00 raise over three years, while rolling back other benefits that would cancel out that raise and substantial future earnings. Don’t take the bait. Also, it’s pretty desperate to use scare tactics, don’t you think? Did you notice how many e-mails you are getting from Aftra? Believe me, they do not feel they have the upper hand on this.
Comment by summer — June 30, 2008 @ 7:27 pm
Does anyone honestly feel that strike or no strike SAG is going to get something that none of the other unions got? Obviously SAG doesn’t think so or they would have gotten that pesky strike authorization vote out of the way so that their ONLY bit of leverage could be used.
“What we have here is a failure to communicate”. We all know the reference and the metaphor plays exceptionally well here.
What everyone needs to do is learn from this and realize it’s only a 3 year contract. Learn that if anything is ever going to change in the future all the unions need to get along and come up with a collective strategy. This round of contracts have already been decided. SAG will get what everyone else got. Through lack of leadership and fighting within the unions and among sister unions and allied craft unions we have presented a horribly dysfunctional front led by people with no negotiating expertise.
In 3 years, every guild should work without a contract until the last unions contract comes up to expire. Then everyone can go in together. The reason the AMPTP is spreading everyone out is so that in 3 years that kind of unified labor action wont seem probable because of the spread in contract expiration dates.
This won’t be easy because the vitriol spewing may take longer than 3 years to mend. Your playing right into their hands Wakely. Instead, we should take the contract quickly so that in 3 years you have a shot. Delaying only exacerbates the will and nerve of other unions that will have to work without a contract until SAGs comes up again. Every single guild member should vote in leadership with in their respective guilds that promises to mend relationships and start immediately strategizing a consolidated effort for the next round(3yrs).
Every union was outmatched, out lead, out strategized, and suffered from impatience due to lack of planning. Everyone had something to prove and was proved wrong. Nobody gave the members what they had promised to deliver. Egos trumped intelligence and the victims are everywhere.
Cooler heads prevail. Screaming obscenities in a blog has produced ZERO winners.
Comment by NotgoingtoTip — June 30, 2008 @ 7:32 pm
i say strike. let’s go for broke!
Comment by bob-e — June 30, 2008 @ 7:33 pm
Wow! 250 million divided by 144 thousand divided by 3 is $578.70 dollars a year! Whoopie!
Comment by Dave — June 30, 2008 @ 7:41 pm
I’m not involved in the business, so maybe this is a dumb question, but how can SAG be ‘responsible for a defacto strike’ when they are telling their members to keep showing up to work? When they have never authorized a strike? And are giving work guarentees to productions so they can secure financing? Am I missing something?
Has SAG said they won’t allow new work to be commissioned under the old contract rules? It doesn’t sound like it. But I don’t really know how that works.
But, it sure seems to me that its more a defacto lockout than a defacto strike.
Comment by Am I Missing Something — June 30, 2008 @ 7:47 pm
That long letter by the AMPTP that Nikki Finke posted reminds me of those immortal words spoken by Mike Myer’s character Shrek when commenting on John Cleese’s character Lord Farquart’s huge castle:
They say the bigger it is the more its trying to compensate for something.
That AMPTP letter makes my eyes glaze and my mind turn off. Maybe that’s the point of it. I’d sign anything in a daze.
Comment by kay — June 30, 2008 @ 8:03 pm
Dave your math is wrong. there’s only about 12,000 that will benefit form this contract. That number is pretty constant.
Comment by just a thought — June 30, 2008 @ 8:05 pm
I’m a writer in full support of SAG. Someone’s gotta call bullshit on the AMPTP and I’m willing to sacrifice and support SAG as they fight for a better deal. Les and the other execs wouldn’t be getting the fat raises they are if times were so tough and profits were hurting. Making a fair deal keeps everyone working, AMPTP. Get on it!
Comment by Smoke and Mirrors — June 30, 2008 @ 8:11 pm
I should have added that that’s $11.13 dollars a week, before taxes. Certainly matches the raises they give each other. If they bought CD’s with that money they could pay you from the interest the CD made and still make a profit.
Sounds like a “cost of doing business” raise to me.
Comment by Dave — June 30, 2008 @ 8:19 pm
The opposite of strike is lockout and you guys don’t want lockout. Suddenly new labor deals are like buying a hybrid - will you really save money in the long run?
Comment by Big John — June 30, 2008 @ 8:20 pm
SAG needs to take the damn deal.
Comment by Anna — June 30, 2008 @ 8:24 pm
Well, if there are only 12,000 Actors in SAG that means that they were just offered $6,944.44 dollars a year, or $133.55 a week before taxes. Feel better about your$67.00 raise? Is that enough?
(Honestly, I don’t understand it either. Maybe my PC can’t divide properly. They wouldn’t try to buy off all the “middle class actors” with a 67 dollar raise, would they?) Oh and you have to work full time to get that much… Well, the way it must work is that all the nonworking actors contribute their money to the working actors. No, this is starting with the 12,000 number and that is “just a thought’s” number for “working actors”.
Comment by Dave — June 30, 2008 @ 8:36 pm
NotgoingtoTip, i wholeheartedly agree with everything you have to say. it’s a precise assessment of what is going on here and what needs to be done. what i don’t understand is your screen name.
why aren’t you going to tip?
Comment by keven with an "e" — June 30, 2008 @ 8:49 pm
I have been in SAG and AFTRA for over twenty years and believe that this deal is a good deal. Maybe not a great deal, but remember this is scale. When I was working more as a actor/guest star in TV my rate was triple scale. This deal is a good deal. If I become more in demand as an actor then I can improve upon it.
Please SAG, my union leaders don’t be the spoiler this round. Use the Sunset Clause and let us live to fight another day. I got the calls from you Alan Rosenberg and Ed Asner to vote NO on the AFTRA deal and I did as you requested. Promise. I even mailed it from SAG just to be sure AFTRA got it.
But, now its your turn to do something for me - TAKE THIS OFFER TO THE MEMBERSHIP FOR APPROVAL… ON WED.
I was working on the Fox lot today and it was a ghost town. OUR impact has been felt. SAG rules the day, now lets get back to business.
Being a WGA member as well, I marched with SAG for 27 days on the WGA picket line - I even brought the NAACP and Reverend Jesse Jackson for three days straight to march with the WGA AND SAG LEADERS. Nov. 7,8 and 9th. I was a former Chairman of Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH film Committee here in Los Angeles but resigned to focus all my energies to the WGA strike action.
I was escorting Reverend Jackson back to his black SUV when actress Valery Harper (SAG Board member) approached us, she requested that Reverend Jackson come back to town in a few more months to be there for SAG when and if another strike happens.
Well, I have not made the call to Reverend Jackson in Chicago because this time we have a good deal that we can live with for three years on the table. I will not recommend to him that he join SAG if a strike is called as I am a consultant to Reverend Jackson’s Rainbow/PUSH and Citizen Education Fund.
We can all get along. Please SAG, be the big guy and do the right thing. Your member in good standing. Chris E. Jackson.
Comment by Chris Jackson — June 30, 2008 @ 9:01 pm
Last best and final offers are nothing new in Hollywood. It is pretty standard language actually. Last Summer when we Teamsters settled or deal on time, we received a LBFO that was adequate for our needs compared to any losses we would have incured and never recovered from in a strike. One big difference in how we negotiate is that we always pass a strike authorization vote BEFRE we go in - it shows that you really mean business. I can’t understand why SAG would even begin to negotiate without a strike auth. Lots of mistakes were made by SAG’s negotitors and now the bitter fruit has come to bear on everyone and the AMPTP will exploit their weaknesses - sure it’s not fair but the SAG board is fighting the wolfs teeth with it’s throat on this one. Pathetic.
Comment by Transpo — June 30, 2008 @ 9:12 pm
There are so many AMPTP trolls on these comments that it makes me sick. Plain and simple, the AMPTP doesn’t negotiate. This whole thing could have been over months ago if the AMPTP actually negotiated. But unfortunately the AMPTP cartel doesn’t really care about the sustainability of their business and only is in short-sighted mode of day-to-day stock value and making good for shareholders. That’s why if this all carries on through the end of this week, then SAG needs to put into action a strike vote no later than July 2 so that they can strike whenever they want (this is leverage) and at the same time go straight to the shareholders (not 2 months from now) and give them straight talk about how these sleazy CEOs are “running” their businesses and how both the short and long term don’t look good if they can’t come to the table and give their “creative suppliers” (actors) a fair deal.
These entertainment businesses are in the creative business. If you cut off a head and two arms, the body is not going to be worth much. Yet the cartel approaches all this like somehow without a head and two arms everything is going to keep on working magnificently. Only people (the cartel CEOs) who have too much monopolized power think like this.
Comment by Working Actor — June 30, 2008 @ 9:13 pm
What a joke for Background Actors (the Heart of the Industry)! We should be getting $250 for 8, double time at 10, first 85 and 125, night and weekend premiums, and featured bumps for a start! Keep negotiating for whats RIGHT or shut it all down!
Comment by Robert — June 30, 2008 @ 9:57 pm
Just because someone thinks SAG should take the deal doesn’t mean they are an AMPTP troll.
For one I think SAG should take the deal, because if they don’t honestly this won’t look good for them. The press and public won’t be on their side. Hollywood can’t afford another strike.. Seriously just take the deal and try again in three years.
Not an AMPTP troll
Comment by Enough — June 30, 2008 @ 9:58 pm
here it is!!!!:
Dear Alan,
In the past, I have always known you to be a consummate professional at your
craft. As a member of our Guild for thirty-four years and member of DGA for
twenty-eight, I am saddened to say that, for the first time, I am truly
embarrassed by my leadership. Mr. Allen and yourself are coming off like
petulant amateurs when it comes to the art of the nuanced and intelligent
negotiation.
The deal that is on the table seems to be very fair considering the current
environment of our strike weary community. Let’s take what we can get now
and revisit it again in three years. What is best for actors, directors and
writers in the new media sector will be a slow evolution involving give and
take for years to come. DGA saw the wisdom in taking a long term approach.
Let’s do the same.
I will not give you a strike authorization vote and will lobby as hard as I
can, wherever I can against one.
Comment by ian1stad — June 30, 2008 @ 10:24 pm
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t this going down exactly as Nikki projected? AMPTP uses AFTRA to divide and conquer, refuses to negotiate with SAG, makes a take-it-or-leave-it offer and then, when AMPTP could negotiate away the possibility of a strike they threaten a lock-out and try to blame SAG for everybody’s lost work.
Maybe SAG shouldn’t get a better deal than the WGA and DGA. Maybe they should get more of some things and pay for that with less of others. I’m not saying SAG’s every demand is warranted. But the AMPTP needs to actually negotiate with them. Not with a secondary surrogate that will see anything at all as a step up, but with SAG. They need to stop the bullshit and sit down with SAG and hammer out a deal and if they do everything else but, everyone from Tom Short to Tom Hanks needs to need to hold the AMPTP accountable for the sorry situation this industry is in.
Comment by writer — June 30, 2008 @ 10:31 pm
if all you “smart” people know the AMTPT playbook, why do you keep getting your asses kicked by them? Maybe you should get Bill Belichick to help you out.
Comment by RealityBites — June 30, 2008 @ 10:53 pm
Yes, Working Actor there are a lot of AMPTP trolls on this site. One of them being Chris E. Jackson - I checked the IMDB and no such person. All BS - I knew something smelled funny when talked about getting triple scale as a Guest Star, when was the last time anyone got triple scale and break top of show and not be a star? Crazy people on this site. And to think he used Jesse Jackson’s name in his lie - I wonder if Mr. Jackson knows who Chris E. Jackson is?… Do I need to ask…
Comment by Scott — June 30, 2008 @ 11:19 pm
Did anyone see the Variety headline today about Fox focusing on more foreign productions? Did anyone see the Newsweek cover story a couple of months back featuring the back of the Statue of Liberty that addresses a post-America world? China, India, and Russia are all booming economies and our dollar just keeps getting weaker and weaker California has a hard enough time keeping productions here without having to deal with strikes, greed (all the unions and the AMPTP), and infighting. We’re heading for a serious recession in an election year, and you bozos are arguing over how much money you get to run around in costumes and play make believe? And you producer bozos are balking at paying a few lousy bucks for internet downloads? You guys all need to get some perspective. Bollywood is churning out hits these days, the Internet is capturing your audience, and the median age of tv watchers is 50. Your golden age is over. It’s time to get to work, make some quality products for reasonable prices, be humble and grateful. And maybe if the highest paid actors had some sense of a conscience about the rich-poor divide in their own industry, they’d spread the wealth around here at home before donating millions abroad and living abroad. And maybe if you producers weren’t so preoccupied with the bottom line and started championing great scripts, great filmmakers, and solid ensembles, you wouldn’t have to pay movie stars so much. Come on people, Congress had to pass a bill a couple of years ago to create financial incentives to keep film in this country! If that doesn’t show you the shape California and your industry is in, then you may have to learn the hard way - the way the music business people have learned it. Remember vaudeville? Don’t worry - no one else does either. Everyone better pay attention to what happened in Michigan - the once great auto capital of the world is now called the Rust belt. The autoworkers don’t have work, but there’s still a Ford Motor Company. The movie industry hails itself as posting record-breaking sales, but they mess with the numbers. If you look at this website http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm
you’ll see that when they adjust for inflation, there has not been a single movie made in the 21st century that is in the top 25 grossing films. NOT ONE. The only one that comes close is ranked at #29 - Shrek 2 - and it’s animated! Please, people - we’re all connected in this life and in this economy - and you guys - on BOTH SIDES - are wreaking havoc. You’re doing untold damage to workers, families, etc. and the far-reaching effects of your failure to compromise are incalculable. And while I’m on a rant, why didn’t you guys sort this out during the writer’s strike??
Comment by Mali — June 30, 2008 @ 11:23 pm
I saw an article this morning on the Guardian website “Pay row threatens to turn out the lights in Hollywood” (Dan Glaister) which really irritated me for some reason. So I wrote him (and the editor) that he was behind the times by several days and rather than trusting the LA Times (which he had quoted) that he should follow YOUR column and site….and if he really wanted to know what was going on in LA he should check out the Weekly more often. (I provided the link to your article)
I have read the Guardian for 8 years, and usually like their content and writing.
He did reply, but commented that “She ain’t
always right, although the consensus among the people I’ve spoken to is that this time a strike is highly unlikely.” Since he didn’t quote any other sources, I wonder what they are.
If it was another paper, then shame on them too…
Comment by Lynda — June 30, 2008 @ 11:31 pm
I’m not so sure ANYBODY passes the smell test in this one. Rosenberg and Allen have been embarrassingly inept, only in the past week or so finally apprearing even semi-reasonable (i.e., backing down from some of their more militant rhetoric).
On the other hand, where SAG seesm inept, AMPTP smells like total bullshit. I don’t believe them for a minute either. But at this point, even *I* might be convinced to vote for a strike.
Comment by SAG Character Actor — July 1, 2008 @ 12:03 am
Sorry, Robert. You can’t convince me an extra is worth $250 for an 8 hr day. No chance. I’ve done extra work (okay, so it was over twenty years ago). It’s not exactly rocket science.
I remember when that kind of money was paid to day players. We were happy to get that much. (Thank you SAG.)
Comment by SAG Character Actor — July 1, 2008 @ 12:09 am
Sorry, not an AMPTP troll, just a man in Hollywood trying to make an honest living on the practical side of reality.
MySpace URL: http://www.myspace.com/chrisjackson5
Chris E.Jackson, Christopher Jackson, Chris Jackson, Chris Filer… some of my acting credits just aren’t on IMDB.
WGA member in good standing:
Here’s what I found about myself off of the WGAw site:
Find a Writer Results
Chris E. Jackson
Agency Information:No Agency Listed. Please contact the Guild’s Agency Department at (323) 782-4502
You can call John Mitchell, Reverend Jesse Jackson’s Chief of Staff in Chicago or Marjorie McKinnon-Price (Human Resources Department) you can call the Los Angeles office and ask for the office manager Regina. On second thought John Mitchell will never call you back you might try Marjorie or Regina here in Los Angeles for better luck. By the way, don’t forget to tel them I’m Jesse’s cousin, they’ll get a kick out of that one too.
Rainbow PUSH National Headquarters
930 East 50th Street
Chicago, IL 60615-2702
ph: 773-373-3366
fx: 773-373-3571
Rainbow PUSH Entertainment Project
1968 West Adams Boulevard
Suite 300
Los Angeles , CA 90018
Phone: 323 734-3900
Fax: 323 734-3913
Now, SAG members and leaders lets all go back to work before gas hits five dollars a gallon!
Comment by Chris Jackson — July 1, 2008 @ 1:07 am
Dave & “Writer;”
Dave, your SAG salary math reminds me of Mad Magazine’s parody of classic 3rd grade arithmetic probs: “If 120,000 camels passed gas through the head of a needle, how many sandwiches would craft services have to give you before you shut up?”
And “Writer,” with your analysis of SAG, AFTRA, and the AMPTP, you’re like the speedfreak from Barstow who picks up one of those undersized 4-page comic books about Satan controlling the mind of young America through Playstation …and becomes a born-again.
Other than that, doin’ great guys! Keep informing Hollywood with your razor-sharp thinking.
Comment by Ichbin Auch Einwerkungactor — July 1, 2008 @ 1:55 am
So since Nikki’s been right so far, and she’s also said the moguls are quite comfortable letting this thing just hang out there until mid-July, why don’t we just relax, reiterate our full support for SAG leadership, and let them do their job!
Comment by mheister — July 1, 2008 @ 2:07 am
@Comment by bob-e — June 30, 2008 @ 7:33 pm
Emphasis on the word broke…
@Comment by Dave — June 30, 2008 @ 7:41 pm & Comment by Robert — June 30, 2008 @ 9:57 pm
Ya know what, shut up. 144K actors don’t work regularly. It’s certainly more than any of the assistants at your agent and manager’s offices make. Go ahead, ask them how big their raise was last year. I personally know no less than 50 who work at or very very near minimum wage (which BTW Mr. Background actor, is much much less than $250 a day for sitting at a table pretending to eat a pizza while the principles do their thing). Keep complaining about getting $6K for a guest star spot + residuals for working 1 week.
@Comment by Scott — June 30, 2008 @ 11:19 pm
Are you joking? You clearly have never worked in rep. We had a client who worked for a long running network show on Fox billed as a TOS guest star who was getting $30K/episode for a small guest arc. Had another who made $80K for a 1 day TOS guest for a similar show.
Are you joking with saying that no one would ever get triple scale for a guest star at the top of show? Really?
Comment by manny — July 1, 2008 @ 3:36 am
SO many of you actors are completely spineless. They offer you nothing an end to residuals, and your begging for it. I know your in the game of being liked, but no reason to cut off your nose despite your face.
You have all the leverage.
Just give it time. They can’t make films without you. You cede your power without a fight and then claim you don’t have any.
No wonder the studios own you.
Chin up. You must win this.
Comment by Bravery — July 1, 2008 @ 4:46 am
Scott - Like most SAG/DGA/WGA people fighting for, among other things, internet right…learn to use the internet. There is a little site called google (small start-up company). Found a Chris Jackson myspace (another small startup) page that jives with his story.
Now, here comes all the righteous SAG/WGA members. “Oh, so and so wants us to take the deal…they are a shill”. Please. I work in the industry and not for a major company. I will be honest and say I do not know if the deal is actually fair. What I do know - any gains SAG will receive from striking will never offset the billions lost and lives ruined. The untold story of the WGA strike is the tens of thousands of workers who lost pay and/or jobs so a few people could get a few more dollars. Those are facts - and as long as you can admit to that and live with yourself…keep fighting for pennies and make others suffer. Thanks.
Comment by 702dave — July 1, 2008 @ 6:39 am
To: Am I Missing Something
No SAG does not routinely issue GCCs. These were issued within the last few months only because the fear of strike would have stopped all new productions from being bonded well in advance of the actual contract exiration. Under normal circumstances there is no need for a guarantee from SAG because they operate under a contract, they can’t strike as long as the contract is in effect. It’s only because their contract was nearing expiration and SAG leadership had been swinging the strike stick around town (even if they deny it now) that made the bonding companies weary of insuring any new productions.
Comment by Intrigued — July 1, 2008 @ 6:45 am
If we’re following the script perpetrated on/by writers, surely it’s time for SAG to directly address affected institutional investors.
Comment by Scott Ellington — July 1, 2008 @ 8:15 am
I’m surprised not surprised the AMPTP can present a Last Best Final Offer ultimatum while simultaneously trying to cast themselves as the innocent guys that are trying to negotiate a deal.
If this is a negotiation, then that offer is an offer. Not a “Last” one or a “Final” one.
“Best” is subjective.
Comment by Captain Obvious — July 1, 2008 @ 9:04 am
I am calling bullshit on this AMPTP statement. Wow - can you count the number of lies? Can you count how many times the AMPTP attempt to lay the blame and fault on SAG? The only question is, why is SAG being honorable in the face of such bullshit? It’s time to put out some fires and do some damage control - SAG must not allow its name to be dragged through the mud in this fashion. If that continues, the demoralization campaign of the AMPTP wins by weakening the individual members of SAG one at a time.
Nevertheless, these AMPTP lies need to be addressed hean-on!
Furious.
Comment by Nudist — July 1, 2008 @ 9:42 am
SAG-
Send the offer to the members and let them vote. You’re supposed to be representing them so let their voices be heard. Don’t worry about AFTRA’s vote. Vote on your deal.
That is unless SAG is afraid to put it in front of the membership, just like they are afraid to get a strike authorization. The only thing that can be derived by not letting them vote is that the leaderships ego’s are trumping and patronizing the will of the people. Hmmm sounds like Bush/Cheney.
Comment by NotgoingtoTip — July 1, 2008 @ 10:08 am
“De facto strike?” Because the AMPTP refuses to go ahead with their production, even though SAG continues telling people to audition and go to work?
Sounds like a “de facto lockout” to me…
But that would have to be declared by the AMPTP… oh wait, it was, in the first line of their release.
Let’s get the terminology right.
Comment by Anonymous — July 1, 2008 @ 10:41 am
Can someone show me where this statement has lies. To it seem a fairly accurate account of what has transpired up until now and what the AMPTP is offering. Nothing more nothing less. What needs to be addressed head on is the SAG leadership and it’s behavior in all of this.
Comment by just a thought — July 1, 2008 @ 10:58 am
Mali’s post above is amusing, in a deeply cynical, free market Republican sort of way. “Free Trade!” says Mali, essentially. Obviously not a member of the show-biz community, he/she misses a few salient points: Hollywood is the CENTER of the worldwide entertainment industry. It’s infrastructure, talent pool and track record is unmatched. It’s not even close. so, while sending a factory in Youngstown, Ohio, that makes pool heaters and whose workers average $17 dollars an hour with benefits, to Uruguay, and replacing all the workers with $@ an hour workers with no benefits, is the model for current Republican free market Darwinism in the good old USA, the comparison runs up against some problems when talking American made film and TV. First, the obvious: stars. The industry is star driven, and, while Bollywood has their stars, I’m an actor/writer/director who knows everyone (some personally, most by sight), I couldn’t name a single Bollywood star, and I guarantee the U.S. movie going public is not going to sit still for a 2 hour Bollywood production. They’d rather walk through fire. American entertainment is in our top 5 exports. No American actors are relocating to, say, Australia, to kick start their career. Or London. Or Paris. Or anywhere. They come to L.A. or New York. Period. So the product is uniquely American and, while it can be made abroad (and all too often, is) and can be crewed abroad (and all too often is) and directed by a foreign director, it can’t be acted by foreign actors abroad. Not consistent mainstream product. You go work in Canada, as American actors all too often do? While there are exceptions, the shows have one or two American stars, and then Canadian actors (notice the XO on Battlestar Gallactica sounds like a hockey coach?). So, this is the AMPTP’s approach - go film in outer Mongolia to save money, pay Jim Carrey 20 million plus 7 percent of first dollar gross, surround him with a few recognizable American actors, then pay Mongolians $1 a day to walk around in the background and fill minor roles. I’m being facetious, but not much. Hollywood, for all the pissing away of its legacy, is still THE power center in Entertainment worldwide. Now, as we go into Thomas Friedman speak, that the industry is flattening out, how does a union like SAG remain THE actor’s union worldwide? Well, it doesn’t give in to this bullshit, that’s for sure. “Make the deal,” “do the math,” “let’s keep working,” that’s the AMPTP’s playbook, not the actors, at least not in the long term. The pressure to globalize the industry means losing jobs, wages, pensions and benefits, and all the naysayers against SAG in the current labor impasse are missing the forest for the trees. You can’t replace Tom Cruise with Oudray Vanupu (huge in Uruguay). Not now. Not ten years from now. Not fifty years from now. The industry will be given away ONLY if we let it. SAG has unique power right now, if we can get our own house in order and speak with one voice. The AMPTP can’t do without us, and the stars are subject to the rules and regs of the union. Can they make trouble? Has Hanks supporting AFTRA helped? Of course not. But, the stars, put under enough pressure to support their union, will do so, because to not do so can and will directly threaten their career, and because they know it’s the right thing to do. We cannot allow the AMPTP to continue cutting little pieces off of us, unless we want to end up dead. We need to stand up and say we ARE show business. We ARE the most powerful union in Hollywood. And we will NOT allow the suits to take advantage of us anymore. Now, bring it on cynics. But let’s all wait and see where this goes. A clue: it’s not going to a place that will make AFTRA or the AMPTP happy.
Comment by Dan300 — July 1, 2008 @ 11:21 am
I’m always amused at this mention of “troll” on this blog. So what? I work below the line on a big show, but I’m not about to reveal my real name, because, well, we have no job security whatsoever. But I’m gonna make my opinion known, just as the AMPTP and SAG trolls, whatnots will. Hey, I’m all for SAG getting a great deal. But what no SAG ranter will admit, is how fucked their leadership went about these negotiations. I’m betting this one will be in labor studies textbooks on how NOT to negotiate. What SAG, WGA don’t seem to get is that AMPTP only do one thing: read, study, inspect and disect contracts. They don’t want to direct, act, or sell a script. And I’ll bet, being a bunch of lawyers, they climb all over themselves with “oooh, look what I found on Paragraph 205 section B! Wow, we can really fuck them over with that one!” and that clown gets a raise or moves to the next chair up. This is what we are all dealing with, and there are not a lot of options fighting them. Striking didn’t do too much but fuck my life, delaying negotiating didn’t do too much, but slow down production, and that brilliant move to split the two actor’s unions in negotiations left SAG looking like a bunch petulant crybabies. My biggest fantasy (and it is a fantasy) is that, on a certain day, there is a “Crew Flu” where every last BTL person just doesn’t show up. Just one day, where nothing gets done. The actors show up, and their motorhomes aren’t open. The producer/writers show up with their latest (and late) revision, and there’s no one to make copies. The brat kid director who likes to blame the crew for how slow he works parks his Pantera in his director’s spot and there’s no PA there with a golf cart to get him the 50 fee to the stage. There’s no studio mail, no commissary, nothing. And the next day, everyone would show up with a doctor’s note as if nothing happened. Good luck SAG. Next week I’ll find out if I’m going back to work or not, because I’m betting SAG will get locked out. Then they’ll get all pissed off, send out a strike ballot, which might just pass. Then what? Most TV shows began their new seasons early, got 4-5 shows in the can, so the fall season will have something. And in the fall SAG has new leadership elections? Nick Counter has been their for what 24 fucking years? Are you hearing what I’m saying? I mean, really, just sign this contract, and really, really, really start scheming for the next contract. I promise you AMPTP already is.
Comment by Michael F. Workman — July 1, 2008 @ 11:28 am
Dear Hollywood,
The current labor dispute between SAG and AMPTP is an excellent case study of how not to get the job done.
Hollywood is one of the last bastions of real union/guild/craft power in this country. The rest have been undercut or wiped out.
America looks to Hollywood for it’s hopes and dreams. It looks to Washington for leadership. They are both failing us.
Let me give you an example from the world of the blue collar American. Years ago, General Motors gave the unions a contract, which the unions accepted, that has new workers starting at about 1/2 of what the established union employees were paid. I’m surprised that this hasn’t been tried in Hollywood yet.
There was an implied threat, take the deal or the plant closes. Would you sign a deal that cuts the throats of the newbies to save your own job?
It was either that or see the plant closed and shipped overseas.
Guess who came out looking like the bad guys on TV? Nobody.
Management worked out a deal to ‘keep the plant American’, the union ’saved the jobs’ and the workers kept ‘bringing home the bacon’.
The new hires were told to be thankful that they had a job. Oh yeah and ‘You can negotiate for better pay/benefits in the future’.
Sound familiar?
Now, GM is floundering, they are cutting jobs and closing plants and the only people getting raises are the management.
Sound familiar?
How can that happen? Because they still moved the car and truck plants out of the country. Even the design work is being done overseas.
Don’t even start to blame this on the current ‘oil crisis’. It’s all about making bigger profits at lower costs.
You think that Hollywood is immune to all of this? What about all the studiios/agencies that now have deals in China? How about all those agreements signed with India? That combined market is almost half the population of the entire world.
Once the people with the money get ready to deal, they dictate the terms. You think that you can ‘revist’ some of the concessions you give up now in three years?
Only if you and your union is in a stronger position than they are now. Doubt it.
Hollywood is at the peak of the American pyramid when it comes to prestige, money, jobs and aspirations. It is the pinnacle of the American success story.
As I stated in a previous post on another thread, it’s time to get the market involved. In this case, it’s your audience.
Actors, big and small, need to stand up as individuals and make a statement to the world. Videos/blogs/press releases, etc.
Take action or shut up and take what they give you.
Comment by Tom Segerson — July 1, 2008 @ 12:19 pm
Michael F. Workman said it better than just about anyone:
“What SAG, WGA don’t seem to get is that AMPTP only do one thing: read, study, inspect and disect contracts. They don’t want to direct, act, or sell a script.”
Bingo, Michael. The AMPTP guys don’t keep their “chin up”, they don’t need emotional support to keep fighting….what they do is negotiate.
If the SAG leadership wants to win, and I’m defining a win as a reasonably decent contract that is signed in time to keep a struggling industry still moving, they will stop with the drama queen stuff, hire some men and women who are tougher and smarter than they are, give them the power to do what they need to do and then basically shut up.
Comment by a suit — July 1, 2008 @ 12:36 pm
702dave-
What kind of moron would go to a myspace page and believe it? I could start one as Freddy The Flute and that I was the lead in GONE WITH THE WIND and you would buy it. If your quote in the business and work for a BIG Company, then you know that you don’t have to google if looking for someone in The Bizz - you go straight to IMDB and get the facts, because they screen people and credits before posting and if the credits are not REAL, they don’t post them.
Manny-
30k for small guest arc (3 shows) and 80k for one day - that’s great what Agency? And who were the Actors? I bet your clients were stars? Most shows today won’t break TOS for stars. I think your pulling these numbers out your A**…
Peace.
Comment by Scott — July 1, 2008 @ 12:49 pm
I’ve read a lot of these posts. Agree with some. Disagree with other and some…just out and out shock me with their anger, pettiness, vulgarity, selfishness, and venom.
I think somewhere along the lines we have lost sight of why these labor disputes are the way they are — The lack of these conglomerates to share the wealth.
Here are two excerpts about Les Moonves and Bob Iger —
“CBS CEO Leslie Moonves (CBS) gave himself a 29% raise in 2007, to $37 million, says the WSJ. Better news: Since CBS has already agreed to pay some of Les’s taxes, he’ll get to keep more of it for himself. (”Oh, Yes, Mr. Moonves, Sure We’ll Pay Your Taxes!”)
We just can’t understand why so many people complain about American CEO pay. After all, consider the amazing job Les has been doing:
The compensation package, ranking among the biggest in the media industry, was awarded in a year in which CBS’s stock fell about 13% and its net income tumbled 25%. While the company generated significant cash last year, its core TV and radio businesses stumbled.
Shares in CBS, which has a market value of about $15 billion, have steadily declined from a high of $35.75 last July, falling about 20% so far this year. The stock was just off its 52-week low at $21.40 in 4 p.m. composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange Friday.”
Bob Iger -
“Walt Disney Co., the second-largest U.S. media company, gave Chief Executive Robert A. Iger an 11% raise to $27.7 million last year after he expanded profit for eight straight quarters.
The salary and other compensation for Iger, 56, was disclosed in a regulatory filing Thursday by Burbank-based Disney. In 2006, Iger received $24.9 million, according to the filing. Disney stock gained 14% for the fiscal year ended Sept. 29.
Fourth-quarter profit rose 12%.
Iger’s “pay didn’t go up as much as we performed as a company,” Disney spokesman Jonathan Friedland said. In fiscal 2007, the company’s income from continuing operations gained 41% to $4.67 billion and earnings per share increased 40% to $2.24.
Disney shares, however, have dropped 12% in the last 12 months, and fell 35 cents Friday to $30.32.
Iger received $13.7 million in nonequity incentive pay, $7.93 million in stock awards and a salary of $2 million.
The company paid $9.05 million to Chief Financial Officer Thomas Staggs, 47. The total included $4.45 million in nonequity incentive pay and $2.2 million in stock awards.”
Yet these companies claim they have no money. There are no profits to be had. They don’t know how to make money on the internet (go ask the freaking Porn companies - they figured out a good business model). I have no problem with stars making bloated salaries - they are why people go see movies and turn on the TV. But these guys? What do they do to deserve that kind of money?
Now they’ve managed to get us all fighting each other so we can’t fight them. The rich get richer and the poor will take scale and like it.
Comment by Can'tWeAllGetAlong — July 1, 2008 @ 12:52 pm
Michael Workman, you are awfully resentful about Hollywood and your job.
If you don’t like it, go work in another industry.
If you want job security, go work in another industry.
That also goes for all BTL’ers who post whiny tirades, real or troll.
You state the obvious about the AMPTP’s focus on the bottom line.
Smug arrogance about Hollywood being untouchable is part of the problem in this country. There is such smug complacency, no one wants to acknowledge ground slipping away from under us. You don’t remain a front runner by being smug and arrogant. Already the infusion of capital from India and otherwise is shifting the industry. It takes those with vision to recognize it amidst gradual subtle changes - before it is too late.
As for SAG, it needs to stand strong, do what it’s got to do without worrying about the shrill undermining voices of AMPTP trolls, or of its own membership.
Comment by Funding — July 1, 2008 @ 1:40 pm
In response to Can’tWeAllGetAlong, I would like to quote the frontier man from Blazing Saddles, “Reverend!”
Very well said and the details make it clear as day.
REVEREND!
Comment by Reverend! — July 1, 2008 @ 1:49 pm
Funding, You said: “As for SAG, it needs to stand strong, do what it’s got to do without worrying about the shrill undermining voices of AMPTP trolls, or of its own membership.”
So SAG shouldn’t worry about the voices of it’s own membership? Huh. I thought Labor Leaders were supposed to listen, not ignore, the voices of their membership. It seems they’re actually taking your advice, poor as it is.
Comment by Scott — July 1, 2008 @ 2:16 pm
Comment by Funding
You have got to be kidding. I was on the WGA picketline and saw people lose their house, cars, marriage, all thier deals and you say this town needs to stand firm against the AMPTP and make them give AG a DVD increase and 51 cents a mile for gas our God forbid my kid loses his private school money and has to go to Fairfax High and get shot by a kid who brings a gun in his backpack to school. Well, maybe you are right. Why not scarfice for something greater than ourselves. Bullshit. The next time I need a ride while waiting on the bus stop I will be sticking my thumb out for you to pick me and my wife and kids up.
Or today is July 1st, I’ll send my bills to you and maybe you can fund me until the strike is over. Do it for SAG and the fight for what is right in this world. Your kids will be so proud of you.
SAG but be fooled. AFTRA sold us out so just lick our wounds and live to fight on another day. (three years)
Chris E. Jackson
Comment by Chris Jackson — July 1, 2008 @ 3:03 pm
Chris E. Jackson,
You need to take a DEEP breath and relax. You are reacting exactly how the AMPTP wants you to react - with FEAR! Just because we stand strong to get a good deal, doesn’t mean we are going to STRIKE - quit all the fear mongering and drama and save it for your work… Yes a lot of us walk the picket line and it has been thrown in our face everyday since and is still being used so we will buckle and take this SHITTY deal, because so and so might loose their house or their kids tuition. Please stop the drama and save it for your Mama.
Mark my words - There will be NO STRIKE! We have the power, we have the union! Your Union! Our Union! The Screen Actors Guild is one of the most powerful unions in the world.
And those that don’t believe it, go to http://www.Sag.org - 4000+ in solidarity and growing by the minute…
Comment by Scott — July 1, 2008 @ 5:50 pm
Scott: “The Screen Actors Guild is one of the most powerful unions in the world.”
Are you kidding or have you already drank the Kool-Aid?
SAG is powerful like Bush is a uniter. REAL unions are shuddering at the behaviour of your leaders as of late.
Comment by Transpo — July 1, 2008 @ 11:51 pm
Transpo - What REAL unions are you talking about? And as for BUSH… We’re on the same page.
Comment by Scott — July 2, 2008 @ 12:59 am
Well Scott how about the Teamsters, SEIU (the fastest growing union right now), IAFF - Fire Fighters, and many more who consistently negotiate stronger than anything SAG has done. Oh and of course Bush and Bush2MCain are strongly anti labor I agree with you there.
Comment by Transpo — July 2, 2008 @ 7:56 am