After three weeks of “insufficient progress” negotiating with the Screen Actors Guild, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers announced that it will turn its attention to the other actors union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, starting today. The goal will be to hammer out a new primetime contract for AFTRA-covered shows like Rules of Engagement, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and ‘Til Death, among others — and, ultimately, to avoid another debilitating Hollywood strike like the writers’ walkout that ended in February. The contracts for both SAG and AFTRA expire June 30.
Although SAG had released a statement saying it was prepared to negotiate around the clock until a deal was done, the AMPTP argued “significant differences” on DVD residuals, streaming, and made-for-new-media prevented its talks with SAG from continuing. “Under these circumstances, with SAG’s continued adherence to unreasonable demands in both new and traditional media, continuing negotiations at this time does not make sense,” said an AMPTP spokesman. But in a statement posted on the union’s website, SAG President Alan Rosenberg argued that negotiations should continue if both sides want to keep the town working. “It is unfortunate and deeply troubling that the AMPTP would suspend our negotiations at this critical juncture,” he said. “We have modified our proposals over the last three weeks in effort to bargain a fair contract for our members. We are committed to preserving rights that have been in place for decades and not giving the studios the right to use excerpts of our work in new media without our consent and negotiation. Our negotiating team is prepared to work around the clock for as long as it takes to get a fair deal.”
For its part, AFTRA has already successfully negotiated a new multi-year contract (a.k.a. Network Code) for its daytime actors and game/reality show talent. It is widely believed that if the AMPTP and AFTRA agree to a new primetime deal, the pressure will be on SAG to make a deal of its own before resorting to another crippling strike. “Our industry was not starting from scratch with this round of SAG negotiations,” said an AMPTP statement, citing the deals the organization made with writers, directors, and AFTRA earlier this year.
But SAG argues that the AMPTP had put forward a proposal that “differed substantially from the deals signed with the DGA and WGA.” SAG claims that the conglomerates’ clip demand “would gut existing provisions regarding actors’ consent to use of their clips and would allow studios and networks to use or sell clips — going forward and from their libraries — in any way they choose and without consent.”
Although SAG had released a statement saying it was prepared to negotiate around the clock until a deal was done, the AMPTP argued "significant differences" on DVD residuals, streaming, and made-for-new-media prevented its talks with SAG from continuing. "Under these circumstances, with SAG’s continued adherence to unreasonable demands in both new and traditional media, continuing negotiations at this time does not make sense," said an AMPTP spokesman. But in a statement posted on the union’s website, SAG President Alan Rosenberg argued that negotiations should continue if both sides want to keep the town working. "It is unfortunate and deeply troubling that the AMPTP would suspend our negotiations at this critical juncture," he said. "We have modified our proposals over the last three weeks in effort to bargain a fair contract for our members. We are committed to preserving rights that have been in place for decades and not giving the studios the right to use excerpts of our work in new media without our consent and negotiation. Our negotiating team is prepared to work around the clock for as long as it takes to get a fair deal."
For its part, AFTRA has already successfully negotiated a new multi-year contract (a.k.a. Network Code) for its daytime actors and game/reality show talent. It is widely believed that if the AMPTP and AFTRA agree to a new primetime deal, the pressure will be on SAG to make a deal of its own before resorting to another crippling strike. "Our industry was not starting from scratch with this round of SAG negotiations," said an AMPTP statement, citing the deals the organization made with writers, directors, and AFTRA earlier this year.
But SAG argues that the AMPTP had put forward a proposal that "differed substantially from the deals signed with the DGA and WGA." SAG claims that the conglomerates’ clip demand "would gut existing provisions regarding actors’ consent to use of their clips and would allow studios and networks to use or sell clips — going forward and from their libraries — in any way they choose and without consent."
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Whaa! freaking Whaa!
While millions of Americans can’t afford gasoline, they want to get RICHER. They disgust me.
js
That’s an ignorant statement. Actors work for years to establish themselves, a lot of times with years in between jobs. They take the brunt of impact if a show doesn’t work because it’s their faces on the screen, and they consistently have to deal with unwarranted public critique and sycophantic obsession with what clothes they wear, or who they date. You have the anonymity of your computer, and that disgusts me. Buy a hybrid jackass.
If SAG strikes I am done with scripted television. I quit watching many shows during the writers strike fiasco, many others did as well, as the lower ratings across the board show. I agree with the poster about the Gas prices, the American people are suffering and we are supposed to side with a bunch of spoiled overpayed actors, let them live on my salary and see how they like that.
With all due respect, you made your choice for your job. This country is about choice, and if you made bad ones, then you should rectify that. You are not a victim. You have a problem with the price of gas. We all do. That has nothing to do with actors’ salaries. The country’s suffering has nothing to do with actors’ salaries. You want to stick it to them, vote for Obama. That way, the actors will get hit nice with the taxes, and you’ll be doing something for the environment. And ultimately, if you can’t live on your salary, I hope you don’t have kids that you can’t support.
This issue is not about mere money…. it is about protecting ones rights. Surely all should be able to recognize a slippery slope when one sees one. Why are the conglomorates getting bigger? Why are the rich getting richer and middle class falling into decay? And as for the poor …God help us all. When we allow the powers to be to make choices that define their bottom line and justify their avarice we have mortgage failings, Enrons, foreclosures, job lines. Look at the big picture. Actors( most make far less then the Tom Cruises of the world) musicians, writers dancers,did in deed choose the life they lead, but they like the rest of us should be paid for the work they do. When you are sad, want to celebrate, seek contemplation, where do you turn,the arts. For most likely to soothe, to calm, to uplift, to encourage, to feel a part of something. The arts can teach us compassion, can inflame us, can entertain us. After a hard day at a job you may be less then fond of..where do you turn?
Labor negotiations are always tough. Actors are just people in the process of improving their lives. Can’t blame either side, but both sides have to be smart and reasonable. Tough spot for both…
If SAG strikes, no one will win. The WGA went on strike and burned the entire industry in the process, and for what? Significant gains were NOT made. Like the WGA, SAG can’t expect The AMPTP to do what their agents should be doing. You want a better deal? Make you agent work harder. It’s the non working actors who aren’t making a deal. The working successful actors want a deal.
As a SAG/AFTRA/SSDC and AEA member, some of the comments here amaze me. I am not rich nor famous, but need the protection that these negotiations are fighting for. I eek out a stable living what I have done for over 20 years. Last year a film that I worked in used a clip of mine online (my image, my craft and my creativity and art) with no compensation. The film is also being distributed online via NetFlix; again, no compensation. Media and distribution change fast in these times and our contracts need to reflect it. To give producers carte blanch rights to use our images and creativity at their whim would be professional suicide. I love how most people believe that the majority of working actors make a six plus figure salary – when in reality 98% of union actors are unemployed on any given day.
The overwhelming majority of actors are NOT RICH. For the 98% of actors who are struggling and trying to become working actors – the few extra cents on DVDs can make the difference between paying for health insurance or not. On average the majority (95%) of SAG member make $5000 or less a year. So before you call them all “rich actors” do the research. On the flip side – the producers and studios are now multi BILLION dollar conglomerates. And they are raking in the money. Disney just announced RECORD PROFITS. So they cry poverty on one hand and take in the money hand over fist on the other. And they only make money because writers write scripts, and actors act in their projects, and crew work on their projects – etc. So SAG is only looking for fair compensation. The producers WANT a stike because they want to destroy SAG (and all unions).
Matt G-Did you get paid when you worked in the first place? Then you were already compensated. I work in the film business in a creative capacity as well, and ALL of the dozens of films that feature my ideas, art and creativity will be shown indefinetly in all kinds of media and I will never see another cent beyond the fair salary I negotiated before production began, and I received until production ended. The SAG strike will put tens of thousands of workers who will never get residual checks in the mail during the strike and make much less than the DAILY MINIMUM of $759.00 that actors receive plus residuals. How do you sleep at night taking money away from real working so can you can pick up a few extra pennies from online streaming?
Matt G-Did you get paid when you worked in the first place? Then you were already compensated. I work in the film business in a creative capacity as well, and ALL of the dozens of films that feature my ideas, art and creativity will be shown indefinetly in all kinds of media and I will never see another cent beyond the fair salary I negotiated before production began, and I received until production ended. The SAG strike will put tens of thousands of workers who will never get residual checks in the mail during the strike and make much less than the DAILY MINIMUM of $759.00 that actors receive plus residuals. How do you sleep at night taking money away from real working so can you can pick up a few extra pennies from online streaming?
I supported the writers and I support the actors as well. I don’t understand these people that are crying over gas prices and their salaries. I’m an office manager living from check to check because that’s the profession I chose. I get by from week to week, but a friend of mine went and paid CASH for a $200,000 house. How dare him? I’m thinking of blaming him for all my financial problems. Seems fair, right?
When you go to work, does your boss ever force you to drink a soda and say how great it is? If he did and then sold it without your permission, would you be pissed?
Producers now are getting extra money by forcing actors to gush over products in the shows. (Tony Soprano talks about a car, etc). The producers make a ton of moeny off this and the actors get nothing.
These are the issues being dealt with. And assuming all actors are rich is like me assuming you own your own company simply because you have a briefcase.
David – you said “I will never see another cent beyond the fair salary I negotiated before production began.” You NEGOTIATED; why didn’t you negotiate for residuals? You had the right to negotiate, why shouldn’t they?
The guys at SAG should be applauded for making a stand.
If they cave in, what’s the point of effective leadership?
I’m all for a SAG strike. The only ones who are not are the media congloms.
I did not have the right to negotiate for residuals, only DGA WGA and SAG get them, a no one has the right to negotiate for anything if they put us all out of work. I’m all for individuals getting whatever they can, but if I cant work because a few waiters with a pipe dream are demanding 5 cents extra residuals for a part they will probably never get. Again, working actors usually make better than scale deals through their agents and arent complaining. MOst people would be thrilled to do these peoples jobs for free. I’m glad there is Union protection so people can get their health benefits, etc, but does the person playing “Guy in the Bar #3″ really deserve extra money everytime a film is shown even a film, like most, is not profitable?
Anyone who sides with SAG on this one either has an agenda or doesnt understand what actors make. Yes the average per SAG member is low, but that is because most cant find work as actor, and have other jobs. $759.00 a day MINIMUM is alot of money for almost anyone in this country.
actingup – I agree with DAVE! A strike is not going to change anything. If you don’t like the working conditions for an actor, then try a different industry. A strike is not going to do anything but put you and the entire industry out of work, AGAIN. This will hurt the city’s economy and then everyone will then become resentful of SAG just like we all hated the WGA for burning us. Initially the industry was behind the WGA but then their leadership took on a self-entitled arrogant attitude. Like I said before, if you want a better deal, get a better agent. You don’t see Brad Pit, Tom Cruise or Eva Longoria belly aching! Fighting with the AMPTP is not going to change a thing except halt television production again which will drive more people to the internet. Those of us who work in the industry can withstand another hit. Strikes are NEVER productive. Talk to the grocery store workers. The minimal gains they got did not offset their loses from being out of work for months!
As sad and unfair as it seems that in the event of a strike there will be hundreds of people out of a job, the actors don’t pay the salaries. The conglomerates pay the salaries; they put these people out of work. If “Guy in the Bar #3″ feels he deserves residuals then You can’t force “Guy in the Bar #3″ to work because Suzie the caterer will be out of a job. The studio needs to worry about Suzie’s job, not “Guy in the Bar #3.” I’m just sayin’…
I love when people talk about “spoiled actors”, etc. CLEARLY, those are the ones that don’t know ANYTHING about the acting profession, and CERTAINLY nothing about what the various union negotiations are about. For every actor making a decent living, 100’s are working a second or third job to make ends meet, all in the hopes that SOMEDAY, they can eke out a living doing what they love to do. Acting is one of the more nobler professions, ‘cuz it CERTAINLY isn’t about the money. The money, IF and when it comes, is pure gravy.
Steve – What world are you living in? “Hundreds of people out of work” If there is ANOTHER strike, there will be tens of thousands out of work. The losses incurred by working actors and other industry workers will never be recouped. Talk to the writers who lost jobs and production deals due to the WGA strike. My guess is that the actors who are fighting with the AMPTP will not be affected by a SAG strike and were not affected by the AGA strike because they aren’t working actors. They can endure a strike because they have other jobs.
Besta – If you remember correctly the AMPTP walked out of the negotiations with the WGA; Sort of like they just did with SAG. Why do people seem to think that these billion dollar companies are in the right and everyone else is wrong. It’s about what’s right to the workers and it’s about more billions for the conglomerates.
Look at some other countries in the world and tell me about America at the same time: 1) Some countries have to pay $18 a gallon for gas, 2) Some countries can barely afford to feed their citizens, 3) and other countries have been through major weather related disasters and have lost 22,000 lives, and their world is in a shambles. And we are supposed to care if actors receive residuals from dvd sales, etc.??? This isn’t what we should be thinking about right now, and while entertainment is a valued commodity in America, it isn’t worth making so many rich while at the same time watching so many die. How much wealth do these spoiled greedy actors need? I would rather stop watching movies all together than keep hearing about how much more money the actors want to make. Disgusting.
Suio – Parents used to tell their children that there are starving people in other countries in order to guilt them into eating everything on their dinner plates. Now that America is primarily obese there are still starving people in other countries. The issues between SAG and AMPTP seem pretty trivial compared to natural disasters and world hunger, I agree. Look at all the people in this country that are homeless, but that doesn’t mean others shouldn’t go buy a home. If it would solve world hunger to give up a few cents for DVD residuals then I’m sure most actors would gladly give it up, but I don’t think the billion dollar conglomerates would.
So long as the AMPTP has the money, they hold the power. Steve – The reason the AMPTP/WGA negotiations broke down is because the WGA took on a arrogant, self entitled attitude. The leadership began posturing like rock-stars. At the end, the gains were SO minimal and these leaders angered many of their own. Many writers felt betrayed because the gains were so minimal. Was that strike worth it to those who lost so much? If the actors and writers want more money then they need to start their own networks so that they control the power. Who takes the risks? Who bankrolls every single project? The studios! I am not saying that I want to break bread with these moguls, I am just stressing the point that so long as they hold the power, they will continue to hold the power, unless a shift occurs. A strike will not bring about a shift, it will just hurt everyone, including those who strike.
Besta – I believe the AMPTP/WGA negotiations broke down for two reasons. 1) To terminate costly contracts that the studios regretted signing. 2) To make the writer’s look greedy. And it worked; contracts were terminated and the writers were made to look bad for allowing “Tens of thousands” of people being out of work. The studios laid these people off, not the writers. As far as “If the actors and writers want more money then they need to start their own networks so that they control the power.” I agree. You ask “Who takes the risks?” The studios do as far as the financial end, but the actors have their reputation on the line. Look at Al Pachino in “88 Minutes.” Whether a movie gets good reviews or not could be the difference between an “A” list and “B” list for an actor. Which also determines how much the actor will get paid on their next project.
Although SAG and AFTRA have some very high profile members in their unions who DO make obscene amounts of money, they are both unions of MOSTLY regular (non-millionaire) members (myself included) whose representatives are simply trying to get the MOST compensation for their members given the amounts of money made as a result of the work of their members.
Just like ANY union.
A sticking point seems to be the “made-for-new-media” point.
Look at this page these comments are on. There’s advertising all over it.
THAT’S how streaming things online makes money. When someone “streams” work of a SAG or AFTRA member online….you can bet that right next to it is an advertisement. Those advertisement rates are going to be based on “hits” to the site.
If you are an artist (even if you’re a millionaire already) and your work is online attracting many “hits” (and thereby upping the advertising rates that site can justify charging) your “work” is generating income for someone other than you.
It simply amazes me that the general American public is so ignorant of the facts when it comes to a writers or actors strike. The vast majority of the SAG membership is not “greedy spoiled actors” yet just trying to get their fare share for their work. The actors have to pay their own benefits and insurances for themselves AND their families out of their salary. The actors have to pay salaries (i.e. commissions) for their agents, managers, publicists or others employed by them. The actors gross total is not their net (take home) total. The AMPTP is trying to continue their unfair practices established back in the days of Beta/VHS. The SAG union is only trying to make things fair. Most actors and their families have to live off their residuals until booking the next project. Auditions mean headshots (paying for a photographer), classes (developing their craft), among other things. Actors have bills just like everyone else. Most actors are far from rich. The AMPTP are the greedy ones.
lets say you were a plumber and you did such a great job installing a toilet that people come from all over to look at it.
The owner then starts to charge admission to see your great work.
Eventually…so many people come by the house that a local business puts up advertising on the house. (paying the owner of the house but reaping compensating profits as a result of the advertising)
Unless you are not paying attention…you can figure out that that money is being made as a result of your “above average” toilet installation skills.
Now the neighbor across the street wants in on all that cash and asks you to install a toilet in THEIR house. This time…..it would really be to your benefit to negotiate some kind of deal on the resulting cash-flow.
If you believe that you only need to be compensated for your time when you install the toilet…that’s great for you.
But it would not be “unfair” or “greedy” of some great toilet installer to want to have at least SOME of that resulting cash
Steve _ I am not buying your argument. How many bad movies has Brad Pitt made? He’s still working. Perhaps the studio don’t care about the “B” & “C” list actors because they keep hiring all the same “A” list actors over and over again. The “A” list actors get their agents to negotiate great deals them. Did anyone see “Leatherheads?” I don’t think George Clooney is crying about his sullied reputation. I am sure he laughed all the way to the bank.
The WGA AMPTP negotiations broke off because the writers would not take animation and reality off the table. When those issues were removed, the talks resumed.