Archive for July, 2008

AMPTP STANCE on NEW MEDIA UNITES SAG BOARD

July 30th, 2008

It looks like warring factions inside SAG have found some common ground vs the AMPTP. Finally, all the SAG board agrees that allowing SAG sanctioned, non-Union production and no residuals for certain so called new media production is a bad idea for actors.

Daily Variety reporter and AMPTP fanboy, Dave McNary lays it all out in his article in Daily Variety dated July 29, 2008:

“SAG’s national board — which often finds itself amid pitched internal battles — has received backing from the fledgling Unite for Strength faction over its stance that the majors’ final offer to the guild is unacceptable.

SAG’s board voted unanimously over the weekend that it could not endorse the new-media provisions in the AMPTP’s offer — singling out provisions allowing non-union work in low-budget productions along with a lack of a guarantee of residuals for new-media programs replayed on digital platforms.

Unite for Strength announced last week a slate of 31 Hollywood division candidates with the aim of wresting control of SAG’s board from the ruling Membership First faction. Despite its assertions that SAG’s leaders have mishandled the negotiations, Unite for Strength said it’s in step on the policy stance.

“United for Strength fully supports the recent SAG board motion reasserting SAG’s commitment to the core principle that it does not authorize our employers to make nonunion product under our contracts, regardless of the medium or budget level,” the group said Tuesday. “We believe SAG needs new leadership, but we also agree with SAG’s negotiators that actors need real gains from a new contract.”

Unite for Strength also said in the statement that it agrees that the original goals of SAG’s negotiating committee — including pay and mileage increases, increased pension and health contributions, residuals on new media, protection from product integration abuses, increased DVD residuals and preservation of force majeure protections.

“Unite for Strength believes actors should have all those protections and more,” the group said. “We support our families with SAG earnings, so getting the strongest deal for actors is our top priority. And we know our current negotiating team feels the same way.”

Read McNary’s whole article in Daily Variety.

No comments »

Posted in AFTRA, AMPTP, Acting, Actors, Alan Rosenberg, Big Media, Daily Variety, Hollywood, NOW MEDIA, Producers, Residuals, SAG, Tommy G. Kendrick

Tags:

Don Knotts, Comedy Genius – Revisited

July 28th, 2008

How quickly we (I) forget. Last Monday, July 21st, was the birthday of one of my all time favorite comedy actors, Don Knotts. He would have been 84 years old. In the midst of all the back and forth between SAG and the AMPTP and the internal bickering in SAG, it is easy to forget why we get involved in this business in the first place. Now and then it seems appropriate to reflect on people whose work seems to embody a bit more of the purity of spirit that made most of us venture down the paths that have led to where we are. Don Knotts was an early hero of mine and his work was a major influence that made me consider becoming an actor. Below are some thoughts I originally posted shortly after his passing in February of 2006:

Don Knotts, Comedy GeniusDon Knotts was a comedy and comic genius. Statement of fact as far as I’m concerned. Anyone who is old enough to have seen the original broadcasts of The Andy Griffith Show understands what I’m saying. Even you young pups who’ve only seen Don Knotts on cable reruns should get the picture.

As a kid watching the Griffith show I, like most of the audience, couldn’t wait to see what mess Don Knotts was going to find himself in week to week. And I couldn’t wait to see him make those ‘over the top’ facial expressions either. But don’t be fooled. Don Knotts comedy craft went far deeper than the ability to make a funny face. Don Knotts and especially the Barney Fife character enabled the audience to laugh at themselves because of the underlying humanity in his portrayal. You could laugh at Barney Fife, but you loved him as well. He was a good guy. He was well-intentioned. He never gave up. In spite of the indignities he suffered week after week, he still had a wonderful sense of self-importance that was at once comedic and endearing. Folks these are not character development nuances easily achieved. No doubt a portion of the credit goes to the writers on the Griffith show. But then, who wouldn’t have wanted a shot at writing Barney’s scenes? That must have been fun…just waiting to see how Don Knotts brought the written page to life.

Knotts came to have a special place in my heart in those awkward teen years. I was skinnier than Don Knotts (it WAS a long time ago) and pretty funny looking myself. To tease me, some of my fine classmates thought it would be funny to call me “Barney Fife” as an INSULT! What idiots! As played by Don Knotts, Barney Fife was an early comedic role model. A hero, if you will. The first time someone threw this ‘insult’ my way, I knew I had a kindred spirit in this old world. And more importantly, I knew I had a kindred spirit who was FUNNY!! What others intended as an insult, I took on as a badge of honor.

As I grew older and saw reruns of those Griffith programs or revisited “No Time For Sergeants” I gained an even greater appreciation for Knotts’ skill as a comedy actor. Since I knew absolutely no one in the entertainment profession, I used Don Knotts as inspiration and as my example of a ‘character guy’ who could have a successful career as an actor. I’ve certainly never achieved even a fraction of the success of Don Knotts, but his public career has meant a great deal to me over the years.

I encourage you NOT to be influenced by Knotts’ work on “Three’s Company”. I certainly don’t begrudge Don Knotts taking that gig by any means. But let’s face it…he was playing Don Knotts playing Mr. Furley. I’m sure he was glad for the steady gig at that stage of his life and career, but he deserved a better ‘epitaph’ than that. Even his later work on Matlock dipped into self-mockery. Perhaps by that time he had reached the ‘give ‘em what they want’ stage. I don’t know. I do know that his work in those projects were pale imitations of his stellar work in his earlier films and in the Griffith show in particular.

I encourage anyone reading this to take the opportunity to rent or buy “No Time For Sergeants” or an “Andy Griffith Show” DVD and check out the wonderful comedic timing of the great Don Knotts. If you don’t laugh at a Don Knotts performance you might need a ’sense of humor’ checkup.

God Bless you, Don Knotts. You made me laugh out loud.

1 comment »

Posted in AMPTP, Actor, Actors, Andy Griffith Show, Don Knotts, Hollywood, Humor, Obituaries, Tommy G. Kendrick

Tags:

Dark Knight Punishes Step Brothers

July 28th, 2008

Rank Title Weekend Gross

1 The Dark Knight (2008) $75.6M $314M
2 Step Brothers (2008) $30M $30M
3 Mamma Mia! (2008) $17.9M $62.7M
4 The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008) $10.2M $10.2M
5 Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) $9.41M $60.2M
6 Hancock (2008) $8.2M $206M
7 WALL·E (2008) $6.35M $195M
8 Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) $4.93M $65.9M
9 Space Chimps (2008) $4.38M $16M
10 Wanted (2008) $2.73M $129M

No comments »

Posted in Box Office, Box Office Mojo, DARK KNIGHT, Daily Variety, Film Distribution, Producers, SAG

Tags:

SAG BOARD UNITED ON NEW MEDIA

July 27th, 2008

Los Angeles, July 26, 2008 — The National Board of Directors of Screen Actors Guild passed the following resolution at its meeting today:

It is a core principle of Screen Actors Guild –That no non-union work shall be authorized to be done under any Screen Actors Guild agreement and;

That all work under a Screen Actors Guild contract, regardless of budget level, shall receive fair compensation when reused.

Passed unanimously 68-0.This resolution represents guidance from the National Board of Directors to the National Negotiating Committee. It reaffirmed the importance of these issues in these negotiations.“For some time, we have been telling the industry how important it is for all new media productions under our contract to be done union and how important residuals for made-for new media programming are when programs are re-run on new media,” said SAG National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Doug Allen.

“I am very pleased that our National Board today unanimously confirmed these essential principles in support of our National Negotiating Committee,” Allen added.

AMPTP RESPONSE:

“The continued refusal of SAG’s negotiators to accept AMPTP’s final offer means that actors will continue to work indefinitely under the expired contract – an old contract that contains none of the $250 million in additional compensation provided by AMPTP’s final offer, and an old contract that provides none of the new media rights and residuals that other Hollywood Guild members have now been enjoying for months. SAG has permitted non-union Internet production under its contract since 2001. AMPTP has offered to extend SAG jurisdiction to original new media production, including low-budget programs that employ a single “covered actor.” The AMPTP’s final offer also guarantees residuals when original new media productions are reused and terms to increase pay and residuals if the program is eventually exhibited in traditional media. None of these rights and residuals exists under the contract that expired on June 30th.”

No comments »

Posted in AFTRA, AMPTP, Actors, Alan Rosenberg, Big Media, Filmmaking, NOW MEDIA, New Media, Producers, SAG, Strike

Tags:

Shot in Texas: TXMPA president hopes for incentives for moviemakers

July 25th, 2008

The following columm appears in The Dallas Morning News Online

08:49 AM CDT on Friday, July 25, 2008

By JOE O’CONNELL / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
 filmnewsbyjoe at yahoo.com

Don Stokes skipped junior- high classes to watch Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway succumb to a spray of bullets as Bonnie and Clyde. Now he’s charged with bringing the Texas film industry back to life.In June he was elected president of the Texas Motion Picture Alliance, the voice of a Texas film industry that’s seeing Hollywood take its projects to Louisiana, New Mexico and other states that offer heftier financial incentives.

Mr. Stokes is the third TXMPA president and the third from Dallas. His predecessors helped persuade the Texas Legislature to join the film-incentive race with a 5 percent incentive. He is charged with persuading lawmakers to increase it to a more competitive level, something that may come naturally to a guy whose life has been steeped in filmmaking.

“I saw when Dallas and Texas earned that third-coast reputation,” he says, “and I’ve seen it erode significantly in the last few years.”

His father, Bill, was a photography teacher turned film-industry pro who provided the soundstages and production facilities for Bonnie and Clyde in the ’60s. Bill is said to have been the model for Gene Hackman’s Texas accent in the film.

“It was a great experience,” says Mr. Stokes, now head of Post Asylum. “There was tremendous camaraderie on the set. You knew something different was going on, that it wasn’t the same old Hollywood industry movie. There was a different feel, a fresh feel.”

He’d like to see that feel return to Texas film, and he’s not alone. Close to 100 North Texans traveled to Austin recently for the state TXMPA meeting at which Mr. Stokes was elected. About 20 Austin film professionals showed up, a disparity he attributes to the greater urgency felt in Dallas.

“We’ve been hurt more than others, so we rally because we remember when we were really busy,” he says. “I do think the people in Austin get it, but they haven’t felt the overall loss yet like Dallas and Houston have.”

Regional rivalries need to be put aside, Mr. Stokes says, as the industry unites to convince the Legislature that the film industry is worth saving and growing. The unstated goal is a 15 percent refund of in-state expenditures that would still fall short of the 25 percent incentives offered by Louisiana and New Mexico – Michigan offers up to 42 percent – but with the difference offset by a strong Texas crew base and diverse locations.

“We still are a large industry, but we’re viewed as being fragmented,” he says of the challenge the industry faces in getting its message across. “We’re not all in one building or one area of the state.”

What happens if the Legislature doesn’t act? “Texas is losing infrastructure, and we’ll see an acceleration of that loss,” he says. “To an extent we might see a give-up. We need to not only retain what we have, but to grow it.”

Mr. Stokes, a co-producer of the acclaimed documentary TV Junkie, would also like to see the incentives revised to allow more low-budget, homegrown independents to benefit.

No comments »

Posted in Acting, Actors, Auditions, Austin Film, Austin Studios, Commercials, Don Stokes, Film Crew, Film Distribution, Filmmakers, Filmmaking, Indie Film, Producers, Right to Work, SAG, TXMPA, Tax Incentives, Texas Film Production Fund, Texas Filmmakers, Texas film

Tags:

Letter From Don Stokes new TXMPA President

July 24th, 2008

Don Stokes has been in the film business in Dallas for many years. It looks like TXMPA should be in good hands under his leadership. Here is his recent letter to the masses:

“It is my honor to be the newly elected President of TXMPA. Thanks to the leadership provided by past Presidents, Hector Garcia and Meredith Stephens, and the current and past board members of our organization we have established TXMPA as an effective advocate for the moving image industry in Texas.

I am involved in this endeavor for many reasons. I grew up in this industry and have been working in it for most of my life. I love what I do and I love our industry. I’ve lived through the era when Texas earned and deserved the title of “the third coast” and I’ve struggled and survived through lean times when work destined for Texas has been pulled away by incentives offered elsewhere. I want to see these projects return to Texas and I want to be a part of making it happen. Simply put, I am involved because I have to be and I hope you realize in order for it to happen you have to be, too.

In a short two years TXMPA has successfully lobbied for the first ever production incentive program for the moving image industry in Texas. In its first year the existing incentive program has authorized pay out of over $7 million on over $140 million in production revenue for the state across all areas of our industry.

While this is encouraging, it still falls short of our goals for bringing new business to Texas. We are already working on a new legislative agenda for the 2009 session that calls for modification to the existing incentive program. We are working with our lobbyist at HillCo Partners, The Texas Film Commission, industry leaders, and our legislative allies to craft a program that will incentivize new business through expansion of the existing scope and range of incentives as well as simplifying the rules process that govern the payout process in order to make Texas more competitive. The challenge of creating a program that fits within the fiscal structure of the State budget is daunting at times, but we are confident we will be successful.

Once our agenda is in place it will be the task of TXMPA and you as industry members to take our message to our legislators and make them aware of the needs and desires of a unified industry. With a message calling for a larger commitment on the part of the state we will face a difficult task in getting recognition and winning support to get our legislation passed and funded.

We need your commitment to make this happen. We need to be able to tell legislators the size and scope of our industry and the numbers of industry members we represent. Sign up for the TXMPA newsletter so you will be up-to-date on where we are headed and to be alerted to events in your region and across the state. We need to know you will be there when we follow up the great success of our 2007 lobby day effort with a new and even larger effort in 2009. Ask your TXMPA Regional Representatives what you can do to help and stay involved.

Getting legislation passed costs money, unfortunately, lots of money. Join TXMPA so we have the financial resources to see this effort through. Consider becoming a Sponsor and solicit your friends and co-workers to do the same. The more people who support the effort, the more sustainable the effort.”

Don Stokes
TXMPA President
2008-2010

No comments »

Posted in Actors, Austin Film, Film Crew, Filmmakers, Filmmaking, Indie Film, Producers, Texas Actors, Texas Film Production Fund, Texas film

Tags:

Friday Night Lights Returns On DirecTV

July 22nd, 2008

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTSAccording to a blurb in today’s Austin American Statesman, Friday Night Lights will commence shooting for the new season on August 6th.

As previously reported, the new season will first air on DirecTV where it will kick off on October 1st.

Exec. Producer Jason Katims told AAS reporter Diane Holloway that the new episodes that air on DirecTV may be somewhat different than the version that finally airs on the network. Expect that to mean more skin and more profanity.

No comments »

Posted in Actors, Austin Actors, Austin Film, Austin Studios, Friday Night Lights, SAG, Texas Actors, Texas Film Production Fund, Texas film

Tags:

SAG and AMPTP In Negotiation Constipation

July 21st, 2008

No movement. That’s all there is to report on the ongoing standoff between SAG and the AMPTP. Trade publications put attendance at Saturday’s SAG membership meeting in Hollywood at 450 – 750, depending on which industry rag you want to believe. The producer-friendly Daily Variety article actually has the attendance at the upper end of that scale, for whatever that is worth.

Both trades reported that SAG membership expressed strong support for the leadership and for their handling of this contract negotiation. SAG leaders are still taking the stance that negotiations are ongoing and that the AMPTP needs to respond to the latest SAG proposals. Meanwhile the AMPTP continues to stick to its position that negotiations have ended and that it is up to SAG to accept or reject the contract terms as announced, that is : accept the AFTRA deal.

At this point SAG has still not requested a strike authorization vote nor has the AMPTP declared an official ‘IMPASSE’ that would allow producers to move forward with either a lockout of actors or begin productions under the terms they have offered and force SAG actors to report or no-show.

Thus we continue with the de facto strike, de facto lockout situation that has AMPTP member film production in a holding pattern.

Stay tuned…

No comments »

Posted in AFTRA, AMPTP, Actors, Alan Rosenberg, Daily Variety, Hollywood, Hollywood Reporter, NOW MEDIA, Producers, Residuals, SAG, Strike

Tags:

DARK KNIGHT Light Up Box Office – $155 Million and Counting

July 21st, 2008

DARK KNIGHT POSTEROne of the best reviewed films of the year had a stunning opening this weekend with an estimated take in excess of $155 million while playing on 4,366 screens. Apparently that wasn’t enough screens because the weekend was a virtual sellout and HOLLYWOOD REPORTER published a report of tickets selling on Ebay for around $50.

There is extensive coverage of the DARK KNIGHT box office saga at DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD DAILY.

No comments »

Posted in Big Media, Box Office, Box Office Mojo, DARK KNIGHT, Daily Variety, Deadline Hollywood Daily, Hollywood Reporter, Producers

Tags:

NEW MEDIA: Amazon.com Offers Streaming Video On Demand

July 18th, 2008

The following story on Amazon.com’s new Video on Demand service appears in newspapers across the country today, 7/18/08. This is just one more example of where film and video distribution is headed. And it is one more example of why the AMPTP is trying to force feed a bad deal on Screen Actors Guild members. As SAG said in its recent white paper: It’s not NEW MEDIA, its NOW MEDIA.

By BRAD STONE
Published: July 17, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO — In a significant step toward vanquishing the local video store and keeping couch potatoes planted firmly in front of their televisions and computers, Amazon.com will introduce a new online store of TV shows and movies on Thursday, called Amazon Video on Demand.

Related
Times Topics: Amazon.com Inc.

Customers of Amazon’s new store will be able to start watching any of 40,000 movies and television programs immediately after ordering them because they stream, just like programs on a cable video-on-demand service. That is different from most Internet video stores, like Apple iTunes and the original incarnation of Amazon’s video store, which require users to download files to their hard drives.

“For the first time, this is drop dead simple,” said Bill Carr, Amazon’s vice president for digital media. “Our goal is to create an immersive experience where people can’t help but get caught up in how exciting it is to simply watch a movie right from Amazon.com with a click of the button.”

Amazon, which is based in Seattle, is also pursuing the technology and media world’s holy grail — an Internet pipeline to the TV. It has struck a deal with Sony Electronics to place its Internet video store on the Sony Bravia line of high-definition TVs.

The video store will be accessible through the Sony Bravia Internet Video link, a $300 tower-shaped device that funnels Web video directly to Sony’s high-definition televisions. That is an awkward extra expense, for now. But future Bravias are expected to have this capability embedded in the television, making it even easier to gain access to the full catalog of past and present TV shows and movies, over the Internet, using a television remote control.

Mr. Carr said Amazon would pursue similar deals with other makers of TVs and Internet devices. “We can support both streaming and downloading,” he said. “Our goal is to continue to establish partnerships with all companies who have a connected device.”

Amazon Video on Demand will be accessible to a limited number of invited Amazon.com customers on Thursday before it opens more broadly to other users later this summer.

Films and TV shows from almost all the major studios and television networks are available for sale or rental to Amazon’s customers in the United States, at varying prices depending on the program and whether people buy or rent it. The lone holdouts are Walt Disney and ABC, which Disney owns. Both have close relations with Amazon’s digital rival, Apple.

Although Amazon does not release revenue numbers for its digital initiatives, its 10-month-old digital music store, Amazon MP3, is viewed favorably as a solid runner-up to iTunes from Apple. But it is far behind iTunes, which recently surpassed Wal-Mart Stores as the leading supplier of music in the United States.

Amazon Unbox, the company’s original download-only video store, was largely seen as a disappointment because it required customers to download special software to watch the programs they bought. The service also worked only on Windows PCs and TiVo set-top boxes.

To make the new service more enticing, the first two minutes of all movies and TV shows will begin playing for users on Amazon.com immediately when they visit a title’s product page on the digital video store.

It will also let users buy a TV show or movie without actually downloading the video file to the PC’s hard drive. Amazon will store each customer’s selection in what it calls “Your Video Library.” Customers can then watch that show or movie whenever they return to Amazon, even if it is from a different computer or device, a solution that neatly gets around studio concerns about piracy.

“I can be at my office, purchase a movie, and then it will be available on my television at home,” said Robert Jacobs, a senior manager at Sony Electronics. “Creating this on-demand available-everywhere access to premium content is going to be very attractive to consumers.”

Amazon will have some formidable rivals if it hopes to dominate the emerging world of digital video. Apple, Microsoft, Google and Netflix are all looking to capture the coveted real estate in the living room as well. Apple has had the most success with video on its iTunes video store and its Apple TV set-top box. It recently added content from several movie studios and introduced video rentals to the service.

Amazon Video on Demand is not expected to generate significant profits for Amazon, which must pay large royalties to Hollywood studios and develop the costly technical infrastructure required to make the service operate reliably.

But Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive, may have another goal in mind. Establishing a foothold on televisions could be a way to let couch potatoes and television advertisers link up to the rest of Amazon’s online store with a click of the remote control.

“That is certainly a possibility for the future,” Mr. Carr said.

1 comment »

Posted in AFTRA, AMPTP, Amazon.com, Big Media, Daily Variety, Filmmakers, NOW MEDIA, New Media, Producers, Residuals, Streaming Video, Strike, Tommy G. Kendrick, Writers

Tags: