Today, SAG distributed a white paper July 15, 2008 that is “is an analysis of trends that have emerged or intensified in the media landscape since the Directors Guild of America negotiated its deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on January 17th, 2008. In sum, what was once termed “new media” [...]

The following letter members received from SAG today reinforces some of the points I was making in my earlier post: BIG PRODUCER$ MONETIZE YOUTUBE CLIP$ July 17, 2008 It’s Not New Media – It’s NOW Media Dear Screen Actors Guild Member, I want to tell you why your national negotiating committee has not accepted the [...]

While we wait for a resolution of the current contract ‘negotiations’ between SAG and the AMPTP, a few show biz reports give a look under the tent at why SAG is so concerned about issues like clip usage and residuals from new media. As an example, look at the deal announced this week between YouTube [...]

July 16, 2008 Dear Screen Actors Guild Member: Small contingents of the negotiating committees for Screen Actors Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers met for two hours today at AMPTP headquarters in Sherman Oaks. Both parties agreed to keep the contents of today’s meeting confidential. We will continue to update you [...]

In what is being termed a ‘sidebar’ meeting, an off the record meeting with an unspecified agenda, the AMPTP has agreed to meet with SAG negotiators today to discuss the current contract stalemate. AMPTP insists that the offer on the table is in fact their ‘last best final’ offer and that there will be no [...]

Reading all the entertainment coverage of the stalemate between SAG and the AMPTP, it occurred to me that it might be helpful to have handy the definitions for certain terms recur frequently in said coverage. So, for what it’s worth, here are some terms that you’ll see often if you follow this saga: Residuals – [...]

Today the AMPTP and SAG negotiators met for several hours as the two sides squared off in yet another round in a seemingly interminable contract negotiation. While most major news sources are reporting that SAG simply told the AMPTP ‘no’ to their final offer today, Hollywood Reporter: The studios Thursday said that SAG officially rejected [...]

If only SAG President Alan Rosenberg and AFTRA President Roberta Reardon were married… they could get a divorce. As it stands, it looks like a long, chilly separation is in the works for the two actor’s unions they represent. If anyone is still confused about why SAG and AFTRA conducted the TV/Theatrical contract negotiations separately [...]

The failure of SAGs strategy of derailing the agreement betweent AFTRA and the AMPTP was verified tonight. According to Integrity Voting Systems in Everett, Wash, AFTRA members ratified the agreement with a 62% ‘yes’ vote. That of course means that 38% of the voting membership was opposed to the deal. The total number of votes [...]