Here is a press release sent to the membership tonight ( 6/9/09):

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Screen Actors Guild Members Overwhelmingly Ratify TV/Theatrical Agreements

Los Angeles, (June 9, 2009) – Screen Actors Guild announced today that members have voted overwhelmingly to approve its TV/Theatrical contracts by a vote of 78 percent to 22 percent.

The two-year successor agreement covers film and digital television programs, motion pictures and new media productions. The pact becomes effective at 12:01 a.m. June 10, 2009 and expires June 30, 2011.

The contracts provide more than $105 million in wages, increased pension contributions, and other gains and establishes a template for SAG coverage of new media formats.

Approximately 110,000 SAG members received ballots of which 35.26 percent returned them – a return that is above average compared with typical referenda on Screen Actors Guild contracts. Integrity Voting Systems of Everett, WA, provided election services and tonight certified the final vote tally upon completion of the tabulation.

The vote count in the Hollywood Division was 70.70 percent to 29.30 percent in favor. In the New York Division, the vote count was 85.74 percent to 14.26 percent in favor. And in the Regional Branch Division, the vote count was 89.06 percent to 10.94 percent in favor.

Screen Actors Guild President Alan Rosenberg said, “The membership has spoken and has decided to work under the terms of this contract that many of us, who have been involved in these negotiations from the beginning, believe to be devastatingly unsatisfactory. Tomorrow morning I will be contacting the elected leadership of the other talent unions with the hope of beginning a series of pre-negotiation summit meetings in preparation for 2011. I call upon all SAG members to begin to ready themselves for the battle ahead,” Rosenberg added.

Screen Actors Guild Interim National Executive Director David White said, “This decisive vote gets our members back to work with immediate pay raises and puts SAG in a strong position for the future. Preparation for the next round of negotiations begins now. Our members can expect more positive changes in the coming months as we organize new work opportunities, repair and reinvigorate our relationships with our sister unions and industry partners, and continue to improve the Guild’s operations.”

Screen Actors Guild Chief Negotiator John McGuire said, “I want to thank the SAG members and staff who dedicated their time to the negotiations process. We emerged with a solid deal that the members have now voted up. The negotiating team worked tirelessly, building on the work of the first negotiating committee, to deliver these improvements to members.”

Screen Actors Guild began talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on April 15, 2008. Guild Chief Negotiator John McGuire, Interim National Executive Director David White, and Deputy National Executive Director for Contracts Ray Rodriguez, working with a 10-person negotiating task force comprised of Screen Actors Guild board members and officers representing the three divisions, reached the tentative agreement on April 16, 2009 after 12 months of periodic negotiations with the motion picture studios and television networks.

In what should be a ‘perfect storm’ of events that could, and MUST help stimulate a substantial increase in SAG theatrical contract film production in Texas, ratification of the new SAG / AMPTP agreement was preceded by passage and more importantly, full funding of the requested $62 Million Texas film incentive legislation.

From TXMPA President, Don Stokes:

It is my extreme pleasure to report a very successful legislative session for the moving image industry. TXMPA has played an integral roll in the passage of HB 873 which created our enhanced and flexible incentive program as well as HB 2521 which creates guidelines for preferred vendor status for Texas based companies in producing media-related services for the State and SB 1929 which creates media production development zones which encourages the creation and development of production infrastructure like sound stages.

Of equal importance, our full funding request of $62 million dollars for HB 873 was passed by both the House and Senate. Congratulations to all of you who assisted in these achievements. None of this would have been possible without our industry coming together and speaking with a singular voice. Thanks again to all of you who participated in Lobby Day and spoke as witnesses in the various committee hearings. We also owe thanks to our friends at HillCo Partners who lobbied tirelessly to make sure our message was heard and that legislators understood that we only wanted what benefited both our industry and the State. And finally I want to express our gratitude to the Texas Film Commission for all of work and efforts they put forth on our behalf. Our success was truly a team effort. Take a moment to bask in our successes, but only a moment…

FILM & TELEVISION PROJECTS

* Feature Films
* Documentaries
* Episodic Television Series
* Television Episodes
* Television Movies
* Miniseries
* Reality Television
* Interstitial Television Programming
* Nationally Syndicated Talk Show

Program Overview

* Tiered incentive payments of 5-15% based on level of Texas spending.*
* Option to choose incentive calculation based on total in-state spending or wages paid to Texas residents.*
* Possible bonus of 2.5% if 25% of production completed in underutilized area.
* Texas spending can include eligible pre-production, production and post-production expenditures.
* No cap on incentive amount.

Minimum Qualifications

* $250,000 in Texas spending.
* 60% of shooting days completed in Texas.
* 70% of paid crew must be Texas residents.
* 70% of paid cast (including extras) must be Texas residents.*

* except reality television and talk shows.

Below is the latest list of possible SAG signatory productions for south region states, Louisiana and Texas. This list is assumed to be the last such list to be published before the new Texas film tax incentive program has a chance to impact production in Texas and possibly in states such as Louisiana and New Mexico.

Louisiana

“Dead Whisper” - #00231285
Dead Whisper Productions – Theatrical
Location: New Orleans, LA; Big Bear, CA
Start Date: To be determined

“Hurting Kind, The” - #00244310
TNC Shreveport, LLC – Low Budget Modified
Location: Shreveport, LA
Start Date: July 26, 2009

“Jaws of the Mississippi” - #00225090
Jaws Productions, LLC – Low Budget Modified
Location: Lafayette, LA
Start Date: July 6, 2009

“Untitled Alphi Phi Alpha Doc” - #00241154
Omnipotent One, Inc – Theatrical
Location: New Orleans, LA
Start Date: July 9, 2009

Texas

“Beyond the Whispers” – #00244882
Broken Camera Productions – Ultra Low Budget
Location: Boerne, TX
Start Date: To be determined

“Broken Promise, A South Texas Story” – #00210652
Que Tal Productions, LLC – Ultra Low Budget
Location: Brownsville/Mercedes, TX
Start Date: To be determined

“Carried Away” - #00238361
Carried Away, LLC – Ultra Low Budget
Location: Fort Worth, TX
Start Date: To be determined
Casting: James Johnston 817-915-4565

“Imago” - #00244751
Upstart Filmworks, LLC – Ultra Low Budget
Location: Houston, TX
Start Date: August 1, 2009

“Iron Horses” - #00237421
Curveball Films, LLC – Low Budget
Location: Austin, TX
Start Date: August 1, 2009

“Last Thanksgiving, The” – #00243410

TLT Productions – Ultra Low Budget
Location: Donna, TX
Start Date: To be determined
Casting: Pedro Garcia

“Letter H, The” – #00233247
GCP Film, LLC – Theatrical
Location: Houston/El Paso, TX
Start Date: September 3, 2009

“Matter of Honor, A: The Assassination of Sam Giancana”Distraught Sound and
Film Works in Association with Tommy Fadd and Good Boy Films
Location: Austin, TX
Start Date: To be determined

“Maybe, Maybe No” – #00239585
Red Raider Films, LLC – Ultra Low Budget
Start Date: 6/12/09 – Wrap Date: 7/26/09
Location: Wylie, TX
Casting: Ryan Paige 310-424-5256

“Mongolian Death Worm” – #00244759
Sweet Tater, LLC – Low Budget
Location: Dallas, TX
Start Date: June 22, 2009

“Red, White and Blue” - #00244689
RWB Films, LLC – Ultra Low Budget
Location: Austin, TX
Start Date: June 14, 2009
Casting: Karen Halford of Casting Works L.A.

“Secret Dark, A” – 00241474
30 Days, LLC – Low Budget
Location: Houston, TX
Start Date: June 15, 2009

“One Moon in Luck aka Shoot Out of Luck” – #00244805
Liz Destro – Theatrical
Location: Austin, TX
Start Date: October 1, 2009

“Untitled Ana Zims Romantic Comedy” – #00244038
Ana Zims – Ultra Low Budget
Location: Texas (unspecified), CA
Start Date: June 14, 2009

“Walk Away Joe” - #00242161
WAJ Productions, LLC – Theatrical
Location: Dallas, TX; Los Angeles, CA
Start Date: To be determined

“Where’s the Dan? The Search for Dan Schneider” – #00242803
Cosby Siringi – Ultra Low Budget
Location: Huntsville/Conroe, TX
Start Date: To be determined

Here’s what I know:

The AMPTP says they can’t make any money on so called NEW MEDIA (internet delivery of new product) if they pay actors what they pay for Network TV or Cable TV, especially the residuals that actors earn for reruns.

Really? Want to see some recent residuals I got for Cable TV usage?:

CPT Holdings, Inc. 12.19.2008 $29.60 Net Amount: 19.93
Payor: CPT Holdings, Inc.

Columbia Tristar Television, Inc. 12.18.2008 $14.65 Net Amount: 9.87
Payor: Columbia Tristar Television, Inc.

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. 12.04.2008 $72.59 Net Amount: 48.89
Payor: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.

These residual payments may make me blush, but it’s not from embarrassment of being over paid. These are the kind of residuals that come from taking the AMPTP at their word.

Apparently that cable TV ‘experiment’ has worked out pretty well for 20+ years but the actors have never able to significantly improve on the deal we cut with the AMPTP when the pleading from the producers was ‘don’t kill this infant technology’.

Regardless of the opinion of how SAG negotiations were handled by the now defunct team of Rosenberg and Allen, hardly anyone I’ve spoken with or read has offered the opinion that the AMPTP offer to SAG is a good deal for actors. Good? It’s not even a reasonable deal.

Universally it seems it is understood that the deal that AFTRA and WGA signed are not ones that the guilds can be happy with or proud of. Yet SAG, because of an inexplicable lack of communication skills among other reasons, has let itself and ‘the actors’ become the punching bag for the rest of the industry. Gotta hand it to AMPTP for looking like the guys in the white hats. Unlike the guilds, the producers have played their hand beautifully.

If actors give up the contracted guarantee of residual income from television and films because they are now distributed (streamed or downloaded) via the internet, then frankly I’m left to ponder: WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF MEMBERSHIP IN SAG?

Actors by and large simply do not work enough, even at current rates, to make a living in the profession without residual income. Even WITH residual income most actors don’t make a real living from SAG wages. Why do I continue to turn down non union work when the new contract gives producers the okay to produce non union?

Once again we’re told to accept this deal now and we’ll ‘revisit’ the issues when the technology is more mature. Uh. Sure.

Well now it seems that the IATSE folks (from whom SAG has received little public support as our own contract woes have dragged on and on) are having their own issues with their leadership and with the AMPTP.

Nikke Finke’s site has a very good piece today about the IATSE contract situation.

Here is a section of the post on today’s DHD website:

… the IATSE/AMPTP Memo Of Agreement which opponents are calling “the worst concessionary contract” that the Hollywood locals have ever seen. As one activist in the International Cinematographers Guild emailed his IATSE Local 600 members: “So far as I’m concerned, the MOA gives away employment opportunities in New Media, guts our health plan, and gives no security to those who work on a day to day, or part-time, basis. This contract gives away every reason I can think of for belonging to a union. On top of that, it sews up ‘jurisdiction’ over the Internet which means that no group can create an alternative union that might fight for realistic wages and reasonable terms and conditions of employment.”

Substitute “SAG” for “IATSE” and it just sounds like more of the same from the AMPTP. So now, IATSE members who face loss of insurance benefits and loss of a livable wage from NEW MEDIA, how does it feel to be in the position SAG members have been in for the past 8 months? It’s not that easy to ‘just accept the deal’ is it?

A couple of pull quotes from the comments on Finke’s site:

…The New Media contract issues should be a bigger focus for all IATSE members. You might have your 300 or 400 hours to get your teeth cleaned every six months but you won’t be making enough on a “Web Episode” with no real guide lines on rates or staff requirements to make your house or rent payments.

New Media is the future. It should be made under the Basic Hollywood Agreement…

…And I hope that all members can read here, the Facebook site, or 400hours.com to see that anyone who votes in favor of this contract is voting himself, or herself, out of union protection in new media, voting themselves out of a share of future earnings, and possibly voting themselves out of their health care.

This contract, in conjunction with the contracts of the last twenty years, takes a gigantic step forward in dismantling our union and union protections. VOTE NO. VOTE “AGAINST RATIFICATION”.

Furthermore, now I hope all my brothers and sisters in IA can see how foolish it is to not support our sister guilds of WGA, DGA, and SAG…

Why The Smoke & Mirrors, SAG & AMPTP?

I don’t see why the SAG National Majority and their pals, the Big Media labor lawyers, are needing to waste more than an hour in talks since all they’re doing is Xeroxing AFTRA’s TV/Theatrical Contract. These past two days have consisted of nothing more than playing at negotiations. Sure, feature players will be thrown a few bones regarding French hours and force majeure and other stuff the AMPTP was going to back off anyway. Heck, the plan by the AMPTP all along was to make a big show of only giving in to the so-called “moderates” once they came into power in order to make them look all that much better compared to the “militants”? Nice to know that the SAG National Majority is following the AMPTP’s script to perfection. So color me unimpressed when this deal is reached lickety split. And the heavy-lifting residuals issues really necessary to the continued financial security of SAG and its members will be left off the table.

Read all the DHD Coverage here

Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2009 15:34:05 -0800
To: SAG National Board of Directors and Alternate National Directors
Subject: Message from Doug Allen

I have been informed by SAG counsel that the National Board has terminated my employment as National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator of Screen Actors Guild. I am disappointed in the board’s decision, which was made by written assent, and I am proud of my record as SAG’s NED and Chief Negotiator.

I wish Screen Actors Guild and its members success and I have been honored to serve them. I have particularly enjoyed leading the wonderful men and women on the SAG staff and serving with SAG’s National President Alan Rosenberg and National Secretary-Treasurer Connie Stevens.

I have made some wonderful friendships with many SAG elected leaders, members and staff and will cherish those friendships forever.

My best wishes to you all,
Doug Allen

For a closer look at what transpired today I suggest everyone check out:

DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD and
DIGITAL MEDIA LAW

Dear Member,

On October 19, your National Board voted by 97% – 3% to send out a strike authorization ballot to members if mediation in the TV/Theatrical contract failed. We made a determined effort to mediate the contract negotiations but could not reach agreement in the face of the AMPTP’s refusal to compromise. After mediation failed, a number of national board members publicly repudiated the board’s almost unanimous decision to ask the members to authorize the board to decide whether, and if so when, to call a strike. Although I believe giving the National Board the authorization to determine whether to call a strike is our best strategy, that strategy has been severely compromised by the division of a now deeply and publicly split National Board leadership. President Rosenberg and I called a special meeting of the National Board to attempt to resolve those differences. That board meeting ended with no action after two days and twenty four hours of continuous executive session. During the hours of that executive session, I proposed a compromise to move Screen Actors Guild forward. Because my subsequent letter to the board describing my proposal has been made public, I wanted you to hear from me what I proposed. If the National Board does not adopt this compromise, or otherwise change the decision the board made in October, the strike authorization referendum will be conducted, with ballots sent to every eligible member for a vote.

Please read my letter to the National Board. I encourage you to communicate with your elected leadership and me your views on this subject.

In unity,
Doug Allen National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator

Doug Allen’s Letter to the National Board of Directors January 14, 2009

Dear SAG National Board Members and Alternates,

Because the executive session of our recent extraordinary National Board meeting occurred without my presence in the room, I want to directly communicate several points to all board members and alternates.

I began and ended my report to the National Board on January 12 by stating that I have followed and always will follow the directives of the National Board expressed by a unanimous or majority vote. Under my leadership all SAG staff has complied and will comply with those directives as well. I also said that I am by SAG constitution and by employment contract accountable to the board for my performance.

I welcome your review of that performance and respectfully request only that, in the interest of fairness, such review include the opportunity for me to discuss with the board any comments, questions or issues you wish to raise, not in lieu of executive session discussion, but prior to such discussion.

It is unfortunate that the important matters contained in the National Board meeting agenda were not accomplished at the meeting January 12 and 13. I know that opinions vary sharply on why that happened. From my perspective, to the extent AMPTP positions or actions are the problem, the solution cannot be determined by how intensely you fight among yourselves.

Regarding the TV/Theatrical negotiations, and the sharply divided opinions on the board about how to proceed, I offered the following suggestion to a cross section of Guild leaders during the period of the executive session. I asked that they discuss the suggestion with other board members in attendance. I proposed that the strike authorization referendum be suspended and that management’s offer be put to the membership in a ratification vote. I also proposed that, before that membership ratification vote, we meet immediately with the AMPTP to determine to what extent, if any, they are willing to improve their last offer, to maximize its chances for ratification. I further proposed that the offer then be sent to the members with Pro and Con statements from National Board members and that otherwise the Guild would remain neutral during any member debate regarding ratification. This process will give Screen Actors Guild members the opportunity to formally express themselves on the bargaining issues.

This suggestion was communicated to some, but not all board members in attendance, and apparently was rejected by some who heard it, at least in part, because they believe I could not be “trusted” to implement it. Since I am the one proposing it and since I have never acted contrary to the directives of the National Board, that is not a reasonable objection. In any case, if it is the decision of the National Board to proceed as I have proposed, I assure you that the staff and I will carry out your decision faithfully and diligently.

I will convene an Officers’ call this week to discuss this suggestion and how it might be considered and implemented. I encourage all board members to discuss these issues with the Guild officers or with me in advance of the call.

There are no more important issues before us than the conclusion of the TV/Theatrical Contract negotiations and the initiation of the Commercial Contract negotiations. Super-heated rhetoric through the press will not contribute to our success on behalf of the members. Working together to resolve your differences will.

Doug Allen

Accept a truly lousy contract now and hope to undo the damage in three years? Or reject the contract and take a strike authorization vote?

What happens if the guild does take that strike authorization vote and it is defeated? What happens if it passes? Do we really want to strike at a time when the national economy and millions of families are in financial distress?

Do we really believe that SAG, WGA and AFTRA will come together in three years as a group, united in a way that they have not been during this round of contract negotiations?

What is the best hope for the non-star actors who rely on contracted minimums and residuals to pay their bills and try to support their families?

Today, Nikki Finke of Deadline Hollywood Daily has posted a proposal to SAG. Below is an excerpt. I suggest you go to DHD and read the whole proposal and then read all of the comments.

The decision by SAG president Alan Rosenberg and executive director and chief negotiator Doug Allen to delay the Strike Authorization Ballot originally scheduled to start January 3rd should be recognized as the smart move to make now when SAG’s solidarity is splitting down the middle. It is a mature recognition that both sides on this issue raise valid points and deserve to be heard before anything with the word “strike” on it is considered by members.The “Yes” camp believes that actors will be stuck with what is inarguably a lousy deal undermining residuals not just for the next three years but perhaps forever given Big Media’s historical refusal to contractually revisit new technologies. The “No” camp thinks that a Strike Authorization will inevitably lead to an ill-timed strike in this economic recession and that SAG should join the other Hollywood guilds in 3 years to try to negotiate better terms with the AMPTP.So what was supposed to be a January 24th weekend National Board meeting has now been moved up to January 12th and 13th. It’ll constitute one of the two plenary face-to-face confabs held each year. The NY Division and the Regional Divisions should have no trouble traveling to the Hollywood division’s backyard with so much advance notice. The point of this decision to delay is to ensure a fair airing of all views. (It even takes into account the “No” vote petition supposedly signed by “well-known” actors even though the list includes no mechanism for verifying the names posted on it.)

I believe that SAG now has a unique opportunity to bypass a strike authorization altogether and place itself in an even stronger negotiating position by following a third and less risky course of action: to vote on the AMPTP’s June 30th contract proposal.

Therefore, I urge SAG to…

See the whole post and comments at Deadline Hollywood Daily

LOS ANGELES, DECEMBER 10, 2008 — Screen Actors Guild today announced that strike authorization ballots will be mailed to paid-up SAG members on Friday January 2, 2009, and will be tabulated on Friday, January 23. A yes vote by 75% of members voting is required to pass the measure, which would authorize SAG’s national board of directors to call a strike, if and when the board determines it is necessary.

Screen Actors Guild National President Alan Rosenberg said, ”SAG members understand that their futures as professional actors are at stake and I believe that SAG members will evaluate the AMPTP’s June 30 offer, and vote to send us back to the table with the threat of a strike. A yes vote sends a strong message that we are serious about fending off rollbacks and getting what is fair for actors in new media. I am encouraged by the response of the capacity crowd at our Los Angeles town hall meeting Monday night.”

”We want SAG members to have time to focus on this critical referendum, so we have decided to mail ballots the day after New Year’s. We will continue our comprehensive education campaign and urge our members to vote yes on the strike authorization. I am confident that members around the country will empower our negotiating team with the leverage and strength of unified Screen Actors Guild members. Our objective remains to get a deal that SAG members will ratify- not to go on strike,” said SAG National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator, Doug Allen.

Ballots will be tabulated at Integrity Voting Systems in Everett, Washington. Passage requires 75% yes vote from those voting.

The AMPTP Response:

It’s now official: SAG members are going to be asked to bail out a failed negotiating strategy by going on strike during one of the worst economic crises in history. We hope that working actors will study our contract offer carefully and come to the conclusion that no strike can solve the problems that have been created by SAG’s own failed negotiation strategy.

Add in the fact that the WGA is threatening a suit vs the AMPTP for not paying residuals on so called NEW MEDIA content as required in the contract that AMPTP insists is their ‘last best offer’ to SAG and the situation just gets muddier.

HERE’S THE SAG STATEMENT:

“Our leadership was optimistic that federal mediation would help to move our negotiations forward, but despite the Guild’s extraordinary efforts to reach agreement, the mediation was adjourned shortly before 1:00 AM today.

“Management continues to insist on terms we cannot responsibly accept on behalf of our members. As previously authorized by the National Board of Directors, we will now launch a full-scale education campaign in support of a strike authorization referendum. We will further inform our members about the core, critical issues unique to actors that remain in dispute.

“We have already made difficult decisions and sacrifices in an attempt to reach agreement. Now it’s time for SAG members to stand united and empower the national negotiating committee to bargain with the strength of a possible work stoppage behind them.

“We remain committed to avoiding a strike but now more than ever we cannot allow our employers to experiment with our careers. The WGA has already learned that the new media terms they agreed to with the AMPTP are not being honored. We cannot allow our employers to undermine the futures of our members and their families.

“No timeline has been set for the mailing or return of the strike authorization ballots.”

And the AMPTP RESPONSE:

“The AMPTP accepted the federal mediator’s invitation to meet with SAG in hopes of concluding our seventh major agreement of 2008. The Producers met for two days with SAG at the request of federal mediator Juan Carlos Gonzalez. The parties were unable to reach an agreement and the mediator has adjourned the mediation process.”