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…

SAGWatch BLOG

From Digital Media Law:

SAG and the AMPTP ended their second day of talks at about 10:00 p.m. this evening (Weds.), but will resume tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. for a third, previously unannounced day of talks, said a source close to the negotiations. No other info was available on the progress of negotiations, but this is obviously a hopeful sign in a situation that’s been largely devoid of them until the last 30 days.

Negotiations had resumed Tuesday, accompanied by dueling protests, one from an organization of below-the-liners calling itself Back to Work, organized largely by camera operators Jon Philion and Andrew Rowlands and cinematographers Ed Gutentag and Bruce McCleery, and the other from Membership First. BtW was urging a deal, while MF was protesting the likelihood that the talks would result in what they consider an unacceptable deal. There were about 100 protesters in all, reports Variety.

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