HollywoodIdiocy.com

Will the Screen Actors Guild strike, or won’t they? That’s the question that has Hollywood on edge as June winds to a close and SAG’s contract looked set to expire without a resolution. Of course, the way they’re handling it is likely to raise the life insurance rates of everyone in Hollywood with a heart condition: rather than sitting down to the negotiating table with AMPTP, SAG is instead trying to interfere with the ratification of AFTRA’s agreement with AMPTP, so that neither actor’s labor union has a labor agreement.

Way to make progress, guys; push everyone back to square one? Real professional there.

AFTRA’s agreement needs 75 percent of members voting in favor to pass, and despite SAG’s derailment efforts, it is expected to pass on July 7, when the results of the ratification vote are announced by AFTRA.

Meanwhile, SAG has not yet asked its members for ratification to strike on July 1, but whether they strike or not, labor peace seems a long way off at this point in time, and the return of Hollywood’s prime time schedule may be delayed even longer if SAG does strike.

The entertainment industry lost billions due to the 100-day WGA strike last fall and winter and TV ratings have been depressed ever since, even after original programming returned to prime time. If the fall lineup is delayed further by an actors strike this summer, it could take until 2010 for networks to regain the audience mindshare lost by two consecutive seasons interrupted by labor strife.

Well, at least the cast of Reaper won’t go on strike!

AFTRA and AMPTP burned the midnight oil Tuesday into Wednesday and today announced they had reached a tentative three-year deal on the dozen or so prime-time and cable shows over which AFTRA has jurisdiction.

The deal sees AMPTP giving way to AFTRA on the “actor’s consent” stipulation for use of movie clips online, which was also a stumbling block in SAG negotiations. While this clearly will put pressure on SAG to make a deal rather than strike, SAG’s fate is still up in the air as AMPTP and SAG are scheduled to resume negotiations this week.

For more details, I’ll be posting about this topic again, later tonight, in greater detail, over on my writing blog, ScriptSuperhero.com.

Despite pre-negotiation predictions that AFTRA would come to a quick deal with the AMPTP, to leapfrog SAG in making a primetime network deal for programming, in order to sign some shows away from SAG in order to keep those shows in production, is a scenario that has failed thus far to materialize.

AFTRA and AMPTP remain deadlocked over the issue of online clips licensing, with the key issue being over having to secure actors’ permission for the use of clips in which they are featured, an issue SAG also tangled with the AMPTP over. While the fees involved are not at issue as prominently, producers want to be able to use such clips online without first securing the permission of actors for each and every use; both AFTRA and SAG oppose producers on this issue, wanting to retain permission-granting powers for their members.

With the end of May approaching, time is growing short. Both actors unions have agreements that expire on June 30, and if agreement is not reached by then, Hollywood could be hit with a second production strike, this time by actors. The WGA writers strike shut down Hollywood for 100 days and robbed the entertainment industry of at least $1 billion in revenue, cost many people jobs, and the post-strike effect has depressed Neilsen ratings even after fresh programming returned to the air in April.

A second strike, by actors, could prove to be an industry-crippling blow, especially if it drags through the summer and postpones the start of the fall TV schedule, currently already regarded by many industry analysts as being essential to relaunch the network TV schedule in the hearts of viewers; if that relaunch is delayed, depressed Neilsens could linger well into the 2008-09 TV season and may never return to pre-WGA-strike levels.

If this labor dispute cannot be worked out without a strike, it could require a lot more than Austin Air air purifiers to remove the stench from the entertainment industry.

The inter-union rivalry between AFTRA and SAG reached a new high yesterday as AFTRA once again denied a request by SAG to hold off on negotiations with producers (AMPTP) on a contract. That’s not to say AFTRA’s being difficult; they twice postponed their own negotiations with producers in favor of giving SAG more time to hammer out an agreement.

But after two delays and no resolution in sight, AFTRA’s ready to go and get their deal done before time runs out and they are forced to be part of a work stoppage against their will. Depsite two previous delays, SAG is blaming AFTRA for being unreasonable, which tells me that perhaps SAG reps need a little drug treatment center vacation before resuming their talks anyway.

“While some have questioned the decision to negotiate apart, know that the decision was not taken lightly,” AFTRA president Roberta Reardon said. “Through a constant barrage over the past 15 months, our once-positive relationship with SAG deteriorated, making it impossible now to continue joint bargaining. The AFTRA national board decided on March 29 to suspend joint bargaining because the first and foremost expenditure of AFTRA’s resources must be deployed in facing down management in negotiations, enforcing members’ contracts and caring for members’ interests.”

AFTRA has a two week timetable in which to reach negotiations with the AMPTP; SAG will get its next turn at bat on May 28.

Is Hollywood about to go on strike for the second time in less about six months? Could be! Phentermine-feuled negotiations between producers (AMPTP) and actors (Screen Actors Guild) fell apart Tuesday night after 18 days of intense negotiations.

SAG, unwilling to follow the model set forth in the deals signed by the directors (DGA), writers (WGA) and even by the other actor’s union, AFTRA, on their network code, is largely believed to be the barrier between a deal or no deal. For now, it’s no deal.

SAG controls most of network television, except for “Rules of Engagement,” “Cashmere Mafia,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Flight of the Conchords,” “Dante’s Cove,” “Reaper” and ” ‘Til Death,” which fall under the auspices of AFTRA. That, however, may change quickly if AFTRA, which is now free to enter into their own contract talks with AMPTP, decides to be more reasonable and settles quickly. At that point, AFTRA would be able to lure shows over to their union on the strength of having a contract in place that can keep shows in production. That would increase pressure on SAG to become more reasonable in their demands and settle quickly, before bleeding too many shows away to AFTRA.

SAG has not yet taken a membership vote on strike authorization, though that is expected in the coming days. Hollywood has already suffered through a 100-day strike by the WGA that some analysts estimate cost Hollywood and the California economy in excess of $2 billion in lost revenue. A few have even cited the strike as a contributing factor to the USA’s economic slowdown.

Is Hollywood willing to endure another strike, so soon after the resolution of the last one? This bears watching.

Ask the average Screen Actors Guild media relations guy if SAG wants to strike so soon after the extended writers strike that lost Hollywood billions, and they’ll assure you that of course they don’t want to create another work stoppage in the city of Guilded Implants.

But ask them about their expectations for the next SAG contract and their double-speak is about as convoluted as that of a truck accident lawyer. SAG is demanding to get what neither directors nor writers could manage: a better cut of DVD sales. Furthormore, they want even more than the AMPTP was willing to give writers and actors in terms of new media residuals.

SAG and AFTRA (who will negotiate separately for the first time in 27 years) naturally think they’re the most deserving because actors are out-front, the faces and bodies that sell movies. Never mind that the actors are already far more well-compensated on average than any director or writer will ever be.

Sure, folks like Tom Hanks will claim the battle isn’t for them, but for the casting session rejects who rarely get work. So… if they rarely get work… how is it that better DVD and new media residuals will help those folks again? No, this is all about turning $20 million per flick actors into $30 million per flick headliners.