2008 Woodie Awards
Reel Deal: Please, let's avoid another strike, ok?
Screen Actors Guild threatens to walk
Alex Plimack
Arts | 4/9/08
Hollywood is starting to remind me of a bowling alley.
Two months after the striking writers put down the picket signs and picked up the pens, there are rumors that the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) could walk out.
However, this isn't the first time such a possibility has arisen.
According to an article from the Hollywood Reporter in March 2006, the SAG went as far as to take a strike authorization vote when they didn't agree with the basic cable contract that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) had written up.
Like the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Directors Guild of America (DGA), SAG is set to head to the bargaining table with the AMPTP to renegotiate their contract like they do every three years.
Recently, concerns arose when SAG split ties with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). The two unions had previously negotiated new contracts jointly with the AMPTP, but the recent split showed a distinct discordance between SAG and AFTRA.
Variety reported late last month that SAG had lost leverage in negotiations and sought to make their way to the bargaining table before AFTRA could. Their argument: they represent all of film and the majority of TV, so they deserve the preferential treatment.
SAG national executive director Doug Allen has said that he doesn't want to see his union go the route of a strike, but Variety reported insiders have speculated that the split with AFTRA will lead to a more assertive attitude from SAG negotiators.
It's no secret that the writers' strike crippled Hollywood. Effects were immediately felt on the small screen, when TV shows launched into reruns, talk shows went dark and all hopes were lost for certain shows.
By no means am I trying to diminish the role of writers in the entertainment industry, but if the actors were to take to pickets, the effects would be more catastrophic. Writers left behind completed scripts that were filmed and put to air. But with the actors gone, the words on the page will be just that. The talent is too important to the industry to simply let it walk out. I stood by the writers throughout their strike, even when the public consensus began to shift when people started to miss their favorite shows and I plan on doing the same for the actors.
To put it bluntly, the AMPTP is a bunch of greedy bastards. The actors want better residuals on DVDs? Give 'em up. It's not like people are going to the theaters anyway to watch movies.
Surprisingly enough, the trades have put the idea of a strike on the backburner. And maybe that's a good thing. The sensationalizing of the writers' strike was enough to rally enough people for the cause, but it also glorified the idea.
And Hollywood suffered enough from that strike. So let's not have another one.
Can't you please just spare us all?
Two months after the striking writers put down the picket signs and picked up the pens, there are rumors that the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) could walk out.
However, this isn't the first time such a possibility has arisen.
According to an article from the Hollywood Reporter in March 2006, the SAG went as far as to take a strike authorization vote when they didn't agree with the basic cable contract that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) had written up.
Like the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Directors Guild of America (DGA), SAG is set to head to the bargaining table with the AMPTP to renegotiate their contract like they do every three years.
Recently, concerns arose when SAG split ties with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). The two unions had previously negotiated new contracts jointly with the AMPTP, but the recent split showed a distinct discordance between SAG and AFTRA.
Variety reported late last month that SAG had lost leverage in negotiations and sought to make their way to the bargaining table before AFTRA could. Their argument: they represent all of film and the majority of TV, so they deserve the preferential treatment.
SAG national executive director Doug Allen has said that he doesn't want to see his union go the route of a strike, but Variety reported insiders have speculated that the split with AFTRA will lead to a more assertive attitude from SAG negotiators.
It's no secret that the writers' strike crippled Hollywood. Effects were immediately felt on the small screen, when TV shows launched into reruns, talk shows went dark and all hopes were lost for certain shows.
By no means am I trying to diminish the role of writers in the entertainment industry, but if the actors were to take to pickets, the effects would be more catastrophic. Writers left behind completed scripts that were filmed and put to air. But with the actors gone, the words on the page will be just that. The talent is too important to the industry to simply let it walk out. I stood by the writers throughout their strike, even when the public consensus began to shift when people started to miss their favorite shows and I plan on doing the same for the actors.
To put it bluntly, the AMPTP is a bunch of greedy bastards. The actors want better residuals on DVDs? Give 'em up. It's not like people are going to the theaters anyway to watch movies.
Surprisingly enough, the trades have put the idea of a strike on the backburner. And maybe that's a good thing. The sensationalizing of the writers' strike was enough to rally enough people for the cause, but it also glorified the idea.
And Hollywood suffered enough from that strike. So let's not have another one.
Can't you please just spare us all?
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