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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

SAG postpones strike vote

Mark L. Pederson said:
SAG postpones strike vote - with a little help from Forrest Gump and others.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/dec/23/union-calls-off-hollywood-actors-strike-ballot

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b74...m_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=rss_topstories

Let's get 2009 started off with LOTS of work ...
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There will be little to no greenlighting of features until the SAG situation is settled. Putting off the vote only ensures that there will likely be no settlement for yet another month. The only way this is good news is if the more sensible faction makes it clear that there is simply no way they will get a 75% vote for a strike, and the current regime basically gives up, signs the existing final offer that's been on the table for over 8 months now, and ends this. But my gut feeling is that Rosenberg and company will play this out to the end, ultimately losing the vote, signing the contract, and getting thrown out of office - but not before the membership fully understands that they could have been receiving higher minimums, Internet/new media jurisdiction, streaming media residuals, and the ability to look at the AMPTP books for almost 9 months had their leadership not decided that they're entitled to more than everyone else in the industry. Not to mention the television pilots they're already losing to AFTRA.

Of course, the silver lining for people who like shooting on Red and other digital systems is that the spinoff effect of this dispute is an accelerated movement away from film for television series, due to the split jurisdiction for television that allows AFTRA to organize television series that are shot on anything other than film. This has led to a pilot season in which virtually all drama pilots are headed towards digital shooting (and AFTRA contracts), on a variety of camera systems. SAG is cutting their own throat in television and they don't even seem to notice.
 
A few features have been completed digitally on Aftra contracts as well.
 
mmost said:
But my gut feeling is that Rosenberg and company will play this out to the end, ultimately losing the vote, signing the contract, and getting thrown out of office - but not before the membership fully understands that they could have been receiving higher minimums, Internet/new media jurisdiction, streaming media residuals, and the ability to look at the AMPTP books for almost 9 months had their leadership not decided that they're entitled to more than everyone else in the industry. Not to mention the television pilots they're already losing to AFTRA.
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I'm with you 100%.
 
mmost said:
Of course, the silver lining for people who like shooting on Red and other digital systems is that the spinoff effect of this dispute is an accelerated movement away from film for television series, due to the split jurisdiction for television that allows AFTRA to organize television series that are shot on anything other than film. This has led to a pilot season in which virtually all drama pilots are headed towards digital shooting (and AFTRA contracts), on a variety of camera systems. SAG is cutting their own throat in television and they don't even seem to notice.
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agreed, good time for being digital and tapeless.
 
Joel Kaye said:
Yeah... I know it's confusing but I always assumed SAG was film and AFTRA was tape so the producer has a choice if they shoot RED.
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It's not that simple. SAG has traditionally represented performers in scripted shows and essentially all features, regardless of what they were shot on, with the only real notable exception being daytime soap operas. AFTRA's membership has traditionally been non-scripted performers, such as newscasters, talk show hosts, sports announcers - basically any performing talent that appears in a broadcast production (whether on or off camera) that isn't a scripted drama or comedy. This jurisdiction has been changed somewhat in recent contracts, and today, AFTRA and SAG both have jurisdiction over scripted performers, particularly in television. The difference is that SAG was given exclusive jurisdiction over any production shot on film, and AFTRA was given "shared" jurisdiction over similar productions, as long as they were not shot on film. In 2008, this all sounds a bit anachronistic, but it is currently the case, and because it is, producers have a safety net at the moment against any SAG job action in television - a safety net they can activate by shooting on something other than film, and signing an AFTRA contract. Performers are obligated to perform under whichever contract the production becomes a signatory to, and regardless of the rhetoric being spread by SAG at the moment, there is nothing they can legally do to force a performer to not work under an AFTRA contract on an AFTRA signatory production.

Interestingly, because AFTRA's contract was agreed to under the most recent round of negotiations, an AFTRA deal is currently a better deal for the performer than a SAG contract, provided the performer is getting paid over scale (which almost all working performers are). It includes new residual provisions that cover Internet streaming, as well as a number of other advancements over the now expired SAG contract.
 
To be clear, I know of several motion pictures destined for theatrical release that were expressly produced using electronic image capture specifically so that they could then sign AFTRA contracts and not SAG.

That's called cutting the union off at the knees.
 
Mitch Gross said:
To be clear, I know of several motion pictures destined for theatrical release that were expressly produced using electronic image capture specifically so that they could then sign AFTRA contracts and not SAG.
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I'm curious as to whether you know how they qualified those productions, because as far as I know, AFTRA's jurisdiction does not include theatrical releases. According to the contract as I know it, the production would have to be classified as either a television production, an educational production, or an industrial/government production to legally allow the performers to be covered by an AFTRA contract. All theatrical releases are under the exclusive jurisdiction of SAG, as long as they are called theatrical releases :shifty:
 
Sorry, don't have that level of detail.
 
mmost said:
There will be little to no greenlighting of features until the SAG situation is settled.
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This is absolutely true, and post companies should be scared if they are not already. There are two major studios that right now have *nothing* shooting in features. Nothing. There are usually a roster of at least 5 or 6 features shooting right now - at the very least the non-VFX tentpoles for the early part of the year, and the VFX tentpoles for Christmas '09 and Summer '10.

Instead, studios are doing everything they can to stretch out releases, and bring up movies from the lower-echelon studio subdivisions up to major-release status.

I see a difficult shakeout coming in the post industry, starting in Q2 of this year. The post industry is still finishing up features that were greenlit or shot before the strike crisis. But those features are going to wrap in the next few months. And the major feature work that facilities just plan on for Q2 and Q3 just isn't there.

What I believe this means is that the major shops will be clawing and fighting for the $5 million and under features that they typically ignore. The smaller post shops and indie DI facilities that are just starting to get their legs are going to be battling the huge shops. Some of the big shops are very well managed and have the financial resources and wisdom to weather what is coming. Some really do not.

I think we will see several pretty big names in the post community either folding up shop or drastically reducing their size in 2009. And the smaller shops will have to work even harder then they do right now, because most of the jobs they get that the big guys ignore are no longer going to be ignored.

Lucas
-----
ASSIMILATE, inc,
LA, CA, USA
 
mmost said:
I'm curious as to whether you know how they qualified those productions, because as far as I know, AFTRA's jurisdiction does not include theatrical releases. According to the contract as I know it, the production would have to be classified as either a television production, an educational production, or an industrial/government production to legally allow the performers to be covered by an AFTRA contract. All theatrical releases are under the exclusive jurisdiction of SAG, as long as they are called theatrical releases :shifty:
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I wonder if the sub-clauses include details about releasing things over the internet/dvd first, thereby potentially negating the jurisdictional exclusivitity of SAG 'theatrical release' sections:
ie. you shoot a film digitally, release it for an hour online, print one dvd, and then release it theatrically......just a thought from up north....
cheers and happy holidays to all
 
I agree with Lucas, and it's not just post shops. I can see this happening to every stage of production and post production. Camera rental houses, lighting & grip, costumers, art supply, catering, on and on.

Batten the hatches; it's going to be a bumpy night.
 
Mitch Gross said:
I agree with Lucas, and it's not just post shops. I can see this happening to every stage of production and post production. Camera rental houses, lighting & grip, costumers, art supply, catering, on and on.

Batten the hatches; it's going to be a bumpy night.
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...and even the current tentpoles have issues...

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i2f608e22d68972d46379b89dd7da0b06

This particular issue doesn't affect the post community, since post is wrapped, but yet another expensive diversion for two major studios. End result will be a delayed release for what was expected to be a *huge* moneymaker, which means less money in the coffers for upcoming flix.

Lucas
 
I can tell you that in the midwest there seems to be a feeling of no strike regardless. people are scared of the economy and will do what they need to do to feed their families. I know many feel like the last strike was much too painful and they feel they didn't quite recover. So the feeling is SAG needs to find a solution because the strike vote has already been decided.
 
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