Prepping for a SAG strike
Insurance coverage offered for work stoppage
|
The Fireman's policy would cover any production scheduled for completion before June 15. If some unusual circumstance -- an actor's illness or fire damage to the set, say -- pushes lensing beyond the June 30 expiration of the SAG-AFTRA pact, the production would be covered.
Fireman's Fund rep Susan Murdy said the insurance company, which covers about 75% of Hollywood features, would offer the coverage only to companies that already do business with Fireman's.
Fireman's Fund also owns Intl. Film Guarantors, which has written more than $10 billion in completion guarantees for more than 500 movies since 1990. The new coverage requires that a completion bond be in place prior to issuance of coverage.
The announcement may provide only slight consolation to the many in the business who are worried about an actors strike this summer. High-profile members have been pressuring SAG president Alan Rosenberg to launch talks as soon as possible and to limit voting to actors who have worked at least a specified number of days over the last six years.
A petition bearing the signatures of more than 1,000 SAG members -- including Amy Brenneman, Sally Field and Charlie Sheen -- was presented last week to Rosenberg. Organizers say another 150 signers have come on board since, including Don Cheadle, Felicity Huffman, William H. Macy and Meryl Streep.
The petition proposes that voting on the contract -- which would include a strike authorization -- be limited to members in good standing who have met one of three thresholds over the previous six years:
- Performed an average of five days principal work or 15 days background work per year (or an equivalent mix thereof); or
- Had average residual earnings per year equivalent to five principal days at scale; or
- Is fully vested in the SAG Producers Pension Plan.
"We believe this reasonably takes into account the ups and downs of the business for currently working members and is flexible enough to include members who, while perhaps not currently working, still have a concrete stake in the negotiations," the petition said.
"You may hear this effort criticized as 'elitist,' but the response from our supporters suggests otherwise. They include many SAG members who wouldn't vote on some contracts under this structure -- but who recognize the power of putting contract decisions in the hands of members who work those contracts."
The petition noted that two-thirds of SAG's 120,000 members consistently earn less than $1,000 per year as SAG actors, and only one in five SAG members earns at least $7,500 annually. Petition drive organizer Ned Vaughn told Daily Variety that AFTRA was also recently approached about instituting qualified voting but hasn't responded officially.
Though Rosenberg has opposed any "qualified voting" requirement -- saying "it disenfranchises people who are marginalized" -- he added that the level of support for the notion will obligate the SAG national board to address the issue at its next meeting in April. He also said that bringing up the issue is damaging to SAG's ability to present a united front at the bargaining table.
Rosenberg has indicated as well that any qualified voting provisions should also cover those who serve in elected offices for both SAG and AFTRA. And Frances Fisher, who sits on both the SAG and AFTRA boards, said she's concerned that backers of the qualified voting petition will weaken SAG's bargaining leverage.
"Under the guise of making our beloved union stronger, they have done nothing more than run up the white flag," she told Daily Variety.
SAG had no immediate reaction to the Fireman's Fund announcement. Fireman's Fund, which provides $190 million in film production premiums, said the coverage extension is the first offered by an entertainment insurance firm.
"We want to address production companies' concerns and provide them with additional support during this time of uncertainty," Fireman's Fund VP Joe Finnegan said in a statement. "We believe this coverage extension will help facilitate the financing and production of more film projects that are scheduled to wrap principal photography ahead of a possible strike or lockout."
Fireman's Fund announced the coverage Tuesday morning, a few hours before the WGA announced that 93.6% of those voting had endorsed ratification of its new contract in the wake of the bitter 100-day strike.
"Fireman's Fund has received a very positive response from production companies, via our brokers, for being proactive and responding to their needs in anticipation of an actors strike," said Murdy.
SAG was so closely aligned with the Writers Guild during the recent strike that many assumed the WGA deal would preclude an actors strike. But SAG leaders have said it must maintain a strike threat in order to get the best possible deal, asserting that without that leverage, collective bargaining becomes "collective begging."
No talks have yet been set for the contract, which covers film and primetime TV. George Clooney and Tom Hanks have spearheaded a push to get SAG leaders to the bargaining table as soon as possible and to cool down their anti-conglom statements.
Rosenberg and national exec director Doug Allen have insisted that the guild needs to complete its process of holding "wages and working conditions" meetings over the next few weeks and sort out the details of its joint bargaining arrangement with AFTRA before setting a date for talks.
SAG has 120,000 members and AFTRA has 70,000; about 40,000 thesps are dual cardholders.
To join SAG, a prospective member is required to work on a SAG production and then pay a $2,211 initiation fee, while AFTRA has a $1,300 initiation but no work requirement to join. Members can vote in either union as long as their dues are current.
The WGA has about 12,000 members, with the requirement to join based on meeting employment and/or sales thresholds within a three-year period, with a $2,500 initiation fee. Members generally retain current status for the next seven years, with each new employment or script sale conferring four more years of active membership.
The DGA has about 13,500 members with differing work requirements for joining. Initiation fees are $8,995 for feature and TV directors.
