Allen
Open warfare has broken out at the Screen Actors Guild over the thwarted attempt to fire national exec director Doug Allen and dissolve the negotiating committee.
The moderate majority of SAG's national board has delivered written signatures to SAG headquarters to remove Allen and replace him with former SAG general counsel David White, who will serve as the interim exec director.
SAG had no immediate response and it's unclear whether those changes will pass legal muster with SAG attorneys.
The moderates -- who were blocked during a marathon Jan. 12-13 meeting from voting on Allen's removal -- also said that SAG senior adviser John T. McGuire will replace Allen as chief negotiator of all SAG contracts.
Additionally, the moderates said they will replace the feature-primetime negotiating committee to complete the long-stalled negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers.
"In a meeting two weeks ago, a majority of the board sought to make the crucial changes now contained in the written assent, but were derailed by President Alan Rosenberg and a minority of board members through endless parliamentary games and improper behavior," the moderates said. "By filibustering for over 28 straight hours, they prevented the Board from ever taking a vote on the majority's proposal. This unprecedented level of obstruction has paralyzed the Guild."
The moderates said that the "written assent" step is included in SAG's constitution to allow a majority of the board to take action outside the boardroom if necessary.
"While extraordinary circumstances may require the use of written assent, we do not believe it is a desirable way to conduct Guild business," they added. "In this case, the unrelenting obstruction by a minority of board members has left us no alternative."
Contact Dave McNary at
dave.mcnary@variety.com