July
30Actors Become the Side Show
Actors hate being ignored. Yet that’s what seems to be happening to SAG.
The SAG negotiations held center stage for several weeks. Now the town seems to be moving on as though the strike threat never happened.
Three of the majors have indicated to me in recent days that they plan to ramp up production quietly, despite the possibility (albeit remote) of a work stoppage. In releasing Disney earnings today, Bob Iger made a point of stating that “we have decided to move forward with a number of our productions and address any issues later as they arise.”
Similar attitudes prevail at Warner Bros and Fox. The consensus seems to be that SAG is a paper tiger.
One factor behind the studios’ “get tough” attitude toward SAG can be traced to quarterly earnings. Sony reported a 31% year-to-year drop in sales for its studio (profits overall plunged 47.4% for the quarter). Disney’s overall revenue was up 2%, but its film operations were down 19% in revenue (the media networks division was up 9%). Viacom’s results moved upward thanks to “Iron Man” and “Indiana Jones.”
“You have to take the film business with a grain of salt – it’s always a little lumpy,” commented media analyst, Robin Diedrich, who put a ‘buy’ rating on Disney despite her mixed metaphors and curious assessment.
Clearly the combination of a writers strike and threats from SAG has put a crimp in Hollywood’s economy, but the studios seem determined at this point to move forward and hope for a smoother second half.
(Photo of Iger by Jim Ruymen/UPI/Landov)
The SAG negotiations held center stage for several weeks. Now the town seems to be moving on as though the strike threat never happened.
Three of the majors have indicated to me in recent days that they plan to ramp up production quietly, despite the possibility (albeit remote) of a work stoppage. In releasing Disney earnings today, Bob Iger made a point of stating that “we have decided to move forward with a number of our productions and address any issues later as they arise.”Similar attitudes prevail at Warner Bros and Fox. The consensus seems to be that SAG is a paper tiger.
One factor behind the studios’ “get tough” attitude toward SAG can be traced to quarterly earnings. Sony reported a 31% year-to-year drop in sales for its studio (profits overall plunged 47.4% for the quarter). Disney’s overall revenue was up 2%, but its film operations were down 19% in revenue (the media networks division was up 9%). Viacom’s results moved upward thanks to “Iron Man” and “Indiana Jones.”
“You have to take the film business with a grain of salt – it’s always a little lumpy,” commented media analyst, Robin Diedrich, who put a ‘buy’ rating on Disney despite her mixed metaphors and curious assessment.
Clearly the combination of a writers strike and threats from SAG has put a crimp in Hollywood’s economy, but the studios seem determined at this point to move forward and hope for a smoother second half.
(Photo of Iger by Jim Ruymen/UPI/Landov)
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Sir,
You can try to make it seem as if actors just don't matter, but if that were true, the AMPTP wouldn't offer us ANY kind of a contract. Not even the lousy one that AFTRA has accepted.
Posted by: Dying Gaul | 7/31/2008 3:40:22 PM
mr. bart,
just to be clear: sag has not threatened to strike. the slow-down has been a choice that the studios have made. getting this town back to work is exactly what the actors want. we don't want any of our co-workers in the other
unions to suffer as a result of our current contract struggles.
Posted by: salamander | 7/31/2008 3:36:50 PM
Any thoughts, besides generalities, Peter, on why SAG is not signing this agreement? Do you really think the suits are in the right on this? Having been a suit, you know better than anyone, once the AMPTP gets actors out of the internet residual picture, which, let''s be honest, is what they''re trying to do, SAG will never get it back. You WERE a suit back when the producers said "trust us on this DVD thing - it''s a new technology, let''s not strangle the baby in the crib with too much in the way of residuals."Then they screwed actors out of hundreds of millions of dollars and broke their word to "revisit" and "renegotiate" th issue. You remember Peter, don''t you? This AMPTP offer is prohibitive, landscape-changing, and, if signed as is, probably irreversible. You know it, and I know it. It allows a HUGE non-union workspace on the internet, to be filled by a wave of next generation non-union actors competing with SAG for union actors jobs. It makes residuals on the web, for both old and new content, non-existent. It turns actors into walking advertisements for Ford or Budweiser, or whatever corporate product is being "placed" on the actors t-shirt, or baseball hat, or in their hand for an entire scene, so the production doesn''t lose the 5 million bucks the company is contributing to the budget. There''s NO protective language should the actor say "that feels exploitive, plus, I make most of my living making commercials, and if I do this - this movie will be somewhere on the web in perpetuity, and I''ll never be able to audition for another car or beer commercial again" - because it''s a conflict with a product I''m already representing in a commercial," which in the new world of movies and TV, will be... movies and TV! - and actors get to be the corporate shills! That sure isn''t what I signed up for. Do you agree a producer should then be able to say to an actor "oh... really... then, you''re FIRED! NEXT!" which is EXACTLY what the language in AFTRA''s contract being forced down SAG''s throat allows. They have to "ask" but if the actor says "no" there is no protection from dismissal or retribution. Do you really think actors shouldn''t get a fair bump in that 28 year old JOKE of a DVD residual rate? "10.1 BILLION in DVD sales!" - Variety''s own headline from July, 20th. Yeah, the producers are taking it right in the shorts financially. Nothing to give, right Peter? Blood from a stone, right? Nobody has a crystal ball, but, as an actor, who supports the Membership First slate of candidates, I''d say keep your powder dry on that "SAG is a paper tiger" line of thinking. It''s not so much that actors don''t like being ignored, it''s more SAG actors don''t like being THREATENED with a contract that would, essentially make it much more difficult, no let''s just make that impossible, for the middle class actor (which is what this is all about) to have a shot at making a decent living. It''s about survival Peter, and you know how us cornered animals can react. The suit better keep their hands in their pockets, and not come too close to the cage. Wouldn''t a nice, fair contract be a reasonable solution to all this trouble the AMPTP, not SAG, is causing?
Posted by: Mrs. Wakely | 7/31/2008 11:56:05 AM
So, you dismiss an entire Union and their needs with the line, "Actors hate being ignored. Yet that’s what seems to be happening to SAG."
As if this were a vanity issue.
Unfiltered opinion? Or hidden agenda?
Posted by: IAmATVJunkie | 7/31/2008 11:44:03 AM