Los Angeles Acting blog by David August: SAG's Letter to Producers

Monday, September 29, 2008

SAG's Letter to Producers

Our discussions with you and many of your colleagues since formal talks ended have educated both of our teams about our respective priorities and flexibilities. As we have said to SAG members, if we can reach agreement on three threshold issues, we believe we can finish these negotiations. One issue you brought to the table: force majeure protection for actors held by contract to a suspended production. Two issues we have identified as core principles: coverage for all new media productions (including those below $15,000/minute) and residuals for made-for new media productions re-used on new media. Other issues divide us, certainly, but we believe those other issues can be successfully addressed once we have resolved these three threshold issues. We have approached these contract negotiations reasonably and with a realistic and informed view of the state of the industry.

We are prepared to meet formally and continuously until we reach agreement. We owe it to our constituencies and the thousands of others in this industry that depend on a productive, stable and uninterrupted relationship between Screen Actors Guild and the networks and studios

(from a letter sent to the AMPTP's J. Nicholas Counter III [President], Fox Group's Peter Chernin [President] and The Walt Disney Company's Robert Iger [President and CEO] by SAG's Alan Rosenberg [National President] and Doug Allen [National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator]).