Wednesday, November 26, 2008
SAG Plans Strike Authorization Referendum
Highlights from SAG's email sent today:
Nearly half of our earnings as union performers come from residuals, but management wants us to allow them to make programs for the Internet and other new media non-union and with no residuals.
Voting "yes" does not mean that there will automatically be a strike. A strike authorization is a tool that gives us more leverage in negotiations and we intend to use it to try to get a fair deal
(from sag.org).
this posted by David August at 2:47 PM - 0 comments - 
Monday, November 24, 2008
SAG - AMPTP Mediation Ended
Screen Actors Guild today issued the following statement in response to the failure of federal mediation:
Our leadership was optimistic that federal mediation would help to move our negotiations forward, but despite the Guild's extraordinary efforts to reach agreement, the mediation was adjourned shortly before 1:00 a.m. today [November 22]
(from sag.org).
The president of the Screen Actors Guild says he hopes to avoid an actor strike, despite calls on union members to authorize a walk out.
We've made monumental moves in their direction during these negotiations in order to avoid a work stoppage, in order to make a deal and they have not moved one iota in our direction,[SAG President] Rosenberg said
(from KTLA).
this posted by David August at 1:20 PM - 0 comments -
Network Bailout Mentioned
They've been living on borrowed time for the better part of two decades, thanks to advertisers willing to toss in more cash each year even as ratings slowly trended ever lower.
But with the economy in a tailspin - and the Big Three auto manufacturers, some of TV's best advertisers, near ruin - the biz may finally have to pull the emergency cord.
'This day was going to come,' says one conglom bigwig. 'I don't think the business can be sustained without real change at this juncture. ... We have a gun to all of our heads.'
Already smarting from a writers strike-impacted season, the networks haven't had much more to celebrate this fall. Collectively, the Big Five (including the CW) are down 13% among adults 18-49 vs. last year.
One of the traditional major nets - ABC, NBC or CBS - could mirror the Fox sked and drop an hour of primetime, airing only from 8 to 10 p.m. (or perhaps 9 to 11 p.m.) and return that extra hour to the affiliates
(from Variety).
this posted by David August at 1:12 PM - 0 comments -
Blockbuster Films Are a Small Part of Motion Pictures Made
We tend to think the tiger [a blockbuster film] represents the animal kingdom [all moving images], but in truth, a grasshopper is a truer statistical example of an animal. The handcrafted Hollywood film won’t go away, but if we want to see the future of motion pictures, we need to study the swarming food chain below - YouTube, indie films, TV serials and insect-scale lip-sync mashups - and not just the tiny apex of tigers. The bottom is where the action is, and where screen literacy originates
(from The New York Times).
Labels: trends
this posted by David August at 11:55 AM - 0 comments -
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
2008 Ovation Award Winners Announced
The awards winners were announced last night.
Labels: event
this posted by David August at 6:06 PM - 0 comments -
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Delfino Near Fires Again
Delfino Studios is again located near the area evacuated due to fires. Double check call times and locations of any productions shooting there (like 'Saving Grace'). Be safe.
Keep current with the LAFD's twitter.
You can help: text "GIVE" to 24357 (2Help) to donate $5 to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.
Labels: studios
this posted by David August at 12:25 PM - 2 comments -
Hollywood Gets Friendly with YouTube
Jordan Hoffner, the vidsharing site's director of content partnerships, attributes the softening of the biz's attitude toward YouTube to a number of factors, including its VideoID program, which helps identify unauthorized clips for removal or ad placement, and its new click-to-buy program
(from Variety).
Labels: technology, trends
this posted by David August at 12:06 PM - 0 comments -
Friday, November 14, 2008
Producers and SAG Still Disagree
A new theatrical contract does not yet exist.
The guild's national board, meeting over the weekend for the first time since September elections tilted the guild in a more moderate direction, decided to ask for a federal mediator to join stalled contract talks with the major film and television studios. The board also decided not to put a strike authorization vote before its membership
(from The Associated Press).
A federal mediator has been requested and chosen
to move the two sides toward resolution (from Alecia Batson's blog).
this posted by David August at 3:35 PM - 0 comments -
