Friday, March 30, 2012
SAG-AFTRA Merger Approved
The memberships of SAG and AFTRA have approved the proposed merger of their unions; they are now the the single union called SAG-AFTRA.
- SAG: 82% yes votes, 18% no votes; 53% of the membership voted
- AFTRA: 86% yes votes, 14% no votes; 57% of the membership voted
The announcement of the results of the merger referendum was made at 1:35 pm in Los Angeles by SAG National President Ken Howard and AFTRA National President Roberta Reardon. The new union's web site at sagaftra.org has more details on its structure and make up.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Results of SAG-AFTRA Election Will Be Live Streamed Online
The results of the merger referendum by the members of SAG and AFTRA will be announced this Friday, March 30 at approximately 1 p.m. PT/4 p.m. ET.
Please join us online at SAGAFTRA.org to view a livestream of the announcement by SAG National President Ken Howard and AFTRA National President Roberta Reardon
(from sag.org).
Labels: technology, unions
Online Streaming Views of Films Will Beat Disc Views this Year
In the U.S., consumers will pay more for online films than they will for physical discs - this year, there will be 3.4 billion views via the internet, versus 2.4 billion for physical videos
(from Daily Mail). I have mentioned before how the audience wants to watch what they want, where and when they want and streaming makes this more possible than discs.
Labels: technology, trends
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Be Creative and Technical
Too many creative people don’t want to learn to be technical, so what happens they become dependent on technical people. Become technical. You can learn that. If you are creative and technical you are unstoppable.
- Robert Rodriguez
Labels: inspiration
Monday, March 19, 2012
Network Revenues from New Media Are Growing
Residuals when a network show is released to consumer-paid new media are calculated as a percentage of distributor’s gross, so the fact that Moonves pointed to those deals as a noteworthy revenue stream for CBS suggests that new media license fees are growing.
That may prompt eagle-eyed guild staff to keep an eye out for the residuals checks that should follow. It will take sharp eyesight, though, because the checks are barely discernable [sic]. As an example, the WGA's 2011 annual report indicates that new media reuse accounted for only about one percent of total residuals in 2010 ($3.85 million of $315.81 million). Although those residuals grew at a rate much higher than did residuals overall, the numbers are likely to remain small for quite some time
(emphasis added, from The Hollywood Reporter).
Labels: money, technology, trends, unions
Monday, March 12, 2012
All Labor Watching SAG-AFTRA Merger Efforts
With U.S. labor unions under constant conservative fire, the proposed merger of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists is being closely watched within the labor movement as a measure of how unions react to the changing landscape.
If this is approved, it's going to be a huge shot in the arm for the labor movement,AFTRA president Roberta Reardon told Variety on Sunday.Labor unions have been under attack, particularly with the growing power of corporate employers and their ability to get around unions in new areas of work.
Members of SAG and AFTRA began receiving ballots Feb. 27 and must return them by March 30. Each union must receive at least 60% support among those voting for the combo to go through.
The unknown is very scary,she said.But having a united consolidated strategy is really critical as the industry gets more complicated. On a show like 'Glee,' for example, the actors are represented by SAG but their singing is covered by AFTRA
(from Variety, via Bertila Damas).