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SAG Nudges the Studios

By Jonathan Handel, Esq.

SAG sent the studios a somewhat-gentle nudge today, firing off a letter to the head of the studio alliance and two key studio heads that identified three key issues (force majeure and two new media issues) and concluded with the almost-friendly "What do you say; when can our committees meet face-to-face?"

Not all of the letter was hale fellow well-met. A key sentence warns "If your intransigence continues, however, our choices become harder and fewer." Whether SAG actually has any leverage to back up those words is unclear. Certainly a strike authorization seems highly unlikely, with control of the union now having passed, in part, to more moderate elements, and with the shocking deterioration of the national economy making it unlikely that many guild members would support a strike.

Here's the letter:

September 29, 2008

J. Nicholas Counter III
President
Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers
15301 Ventura Blvd.
Bldg. E
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403-5885

Peter Chernin
President
Fox Group
10201 W. Pico Blvd
Building 100 - Room 5080
Los Angeles, CA 90035

Robert Iger
President and CEO
The Walt Disney Company
500 S Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521-6369

Dear Gentlemen:

We believe it is clear that our members would fail to ratify your proposal of June 30, 2008. It would serve no productive purpose, therefore, to send our membership a proposal that SAG?s National Negotiating Committee and National Board have rejected and that our membership would not ratify.

It is our fervent hope that this news will encourage you and your colleagues to reengage in formal bargaining, with the exchange of proposals and compromise by both sides necessary to reach an agreement.

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.

The alternative to reaching an agreement as soon as possible is unnecessary and destructive uncertainty. If your intransigence continues, however, our choices become harder and fewer. We would prefer the more complicated and productive choices that compromise will make necessary. But we can?t make those choices that lead to agreement working alone.

What do you say; when can our committees meet face-to-face?

Sincerely,

Alan Rosenberg
National President

Doug Allen
National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator

Full post as published by Digital Media Law on September 29, 2008 (boomark / email).