Media & Entertainment Law
Digital Media Law 
Thoughts about the latest news in the law and business of digital media, traditional entertainment, IP, and technology.
Post Frequency: 0.9/day Last Entry: November 19, 2009 at 01:37:00 Recent Entries: 303
By Jonathan Handel, Esq.
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No More Sounds of Silence on the Music Composition Front?
Posted on November 19, 2009Everyone knows that composers and lyricists makes scales ... now they want to make scale as well. Union scale, that is (or, even better, above scale). One of the few non-unionized sectors of Hollywood, composers and lyricists - the people who write music (as opposed to musicians, the people who perform it) - are now in talks with the Teamsters for representation...
Book review: "Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars" by William Patry
Posted on October 24, 2009The content and technology businesses are at war, as is well-known and as I discuss in a recent article. It?s a struggle that focuses on unauthorized file sharing and new business models?in other words, a copyright war. Undeniably, the entertainment industry often battles demand rather than trying to satisfy it, and copyright laws have taken a corporate turn...
SAG Interim Nat'l Exec Director Hired as Permanent
Posted on October 18, 2009SAG's Interim National Executive Director David White just got the permanent gig and can drop "Interim" from his title. The vote on today SAG's national board, which began meeting yesterday and is still meeting today for a little while longer, was 70...
Rosenberg v. SAG: Court of Appeal Implies Appeal May be Moot
Posted on October 12, 2009Alan Rosenberg is no longer president of SAG, nor even a national board member, but his lawsuit against his own union drags on pointlessly. Believe it or not, he?s still trying to undo Doug Allen?s firing, the appointment of David White, the ratification of the TV/theatrical contract and, no doubt, the discovery of a new ring around Saturn...
Handel appointed Adjunct Professor at UCLA School of Law to teach entertainment unions & guilds course
Posted on October 02, 2009On a personal note, I've been appointed as an Adjunct Professor at UCLA School of Law. I'll be teaching a course on entertainment unions and guilds starting in January. I also continue as of counsel at TroyGould. Below and attached is the press release from TroyGould...
SAG: Four Hardline Horsemen in the National Board Room
Posted on September 27, 2009Thursday?s SAG election was a victory for the moderate coalition. Yet, strangely enough, the leaders of the losing hardline faction will all find seats on the national board, and will continue to be a shadow government within the union?s Hollywood board?a board on which, in contrast, none of the key moderate leaders will be voting members...
SAG Moderates Win Presidency, Secr. + Additional 4 Natl Seats
Posted on September 24, 2009In a victory for the SAG moderate coalition (Unite for Strength / USAN / independents), the UFS candidates for president, Ken Howard, and secretary, Amy Aquino, won the union's national offices.However, the election was close: Howard's total was slightly less than the two hardline candidates added together (Anne-Marie Johnson and Seymour Cassel) and Aquino's was slightly more than that of incumbent Connie Stevens...
SAG Presidential Election Close
Posted on September 24, 2009A well-placed source says the SAG presidential election is very close. It's a reliable source, but only a single source. Caveat emptor. Not surprising, given how long it's taking to get results - over 3-1/2 hrs past first predicted time (6:38 pm vs 3:00 pm, LA time).
SAG Moderates Win NY & Everywhere Else
Posted on September 24, 2009According to unofficial sources, and as SAGWatch is reporting, SAG moderates have won every open NY Board seat that was up, and all the regional seats that were up as well.Hollywood results are not in yet (expected in 1.5 hrs or so), but all the seats up in Hollywood are hardline Membership First - thus, they can only lose more seats, or hold Hollywood numbers at best...
SAG Presidential Candidate: I'll Seek Strike Authorization Next Year if Elected
Posted on September 19, 2009In an open conference call today, SAG VP and presidential candidate Anne-Marie Johnson said she will seek a strike authorization next year, before the mandated early negotiations next fall, if she?s elected. She argued that that?s what?s needed to gain bargaining leverage and added that she?s ?confident? the SAG membership would vote Yes, especially after the guild conducts an educational outreach campaign during its wages and working conditions (W&W) meetings with members...
AMJ: If I?m Elected, David White is Out
Posted on September 18, 2009In a campaign video, Membership First?s candidate for SAG president, Anne-Marie Johnson says that one her first proposals as new president would be to recommend to the national board that ?a search committee be seated . . . immediately? to replace SAG interim National Executive Director David White...
I'm still here
Posted on August 26, 2009Many thanks to those who have asked after me, since I haven't blogged for some time now. I'm just taking a break to do some client work and other stuff, but will be back.
Rosenberg v. SAG Lawsuit Reply Brief Filed
Posted on July 24, 2009The appeal grinds on. SAG president Alan Rosenberg and three other Membership First hardliners (1st VP Anne-Marie Johnson and board members Diane Ladd and Kent McCord) filed their reply brief earlier this week.I'm told there will be oral argument (unscheduled as yet)...
Fixing the Residuals System
Posted on July 24, 2009The residuals system is broken. It?s expensive to administer and is an invitation to conflict as platforms such as new media evolve. Yet we need residuals, because talent survives on these payments between gigs. Can the system be fixed? Yes, I believe so...
?Octomom the Musical? Opens in LA to Sellout Crowds
Posted on July 23, 2009A play loosely inspired by the LA-area mother who had octotuplets opened last Saturday to standing-room only crowds in Los Angeles. The so-called Octomom is not the only character skewered in the zany musical: other include Bernie Madoff, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, Vince Shamwow (of magic towel fame) and even Octomom?s fertility doctor, who has a mad and somewhat creepy crush on her...
Culture Clash on the Internet
Posted on July 22, 2009The Internet has devalued content to the point where it is often offered at no charge?newspapers, for instance?or widely misappropriated, as with music and movies. Either way, many people expect much of their content to be free. Why is this, how did it happen, and, focusing on music and movies, what can be done about it? I?ve previously written about the why, in Huffington Post and Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law articles, and identified six factors...
SAG President?s Anti-SAG Suit Continues
Posted on July 06, 2009For those who like keeping up with legal dockets, SAG a few days ago filed its Respondent?s Brief in the appeals court case that stems from the lawsuit filed by SAG president Alan Rosenberg and three other Membership First hardliners (1st VP Anne-Marie Johnson and board members Diane Ladd and Kent McCord) against their own union...
Film on the Downswing
Posted on June 22, 2009Factoid: Kodak gets 70% of its revenue today from digital products, and an outgoing Kodak exec says that the company plans to stay in the film business ?as far into the future as possible,? which isn?t exactly a ringing endorsement of analog formats. This all is courtesy of an AP story in the NY Times on the discontinuation of Kodachrome (yes, the story mentions the Paul Simon song), which also points out that Kodak has introduced new still and motion picture stocks in the last few years...
WGA Candidates for President and Board Announced
Posted on June 22, 2009SAG?s upcoming elections have been getting some attention, but the WGA West is having an election this summer as well. The ballots go out sometime in late July or August, and are apparently due back September 17. Current WGA West president Patric Verrone is running for one of the open board seats, but not for president (I believe there are term limits)...
LA Goatherd Wanted
Posted on June 22, 2009Sometimes going off-topic can't be resisted. I live in Laurel Canyon, which as LA residents know is in the middle of the city yet is a still-rustic hilly area from the 1920's that even has a few dirt roads remaining. The ethos still has echoes of the 60's and 70's (can an ethos have echoes?)...
WGA Institutes Qualified Voting
Posted on June 18, 2009The WGA membership has approved new rules limiting members? eligibility to vote on strike authorization and ratification of the feature-primetime contract: members now have to have earnings of $30,000 under a WGA agreement during the six years preceding the vote or 15 or more qualified years as a pension plan participant, Variety reports...
Independent New Media Productions
Posted on June 16, 2009There are casting notices out there for SAG new media productions under the ?SAG New Media Contract.? A few notes may help clarify what these are, and help performers enforce a few of their rights. First, this is not the new media sideletter recently negotiated with the AMPTP (major studios) as part of the theatrical contract...
SAG Lawsuit Still Grinds On; Court Denies SAG?s Motion to Dismiss Appeal
Posted on June 15, 2009As I previously reported, SAG?s counsel in late May filed a motion to dismiss the appeal by SAG president Alan Rosenberg and three other Membership First hardliners (1st VP Anne-Marie Johnson and board members Diane Ladd and Kent McCord) of a Superior Court order that denied their application for a temporary restraining order...
Union-Focused Journalist Departs to Academia
Posted on June 12, 2009Andrew Salomon, the National News Editor of Back Stage and author of the magazine?s Espresso blog, is leaving his job effective July 31. He?s joining the faculty of SUNY Purchase (Purchase College at the State University of New York) as a tenure-track assistant professor of journalism...
SAG Resolution Resolves Little for Film Business
Posted on June 11, 2009With the SAG contract ratified, will the film business finally get back to normal? Unfortunately, no. Although we'll see a brief spike in production, the business we once knew may never reappear, for a host of reasons. . . . to read more, see my piece in Variety ??????? Subscribe to my blog (jhandel...
Trademark Protection and Facebook User Names
Posted on June 10, 2009Trademark protection just got a slightly more complicated, but in a good way. Starting now, there?s a new step that trademark holders or their attorneys should take to protect their trademarks or service marks. You probably already know that registering domain names corresponding to your marks gives you important practical protection...
TV Series Pickups Favor AFTRA 5 to 1
Posted on June 09, 2009Several months ago, we learned that pilot season this year was 94% AFTRA (or 87% by some calculations), a complete 180 from its usual 90% SAG. That didn?t look good for SAG, but a few Membership First hardliners urged us to wait and see how the all-important series pickups turned out...
More Bull in China?s Shop
Posted on June 09, 2009There?s more from the country that?s bent Google and Microsoft to its will, forcing them to help censor the Internet, and that even apparently got Yahoo to provide information that led to the torture and imprisonment of dissidents. This time, not satisfied with censoring those services (and YouTube, Twitter and Flickr as well), and perhaps frustrated at the imperfect filtering provided by the nationwide system referred to as ?the Great Firewall of China,? the Chinese government is requiring all PC?s sold in that country to come with filtering software, called ?Green Dam Youth Escort...
Uneasy Lies the Head that Wears the Crown: Why Content?s Kingdom is Slipping Away
Posted on June 09, 2009Content and technology are locked in a struggle whose outcome may determine the future of the entertainment industry. The problem is this: Content is becoming a commodity. In contrast, although distribution used to be the exclusive province of Hollywood?movie theaters, television networks, home video, among others?this is no longer true...
SAG TV/Theatrical Contract Ratified Overwhelmingly, 78%-22%
Posted on June 09, 2009In a stunning defeat for the hardline Membership First faction, SAG's TV/theatrical contract passed overwhelmingly, by a 78%-22% margin (almost 4 to 1), those numbers according to the guild. Variety first reported the story, prior to the guild's announcement, with a 1% difference in the numbers...
JLH on UCLA Panel re Labor
Posted on June 06, 2009Next Sat., June 13, I'll be on a labor panel at the UCLA Altered States Media Conference, sponsored by the UCLA Producers Program and the UCLA Festival for New Creative Works.Here's the panel:10:15 AM - 11:30: Studio and Labor Relations in 2015Moderator: Arnold Peter (Partner, Raskin Peter LLP) * Mike Farrell (Actor, M*A*S*H, Providence) * Jonathan Handel (Attorney, TroyGould Attorneys) * Patric Verrone (President, Writers Guild of America, West) * Sallie Weaver (Founder, Entertainment Labor Consulting, Inc...
Three Membership First Candidates Elected to AFTRA Boards
Posted on June 04, 2009The AFTRA Los Angeles results are in. Many candidates were reelected, but new winners include two Membership First leaders?SAG 1st VP Anne-Marie Johnson (AFTRA national board) and former SAG Hollywood Board member David Jolliffe (AFTRA Los Angeles local board)?as well as Membership First member Alan Ruck (AFTRA national board)...
Interview with Anne-Marie Johnson
Posted on June 02, 2009Andrew Salomon over at Back Stage magazine's Blog Stage has an excellent and revealing interview with SAG 1st VP Anne-Marie Johnson.
Report on SAG NY Town Hall Meeting
Posted on June 02, 2009SAG held a town hall meeting in NY last night to provide information re the TV/theatrical contract. It comes a bit late in the process, since the ballots are due back in the mail by next Tuesday, June 9. That means that the last day to reliably mail the ballots is probably Friday, or even Thursday, depending on your faith in the USPS and its vagaries...
Kathy Joosten Responds to Martin Sheen
Posted on June 01, 2009An excellent video by Kathy Joosten (vote Yes on the SAG contract) responding to the recent video by Martin Sheen and friends (vote No).
SAG Files Motion to Dismiss Rosenberg Appeal
Posted on May 24, 2009As you'll recall, several months ago, SAG president Alan Rosenberg and three other hardliners (1st VP Anne-Marie Johnson and board members Diane Ladd and Kent McCord) sued their own union, seeking to enjoin negotiations and reverse personnel and procedural changes that they correctly anticipated would pave the way for a deal on terms the hardliners are pledged to oppose...
SAG-AFTRA Ratify Advertising Agreement; SAG Townhall Features Fireworks
Posted on May 22, 2009SAG and AFTRA announced yesterday that their combined paid-up membership, about 132,000 members, overwhelmingly ratified the contracts between the unions and the advertising industry. The result was expected, as there was no organized opposition. About 28% returned their ballots, about typical...
SAG Executive Director: TV/Theatrical Deal Will Pass
Posted on May 20, 2009The referendum on the proposed contract between SAG and the studios began yesterday, as ballot packets were mailed to about 110,000 paid up members of the Screen Actors Guild. The votes are due back June 9. Will the agreement be ratified? SAG President Alan Rosenberg claims there?s ?a good chance? it won?t, but the guild?s interim National Executive Director David White says otherwise, predicting confidently that the deal will pass...
SAG?s Strange Voyage
Posted on May 19, 2009Where did the Screen Actors Guild go? After months of news?a near daily barrage covered diligently by various journalists and citizen-journalists, including this author?the guild fell off the radar screen. It was as though 5757 Wilshire, SAG?s national headquarters, somehow disappeared into the black hole that features so prominently in (spoiler alert) the latest ?Star Trek? movie...
SAG Hardliners' Picnic No Walk in the Park
Posted on May 18, 2009What if you held a picnic and nobody came? That?s almost where Membership First found itself yesterday. A beautiful day, a heavily promoted event, yet the SAG faction was only able to draw about 70 people to its Griffith Park / LA Zoo shindig, reports Variety...
Massive EU Antitrust Fine Levied Against Intel
Posted on May 13, 2009The European Commission has fined Intel 1.06 billion Euros?about $1.45 billion?for alleged anticompetitive actions against longtime rival AMD and enjoined any future such actions, report Reuters and the NY Times. The fine, a record, is more than double the one imposed on Microsoft in 2004, and 25% larger than a 2008 penalty against a glass maker for price fixing...
SAG Hardliners: The Trojan Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Posted on May 13, 2009SAG?s Hollywood branch, dominated by the hardline Membership First faction, has passed a motion forming a task force to explore ?acquisition of actors of AFTRA,? reports SAGWatch. The purpose of the awkwardly-phrased motion is evidently to eliminate AFTRA?s jurisdiction over television acting (long a stated goal of MF), leaving it with only broadcasters (newscasters, weather reporters, etc...
SAG Letter re Force Majeure Claims
Posted on May 13, 2009SAG just sent members an email regarding force majeure claims. It's reprinted below.??????? Subscribe to my blog (jhandel.com) for more about SAG, or digital media law generally. Go to the blog itself to subscribe via RSS or email. Or, follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook, or subscribe to my Huffington Post articles...
SAG Sets Informational Meetings re TV/theatrical Agreement
Posted on May 08, 2009The TV/theatrical ballots will go out May 19 (about ten days from now) and are due back by mail on June 9. SAG has set members-only informational meetings on the proposed contract. The LA meeting is sure to have fireworks, since the leaders of the Membership First faction, based in LA, oppose the proposed deal...
Barbara A. Ringer, author of 1976 Copyright Act, 1925-2009
Posted on May 05, 2009Sometimes an obituary answers a question one never thought to ask. In this case, the question is, who wrote the 1976 Copyright Act? The answer turns out to be Barbara Ringer, who died April 9 at age 83, according to a detailed obituary in the LA Times...
SAG TV/Theatrical Ballots Later Than Expected; SAG Litigation Continues; and More
Posted on April 29, 2009The ballots for SAG?s recently approved TV/theatrical contract won?t be going out until mid to late May, a source tells me, several weeks later than the early May target that the Guild stated as recently as a week or so ago. That means that ratification, if achieved as expected, will not come until early to mid June, since balloting is expected to be a three week process...
SAG Cutting Staff by 8%
Posted on April 22, 2009Because of a budget shortfall, SAG's cutting its staff by 8%, or 35 people out of 440, report the trades, LA Times and blogs (see SAGWatch for links). No word on whether any top-level staffers will go. One source said that all names known internally are clerks and similar staffers...
SAG Board Approves Studio Deal
Posted on April 20, 2009Voting on party lines, a sharply divided SAG board approved the tentative deal with the studios yesterday by a vote of about 53% to 47%. The deal now goes to the membership for ratification, with a bruising fight promised by the hardline MembershipFirst faction...
SAG & Studios Agree to Tentative Deal
Posted on April 18, 2009The Screen Actors Guild and the AMPTP (alliance representing studios and producers) reached tentative agreement on a two-year TV/theatrical contract, potentially ending a ten-month stalemate that halted production of most studio movies and put thousands of people out of work...
SAG Stalemate Update
Posted on April 17, 2009The Screen Actors Guild stalemate grinds on. Variety says there are back-channel talks with studio heads, but it?s hard to know whether talks are actually in progress or, if any, how substantive they are. These rumors have persisted off and on for almost two months at least...
SAG and the Studios: The Next Roadblocks
Posted on April 06, 2009Last year proved that time is not on SAG?s side. Recall that the union?s then-leadership wanted better terms in new media than the other Hollywood unions got. Without leverage, all SAG achieved was stalemate, and it?s had no contract with the studios since last June...
SAG-AFTRA Ad Deal Done
Posted on April 01, 2009Score one for labor. SAG and AFTRA jointly reached a deal late last night with the advertising industry, retaining the current lucrative compensation structure for broadcast network commercials, and largely resisting the industry?s attempt to reduce pension and health contributions...
SAG-AFTRA Commercials Update
Posted on March 24, 2009Small moves by each side, but movement nonetheless, characterizes the ongoing commercials contract negotiations being held in New York between SAG and AFTRA jointly and the advertising industry, according to a source close to the talks. The unions retain the option of seeking a strike authorization, the source added, but are not planning to do so as yet, given the incremental progress being made...
Hollywood Crew Deal Ratified
Posted on March 21, 2009As expected, the membership of IATSE, the union representing Hollywood crew members, ratified that organization?s proposed contract with the studios yesterday, although not without significant opposition. The new contract takes effect August 1 and runs for three years, as is usual with Hollywood labor agreements...
Auld Lang SAG
Posted on March 19, 2009Should old NED?s be forgot, and never brought to mind? That?s the question I had?and my answer was ?yes??when I read Variety?s report that ousted National Executive Director Doug Allen stopped by a picket line organized yesterday by SAG hardliner Scott Wilson...
Actors Commercials Negotiations Deteriorate
Posted on March 18, 2009Though it gets less play than the stalled SAG TV/theatrical talks, SAG and AFTRA have been jointly negotiating for several weeks with the advertising industry over the commercials contract. That contract is SAG?s second most important, economically, and represents hundreds of millions of dollars per year to SAG alone (I don?t have the AFTRA figures)...
Pilot Season 94% AFTRA
Posted on March 11, 200966 out of 70 TV pilots this year will be shot under AFTRA jurisdiction, reports the Hollywood Reporter today. That?s 94% for AFTRA and only 6% for SAG. Meanwhile, I?ve been told somewhat different numbers that calculate out to about 87% AFTRA. Either way, it?s a 180 from typical figures, as I?m told that AFTRA typically has 10% or fewer pilots...
Leno?s All Charged Up
Posted on February 26, 2009The wheels of Writers Guild justice grind slowly, it seems. Flashback to January 2007?almost 14 months ago?when Hollywood was in the middle of a long writers strike, rather than an even longer screen actors stalemate. Comedian Jay Leno, after having been off the air for weeks, came back on, this time minus his writers...
Video of public panel discussion re Hollywood Labor
Posted on February 24, 2009Last night, there was a panel in LA entitled How Will Labor Discord Change Hollywood? A story about the panel and video of the event are available here.The panel focused on Hollywood labor issues related to new media. Sponsored by Zocalo and moderated by LA Times Editorial Board Member Jon Healey, panelists included AFTRA National Executive Director Kim Roberts Hedgepeth, actress Kathryn Joosten, actor Ron Ostrow, UCLA Law professor David Ginsburg, Veoh Founder and Chief Innovation Officer Dmitry Shapiro, and TroyGould entertainment attorney Jonathan Handel.
AMPTP Offer
Posted on February 23, 2009People have asked where to find the AMPTP's recent Last, Best and Final Offer to SAG. Here's the link, plus a link to the AMPTP's highlights document and the SAG and AMPTP statements regarding the offer:* AMPTP's Last, Best and Final Offer to SAG* Highlights document* SAG statement* AMPTP statements??????? Subscribe to my blog (jhandel...
Public panel discussion re Hollywood Labor
Posted on February 22, 2009Tomorrow, Monday, Feb. 23, there will be a panel in LA entitled How Will Labor Discord Change Hollywood? The panel will focus on Hollywood labor issues related to new media.Sponsored by Zocalo and moderated by LA Times Editorial Board Member Jon Healey, panelists include AFTRA National Executive Director Kim Roberts Hedgepeth, actress Kathryn Joosten, actor Ron Ostrow, UCLA Law professor David Ginsburg, Veoh Founder and Chief Innovation Officer Dmitry Shapiro, and TroyGould entertainment attorney Jonathan Handel...
What Does the Internet Mean for the Movie Business?
Posted on February 22, 2009There?s been a lot of discussion lately about the relationship between the Internet and television. The talk focuses on such sites as Hulu and such issues as whether and/or when the Internet will overshadow television, or whether all television will be Internet based...
SAG Rejects Studio Offer; Back to Stalemate
Posted on February 21, 2009By a vote of 73% to 27%, the Screen Actors Guild board of directors voted Saturday to reject the studios? most recent offer, which the studio alliance, the AMPTP, had delivered two days earlier. Thus, the offer will not be sent out to the membership for a ratification vote...
Is SAG Becoming Irrelevant?
Posted on February 20, 2009The Screen Actors Guild is besieged by bad news, and thanks to the misguided strategies of the previously-dominant hard-line faction, the union may be slipping towards irrelevance. Start with the latest: Talks between SAG and the AMPTP (studio alliance) collapsed Thursday night, with the AMPTP presenting SAG with a take it or leave it offer and a 60-day deadline, after which the offer could be modified or withdrawn...
What Can SAG Do Next?
Posted on February 20, 2009Talks between the Screen Actors Guild and the studio alliance (AMPTP) have collapsed, and the studios have offered SAG a take it or leave it offer. SAG probably has insufficient internal support for a strike, the offer is a bitter pill, and the Guild is in disarray, riven by internal political disputes and losing out dramatically this pilot season to its smaller rival, AFTRA...
SAG-AMPTP Negotiations to Continue for Third Day
Posted on February 19, 2009SAG and the AMPTP ended their second day of talks at about 10:00 p.m. this evening (Weds.), but will resume tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. for a third, previously unannounced day of talks, said a source close to the negotiations. No other info was available on the progress of negotiations, but this is obviously a hopeful sign in a situation that's been largely devoid of them until the last 30 days...
SAG President?s Appeal Denied
Posted on February 13, 2009Friday the 13th proved unlucky for SAG president Alan Rosenberg and his co-plaintiffs in their lawsuit against their own union. It turns out that three days ago, they filed an appeal of the Superior Court?s denial of their request for a temporary restraining order that would have blocked negotiations with the studios...
SAG-AMPTP Negotiations Still on Despite Lawyers? Threat
Posted on February 11, 2009An AMPTP (studio alliance) spokesman confirmed to me today that negotiations between the studios and SAG are still on for next Tuesday and Wednesday, as previously announced, despite a threat from SAG President Alan Rosenberg?s lawyers that any deal reached would be null, void and not binding on SAG members...
Pro-Deal Rally at SAG
Posted on February 10, 2009Over 100 crew members and others rallied in front of SAG HQ in LA today, urging the union and the studios to make a deal. The rally, organized largely by camera operators Jon Philion and Andrew Rowlands and cinematographers Ed Gutentag and Bruce McCleery under the rubric ?Back to Work,? was joined by another gathering consisting of several dozen Membership First supporters, who protested what they anticipate will be an unpalatable deal...
SAG & AMPTP Confirm Meetings for Next Tues-Weds
Posted on February 10, 2009SAG and the AMPTP confirmed in a joint press release today that they will meet at AMPTP HQ next Tuesday and Wednesday, February 17-18, as was widely expected. In my view, negotiations will probably continue over a period of a few weeks, as a significant number of issues remain...
SAG Board Re-Do Successful
Posted on February 09, 2009The SAG Board met yesterday and re-affirmed actions already taken in writing two weeks earlier: the ouster of former National Executive Director Doug Allen and the replacement of the negotiating team. That action paves the way for resumed contract talks with the studios, which are expected to start next Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb...
SAG Commercials Negotiations Process Advances
Posted on February 08, 2009The SAG-AFTRA commercials contract seems to be suffering little of the turbulence afflicting the long-expired SAG TV/theatrical contract. So far anyway ... fingers crossed. Here's a joint statement released today by both unions:On Saturday, February 7, the Joint National Board of Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists met in videoconference plenary in Los Angeles and New York and approved by an overwhelming majority a package of proposals for the changes to the AFTRA Television and Radio Commercials Contracts and SAG Television Commercials Contract...
WGA Awards Fete Slumdog, Milk, Mad Men, 30 Rock
Posted on February 08, 2009Slumdog Millionaire continued its winning streak this awards season, with Simon Beaufoy winning the 2009 Writers Guild of America award this evening for adapted screenplay. Dustin Lance Black won the award for best original screenplay for Milk. Slumdog has already won DGA, SAG, PGA and Golden Globe awards, and is a multi-award favorite for the Oscars...
Rally Scheduled to Urge SAG Deal
Posted on February 07, 2009Below-the?line workers have scheduled a rally this Monday, Feb. 9, at noon to urge SAG to make a deal with the studios. The rally's at SAG HQ, 5757 Wilshire, in LA, and they?re asking all union and guild members to show. Their website for more info is http://www...
Rosenberg v. SAG documents posted
Posted on February 06, 2009If you want to review the legal documents in the lawsuit filed by Screen Actors Guild President Alan Rosenberg, Guild 1st VP Anne-Marie Johnson, and board members Kent McCord and Diane Ladd against SAG, they are posted here. I'll update the document folder as more documents become available...
Judge Denies SAG President Injunction Against SAG; President to Appeal
Posted on February 05, 2009A judge today denied a temporary restraining order sought by Screen Actors Guild President Alan Rosenberg and three other board members against their own union, thus allowing negotiations with the studios to proceed. The judge ruled that the SAG moderate majority was within its rights when it replaced its National Executive Director and negotiating committee last month by using a written assent document instead of an actual board meeting...
Lawsuit Blocks SAG Negotiations
Posted on February 03, 2009A lawsuit to be filed this morning by Screen Actors Guild president Alan Rosenberg against his own union has blocked scheduled negotiations between the Guild and the studio alliance, or AMPTP. The development marks a stunning turn in a SAG negotiating cycle that has moved so far beyond bizarre in the last 12 months that words seem inadequate...
SAG-Studio Pregame Report
Posted on February 02, 2009With kickoff in the SAG vs. studios matchup just a day away, what better time for a pre-game report? Let?s look at length, leverage, and deal points. 1. Length The SAG negotiations are well beyond any OT contemplated by the NFL. That may be one factor that leads some people to assume the two-day meeting this Tuesday and Wednesday will result in an immediate deal...
Hollywood Labor?s Long-Term Future: More Unrest
Posted on January 31, 2009After a year and a half of Hollywood labor turmoil, we?re finally nearing a SAG deal and the end of this negotiating cycle. Will this be the beginning of a new era of labor peace in the industry? Unfortunately not. Silicon Valley is not going to suddenly take an Ambien and stop innovating...
Screen Actors Guild President Calls Actors ?Frightened Little Children?
Posted on January 30, 2009In an extraordinary interview with The Wrap, SAG President Alan Rosenberg said that ?actors are frightened little children,? and referred to his opponents?a majority of the SAG board?as ?liars and manipulators.? Rosenberg also said of himself that ?my life sucks,? and then, accompanying himself on guitar, actually sung a plaintive folk song of his own devising, whose lyrics included such lines as ?Al and Doug and Doug Allen?, they stand up way too hard ...
SAG Email Imbroglio
Posted on January 28, 2009Yesterday, the Screen Actor?s Guild?s new Interim National Executive Director, David White, sent an email to members, setting a tone of unity and moving forward. It was a very hopeful sign of the new era in place at SAG headquarters. The message was calm, eloquent and forward-looking?in other words, something entirely new from SAG HQ...
SAG-AMPTP Meeting Tentatively Planned for Early Next Week
Posted on January 28, 2009Sources close to the situation tell me that SAG and the AMPTP (studios) are planning for a meeting early next week, perhaps Tuesday. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, caution that the logistics are still being arranged, and that it is as yet unsure whether all the necessary people can be available at that time, in which case a different date would need to be chosen...
SAG No News Press Release
Posted on January 27, 2009SAG's out with a press release confirming what was first reported about 10 hours ago ... though in fairness, they've had a rough day over there in the SAG Communications department. The press release also gives short bios of the two new highly-qualified people stepping in to right the ship, David White as interim NED and John McGuire as Chief Negotiator...
SAG ? Msg from New National Executive Director
Posted on January 27, 2009SAG?s new Interim National Executive Director just sent to members, and posted on SAG.org, a message setting a tone of unity and moving forward. I?ve included a copy below. ????? Subscribe to my blog (jhandel.com) for more about SAG, or digital media law generally...
SAG Awards: Impressions from the Red Carpet
Posted on January 26, 2009The SAG Awards sparkled. Women in beautiful dresses, perfectly accessorized; men crisply attired in suits or tuxes; and flash cameras and video everywhere?it was quite a scene. There was drama ? ? and romance: Boldface names made their way down the red carpet: the bolder the name, the faster they moved...
SAG Moderates File Document to Fire National Executive Director
Posted on January 26, 2009The civil war at the Screen Actors Guild has gone nuclear. As expected, the moderates on the SAG National Board today delivered a document to SAG headquarters that ousts Doug Allen as National Executive Director and dissolves the negotiating committee...
SAG National Executive Director Firing ? How it Went Down
Posted on January 26, 2009The SAG board?s moderate majority fired National Executive Director Doug Allen today by using a document signed by board members and called a ?written assent.? Much to my surprise, Allen chose not to fight and instead emailed the SAG staff acknowledging that he had been terminated and saying goodbye...
Inside the SAG Boardroom
Posted on January 18, 2009Sources from inside SAG?s marathon board meeting blasted Screen Actors Guild President Alan Rosenberg as a ?corrupt and dirty chair,? asserting that he and his Membership First allies repeatedly abused parliamentary rules throughout the ?surreal? 28-hour national board meeting earlier this week in order to suppress the SAG board?s moderate majority...
SAG Awardsgate: Frances Fisher Makes Amends
Posted on January 16, 2009Last week?s flap over politicization of the SAG Awards seems so, well, last week, what with the marathon SAG Board meeting earlier this week that started on Monday, ground on into the night, and ended 28 hours later as a failed attempt at union democracy, the moderate majority thwarted by an endless filibuster...
SAG Board Meeting Grinds On Into the Night
Posted on January 13, 2009The SAG National Board meeting, which began about 9:00 a.m. Monday morning, apparently continues as of this hour, 3:45 a.m. Tuesday, or more than 18 hours later. I left the site of the meeting, SAG?s LA headquarters at about 2:00 a.m. As I left, food arrived, suggesting more long hours for the sleep-deprived board, including the jet-lagged New Yorkers and regional (RBD) members...
SAG - Hardliners Successful
Posted on January 13, 2009As of earlier this afternoon, a source inside the room tells me Membership First beat back the majority (composed of moderates) on the SAG Board and prevented passage of a resolution that would have removed Doug Allen as Chief Negotiator and dissolved the Negotiating Committee and rescinded the Strike Authorization Vote...
SAG Board Meeting Starts
Posted on January 12, 2009The SAG National Board meeting began this morning at 9:00 a.m. accompanied by light informational leafleting from pro and con sources. The meeting is expected to be contentious. The leafleting was not. About 20 pro-hardline leafletters showed up, and about 5 anti-strike folks...
SAG A-List Blacklist
Posted on January 11, 2009The dark times at SAG just got darker. This time, the culprit is an email being circulated that advocates a No vote on awards for stars who oppose a strike authorization. Among the targets: Alec Baldwin, Josh Brolin, Steve Carell, Sally Field, Michael C...
SAG Contract Graveyard
Posted on January 07, 2009Where do SAG contracts go when they expire? Who knows, but wherever it is, it?s getting more crowded by the day. The Guild's got a lot of unfinished business, it turns out. Here?s the tally of contracts that have expired or will do so shortly, in order by expiration date: Agency Franchise Agreement (expired 2002)...
SAG: What Might Happen at Next Week's Board Meeting
Posted on January 06, 2009The SAG National Board is meeting next Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 12-13, and speculation is rampant over whether SAG will send out the postponed strike authorization ballot (as well as whether the negotiating team will be replaced). But what if, rather than send out the authorization ballot, SAG leaders decide instead to send out the deal itself for a vote? That?s just one of the intriguing possible outcomes of next week?s meeting...
SAG: No Good Reason to Strike
Posted on January 01, 2009There?s turmoil planned for the upcoming Jan. 12-13 SAG National Board meeting, reports the LA Times. SAG?s National Executive Director Doug Allen and the current negotiating committee may find themselves bounced out unceremoniously by the moderates?or they may not...
First Report: SAG Strike Authorization Ballots Delayed
Posted on December 22, 2008p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"The Screen Actors Guild has delayed sending out the strike authorization ballots until January 14 at the earliest, representing an approximately two-week delay from the originally scheduled mailing date of January 2...
SAG Strike Authorization Ballots Delayed
Posted on December 22, 2008The Screen Actors Guild has delayed sending out the strike authorization ballots until January 14 at the earliest, representing an approximately two-week delay from the originally scheduled mailing date of January 2. This development was revealed less than two hours ago in an email from SAG National Executive Director Doug Allen to all SAG members, which also stated that an in-person SAG National Board meeting is now set for January 12-13 (all day the 12th and part of the day the 13th)...
SAG: When Will There be a Deal?
Posted on December 19, 2008p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"Lately, we?ve been lost in a morass of letters from SAG board members, a href="http://digitalmedialaw.blogspot.com/2008/12/sag-over-130-stars-against-strike.html"stars/a and activists ? wandering through a thicket of politics ? reading the a href="http://digitalmedialaw...
Why Obama Picked Rick
Posted on December 17, 2008p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"For a good ten minutes, I puzzled over why President-elect Barack Obama would select an anti-gay conservative preacher, Rick Warrant, to give his invocation speech.span style="" /spanSeveral reasons occurred to me...
Will SAG Strike? ? Conference Call
Posted on December 17, 2008p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"There?ve been a lot of developments at SAG in the last few days: town hall meetings filled with members, many of whom in a href="http://digitalmedialaw.blogspot.com/2008/12/report-from-sag-town-hall-meeting...
SAG NY Furious
Posted on December 15, 2008SAG leaders came under heavy fire at a New York membership meeting today attended by a standing-room only crowd of about 400 members. Members demanded that guild National Executive Director Doug Allen be fired, that President Alan Rosenberg resign, and, over and over, that the negotiating committee be replaced...
SAG: Over 130 Stars Against Strike
Posted on December 15, 2008Over 130 stars have weighed in on the SAG strike authorization, coming out firmly against. Citing the economy, the A-listers ?strongly? urged SAG members not to authorize a strike, and instead ?take the high road ? unite with our brothers and sisters in the entertainment community and ? three years down the line ? make a great deal? when all the union contracts expire roughly simultaneously...
SAG: Opposition Grows to Strike Authorization
Posted on December 12, 2008Developments over the last few days: SAG leaders met with business managers and publicists, and, separately, with agents, to brief them on SAG?s positions and plans. SAG apparently did not win any converts at the meetings.A Hollywood-based SAG member, Keri Tombazian, launched a website called http://www...
Leno Strips Down
Posted on December 11, 2008A day or two ago, NBC officially decided to dump its 10 p.m. dramas five nights a week and slot a new Jay Leno show in their place. That marks the first time ever (or, at least, in a long time) that a variety talk show has occupied a network primetime slot...
Exclusive: SAG-AFTRA New Media Battle?
Posted on December 11, 2008When (if?) SAG eventually does a deal with the studios, will SAG and its smaller rival, AFTRA, peacefully share jurisdiction in new media? Answer: probably not. Although no one else has publicly raised this issue to my knowledge, buried in the SAG deal on the table are the seeds of a scathing fight for control of the future of new media...
The Right Way to Sell a Senate Seat
Posted on December 11, 2008Once again, a politician is taking flac for doing the right thing. Just two months ago, VP candidate Sarah Palin drew unfair criticism for accepting a complimentary makeover. Now Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has been arrested by FBI agents, not because his name is hard to spell, but instead for conduct inaccurately alleged by an Elliott Ness soundalike to be ?a political corruption crime spree...
SAG Strike Authorization Ballots
Posted on December 10, 2008The Screen Actors Guild just announced that strike authorization ballots will be mailed Friday, January 2 and will be due back and tabulated three weeks later, Friday, January 23. The AMPTP issued a statement denouncing the move, and urging that actors study the studio offer on the table carefully...
Report from SAG Town Hall Meeting
Posted on December 09, 2008I visited the SAG Town Hall meeting in LA tonight. Here are some key takeaways: About 450-500 people attended, a capacity crowd at the venue (Harmony Gold theater). After the meeting started, people continued to trickle in slowly; no one, so far as I could tell, was turned away...
SAG-AFTRA Non-Disparagement?
Posted on December 08, 2008A month and a half ago, SAG and AFTRA signed an agreement not to disparage each other, with significant fines apparently being the consequence for violation. Although the terms of the agreement are confidential, Variety quoted an AFTRA officer at the time explaining that AFTRA was advised to ?scrub? all critical material on the Internet about SAG...
SAG & The Studios: What Are They Fighting Over?
Posted on December 07, 2008Several days ago, I analyzed the studios? offer, which has sat on the table for over five months pummeled by SAG?s rejection and which the studios recently made public. Today, let?s drill down on the key issues that separate the two parties and ask, what are they fighting about, and which issues truly matter today and in the next few years? This is a long post, but I think you?ll find it useful if you want to understand the issues, rather than just listen to slogans and each side?s self-interested positioning...
Video Games with Gay Content
Posted on December 05, 2008If you?re a gay gamer (a gaymer), you might have wished from time to time to find a game or two with some gay/lesbian content. Lucky for you, someone has prepared a list of such games. That someone is a conservative, and evidently homophobic, investment advisory firm, but no matter?we appreciate the list...
Studios Release Final Offer to SAG
Posted on December 04, 2008In their ad in the trades Monday, the AMPTP (studios) included an intriguing line ?We hope that every concerned member of our industry will study carefully the terms of our offer [to SAG].? I noted this, and asked the AMPTP to release the offer so we could do just that...
SAG and the Studios: Post-Prandial Posturing
Posted on December 02, 2008Open the fridge after Thanksgiving, and leftovers come tumbling out. Open your In box after Thanksgiving, and SAG-related emails come tumbling out (these in addition to a pre-Thanksgiving email as well). Most are just the same old starchy stuffing we?ve been fed for months, albeit dressed up with a salty quote or two...
Movie Review: Milk
Posted on November 28, 2008Philosopher George Santanya famously wrote that ?those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.? Unfortunately, even those who do remember the past may also be condemned to repeat it. So I was reminded while watching Milk, the new Gus Van Sant biopic about pioneering gay politician Harvey Milk, who became a San Francisco Supervisor (essentially, a City Council member) in January 1978, only to be assassinated less than 11 months later...
SAG Strike Authorization Vote Shifts Into Gear
Posted on November 27, 2008SAG sent a long email to its members yesterday urging its members to vote yes on strike authorization ballots to be sent out in December. The email was largely in the form of a Q&A explaining the union leadership?s argument that a strike authorization is a necessary negotiating tool...
SAG Stalks Towards Strike
Posted on November 24, 2008Mediation between the studio alliance (the AMPTP) and the Screen Actors Guild failed late Friday night, and SAG announced plans to seek a strike authorization vote from its members. Unfortunately, that puts us one giant step closer to a strike. What?s next? SAG will send out ?educational materials,? which will say that a strike authorization vote is not the same as an actual strike vote, and that authorization is needed as a negotiating tool, since negotiation and mediation have failed...
SAG, AMPTP to Meet
Posted on November 17, 2008SAG and the AMPTP will meet Thursday, their first official meeting in over four months, reports Back Stage magazine's BlogStage. This comes after three weeks of one-on-one meetings with the mediator, and four weeks after SAG first called for mediation.
Hollywood Under Siege
Posted on November 12, 2008California?s economy is at war with itself. Like the Civil War almost 150 years ago, the factions are split geographically, but this time, the two sides are Northern California and Southern California?more particularly, Silicon Valley and Los Angeles...
SAG: The Mediation Express
Posted on November 11, 2008SAG met with the federal mediator last Wednesday, and now the AMPTP is meeting with him this Thursday, reports Variety. Meetings between the mediator and either one side or the other have been coming at a rate of one meeting per week over the last month...
AMPTP, IA to Talk Monday
Posted on November 10, 2008Negotiations between SAG and the AMPTP (studios) are stalled, and the mediation process seems glacial, so the AMPTP is taking advantage of its free time to negotiate with IATSE, it seems. The two parties are sitting down for talks tomorrow (Monday) and have scheduled three days' worth of sessions, reports Variety...
New Book on Music Litigation
Posted on November 07, 2008In-house announcement: My law firm colleague Ron Rosen has a new book out from Oxford University Press: Music and Copyright. It?s perhaps the only book to deal specifically with music litigation. The book provides a roadmap to the entire music litigation process, including an analysis of the structure and grammar of music ? essential to analyzing infringement issues...
SAG Update: More Mediator Meetings
Posted on October 31, 2008SAG met last week with the federal mediator, as I previously blogged. The AMPTP, representing the studios, met with the mediator yesterday. SAG will be meeting with him again next Wednesday. That's a pace of one meeting a week. No word on whether the meetings will become more frequent.
SAG Update: Union Meets with Mediator
Posted on October 27, 2008SAG leaders met Friday with the federal mediator, and in a statement said that they discussed with him the union's request for mediation and "the possibilities regarding the resumption of negotiations." The AMPTP is set to meet with the mediator Thursday...
Wardrobe Malfunction
Posted on October 27, 2008Yesterday, Sarah Palin inexplicably returned to the topic of her $150,000 makeover, asserting that ?Those clothes, they are not my property. ? I'm not taking them with me.? This set me thinking, and I realized that Palin hasn?t gotten a fair shake on this affair ? not from the over-educated blue state media, nor even from the thoughtful conservatives deserting her in droves like glaciers cracking under the stress of global warming...
AMPTP Agrees to Mediate
Posted on October 23, 2008Not surprisingly, the AMPTP has agreed to attend sessions to be conducted by a federal mediator, as requested several days ago by the Screen Actors Guild. However, in today's statement announcing their position, the studios also reiterate that they won't budge from their position that the new media template agreed to this year by three other unions -- writers (WGA), directors (DGA) and rival actors union AFTRA (in two separate deals) -- should be good enough for SAG as well...
Movie Review - Saving Marriage
Posted on October 21, 2008(Off-topic)?Saving Marriage? sounds like another name for the No on Prop 8 campaign ? the effort to save gay marriage in California from the reactionary forces across the country that are trying to snatch back this right, granted just months ago by the state Supreme Court...
SAG Steps Toward Strike
Posted on October 20, 2008The SAG national board passed a resolution yesterday on what to do regarding contract negotiations with the studios. My take: Membership First outmaneuvered the newly-elected Unite for Strength faction and its NY and regional allies and is taking the union down a path that may well lead to a strike...
Cal Prop 2 (farm animal confinement) interview
Posted on October 16, 2008Learn more about California Proposition 2, regarding cruel confinement of farm animals. Check out my interview below with a representative from the Yes on 2 campaign:Can't see the video window? Click on this link instead:http://www.ustream.tv/flash/video/791198...
Torture in the Henhouse
Posted on October 15, 2008(Note ? off-topic.) Online streaming video interview at LookAtLA.net ? Yes on Prop 2 ? tomorrow, Thu., 10/16, 2:00 pm Pacific / 5:00 pm Eastern. I like my eggs scrambled. That?s real comfort food: hot, tasty, and hard to screw up. An added bonus is the association with brunch...
SAG Stalemate Update
Posted on October 09, 2008Here's the latest with the actors:Variety reports that the major studios are prepping "40 or more" films to go into production starting this coming spring, so that they'll have product for 2010 and 2011. Although there's the risk of a strike starting this year and continuing through the spring, there's also the certainty that if they don't start production, they'll have no product in the pipeline come 2010...
Phase One Reanimator
Posted on October 05, 2008Aieee, it?s alive! Remember Phase One? That?s the 27 year old joint bargaining arrangement between SAG and AFTRA that collapsed this spring, leading to AFTRA making a separate primetime TV deal with the studios and networks and SAG sliding into a stalemate, leaving it with no deal after unsuccessfully trying to defeat AFTRA?s...
Report: SAG Strike Would Have No Immediate Credit Impact on Entertainment Conglomerates
Posted on October 03, 2008Fitch Ratings, a leading global rating agency that rates the credit of large businesses, municipal governments, and entire industry sectors (they must be very busy these days), has produced a short analysis of the effect of a possible SAG strike on the credit ratings of media conglomerates...
SAG: A Half Step Closer to a Strike
Posted on October 02, 2008SAG moved closer to a strike today, but not quite as far as some predicted. The guild?s negotiating committee, which has the power to send a strike authorization referendum to the membership at large, instead elected to recommend to the national board that it send out such a referendum...
SAG: Toss that Hot Potato Back (UPDATED)
Posted on October 02, 2008As I blogged yesterday, SAG?s negotiating committee has the power to send a strike authorization referendum to the membership at large, but it instead punted to the national board. In other words, the negotiating committee recommended that the national board send out such a referendum...
SAG Apparently Seeking Strike Authorization
Posted on October 01, 2008Lewis Carroll was a master of bizarre fantasy, willful illogic, and headstrong characters. Not surprisingly, that often makes his shape-shifting prose relevant to present-day concerns. Consider Alice?s fall down the rabbit hole: The rabbit-hole ? dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down what seemed to be a very deep well...
SAG Nudges the Studios
Posted on September 29, 2008SAG 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...
SAG: The Calm before the Storm
Posted on September 22, 2008The SAG elections are over, and the Unite for Strength challenger slate now has a razor-thin majority on the national SAG Board. Indeed, one of MF?s three key leaders, David Jolliffe, was bounced off the Board (and the alternate pool) altogether. This result, achieved by UFS (aka U4S) even in light of a somewhat lackluster campaign, suggests that SAG members are tired of MF?s inability or refusal to achieve a deal with the studios...
A Push-Poll with No Oomph
Posted on September 18, 2008Sarah Palin may not know what the Bush Doctrine is, but SAG?s leadership seems to have forgotten what we might call the (Teddy) Roosevelt Doctrine: speak softly and carry a big stick. (It?s actually part of a West African proverb, apparently.) Perhaps the Guild and its governing hard-line faction, Membership First, made a transcription error, because the union?s standard operating procedure over the last several months seems to have involved shouting loudly while carrying a small stick...
The Denigration Express
Posted on September 17, 2008Hollywood?s labor troubles seemingly haven?t been so bad since the days of police brutality at studio gates, when actors, writers and directors were first trying to unionize. That?s an exaggeration, of course (and there has been much turbulence in the intervening years), but even in the dark and primordial days of the 1930s, it would have been hard for organizers to imagine the paradox of 2007-08: a writers strike over new media ? the Internet and cell phones, both unimaginable 70 years ago ? that lasted 100 days despite the fact that there?s been scant money in these media to date and not much likely for the next few years...
SAG: How to Make a Deal
Posted on September 14, 2008SAG staggers on, occupied by bitterness and dissension, but with little apparent progress towards a deal with the studios. The last contract expired almost three months ago. Does that mean one?s impossible? No. Here?s a plan.(Hats off to Stephen Diamond for his memo ?How to Break the Template? for several of these ideas...
REMINDER - Live Streaming Video Interview with AFTRA National Executive Director
Posted on September 10, 2008Just a reminder: On Look at LA today, I'm doing a live streaming video interview with AFTRA's National Executive Director, Kim Roberts Hedgpeth. The interview will be today (Wednesday) at 2:00 p.m. Pacific / 5:00 p.m. Eastern. Go to http://www.ustream...
AFTRA Interview Available in Archives
Posted on September 10, 2008To see archived video of my interview with AFTRA National Executive Director Kim Roberts Hedgpeth, go to http://www.ustream.tv/channel/look-at-la. The archived video wasn't working earlier, but it is now.
Live Streaming Video Interview with AFTRA National Executive Director
Posted on September 07, 2008On Look at LA this week, I'm doing a live streaming video interview with AFTRA's National Executive Director, Kim Roberts Hedgpeth.As you probably know, AFTRA (the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists), and its relations with the studios and its sister union SAG, have been much in the news this year...
SAG independent candidate interviews archived
Posted on September 05, 2008To watch my interview on Look at LA with the independent candidates for SAG board, click here:Video clips at UstreamIf you can't see the video, go to www.ustream.tv/channel/look-at-la and choose the most recent video (dated 9/5/08).
Reminder - Live TV interviews with independent SAG Board candidates
Posted on September 05, 2008Just a reminder: I'm interviewing the SAG independent Board candidates today on Look at LA. The interviews will be today, Friday (9/5) at 2:00 p.m. Pacific / 5:00 p.m. Eastern and will last for approximately 2 hours, depending on the exact number of candidates...
Can SAG Keep a Secret?
Posted on September 05, 2008I don?t mind bar codes, at least when they?re on books, boxes, and bags of sugar. When I find them on ballots, though, I get more nervous. That turns out to be a legitimate concern in the case of SAG, which sent out a 12-page mailing a few days ago assailing the studios? proposed deal, accompanied by a bar-coded postcard asking SAG members whether the Guild should keep fighting for a better contract or accept what the studios were offering...
When Will There be a Contract?
Posted on September 03, 2008When will there be a new SAG TV/theatrical contract ? i.e., when will the studios and SAG close a deal? My guess: not until January or even February of next year. Do the math: 1. If Membership First wins the election overwhelmingly, and if members overwhelmingly vote in the SAG push-poll to have the Guild continue pushing hard for a better deal (i...
What Happens if the Challengers Win Control of the SAG Board?
Posted on September 03, 2008What happens if the challengers, Unite for Strength, win control of the SAG National Board? That would effectively happen if UFS (aka U4S) won a certain number of seats, apparently about 6 seats, displacing incumbents who are members of Membership First (MF), the dominant faction...
Live TV interviews with independent SAG Board candidates
Posted on September 03, 2008Last week, I did live Internet online video interviews with representatives of Membership First and Unite for Strength, the two slates battling for control of the Screen Actors Guild Board. Those interviews were widely viewed and blogged about.But - those slates account for 64 of the 84 candidates...
SAG Slate Interviews: Disappointment
Posted on August 31, 2008Last week I conducted interviews with David Jolliffe and Anne-Marie Johnson, leaders of the dominant Membership First faction of the SAG National (and Hollywood) Board, and Ned Vaughn, leader of Unite for Strength, the challengers. An actor-like congeniality reigned, including flirtatiousness in Johnson?s case...
Video Interview Update & Call to Independent Candidates
Posted on August 29, 2008The video interviews of SAG Board candidates from Membership First and Unite for Strength that I did on Wednesday have now been seen by over 400 people live or via archive. (The number might be more -- for some reason the Views counter on ustream is stuck on 150...
Archive Video of Interviews with SAG Candidates
Posted on August 28, 2008Yesterday, I did live streaming video interviews with SAG candidates and board members from the incumbent, dominant faction, Membership First (represented by David Jolliffe and Ann-Marie Johnson), and the challengers, Unite for Strength (represented by Ned Vaughn)...
Live TV interviews with SAG Board candidates/members
Posted on August 25, 2008There's a fight for control of the Screen Actors Guild. Elections are going on now, and may determine whether and when the Guild finally reaches a deal with the studios. Join me as I interview representatives of Unite for Strength, the challengers in this election, and of of the dominant incumbent faction, Membership First...
New Media Jurisdiction: Letter from the DGA
Posted on August 20, 2008The DGA has just released a letter from DGA President Michael Apted entitled "Giving New Media Room to Grow." Dated today (August 20, 2008), the letter appears in the September 2008 issue of DGA Monthly. The letter addresses the question of the jurisdictional carveout for certain media production...
SAG Still Talking? And What Next?
Posted on August 16, 2008Frustrating bloggers and reporters who hoped the week's business was done, SAG sent out another weekend evening email an hour or so ago. The previous such email, released about two weeks ago, is discussed here -- and, on a personal note, I managed to beat the MSM with my report on that one...
Unite for Strength Star Power
Posted on August 13, 2008Unite for Strength took the battle against Membership First to the stars today, releasing a list of almost three dozen A-listers who support U4S in its bid to wrest control of the SAG board from MF hardliners. The bold-face names include Alec Baldwin, Sally Field, and Tom Hanks, among others...
Rainbow Flags at Comic-Con
Posted on August 06, 2008Note: This post is off topic. The typical comic book cover features an assortment of superheroes and civilians, but one thing?s almost a constant: the guys are buffed and the women curvaceous (the aliens are too, in a way, unless they?re blobs). Add to that a rainbow of colors, and it?s obvious why comic book covers are so appealing...
SAG DVD Residuals Increase: RIP
Posted on August 04, 2008It seems pretty clear that SAG has dropped its request for an increase in the DVD residual (as I predicted it would have to): an email from National Executive Director Doug Allen to the members an hour ago lists various priorities -- and omits DVD altogether...
Dueling Press Releases
Posted on July 29, 2008Last night saw an extensive press release by the AMPTP reacting to various statements by SAG over the last few weeks, followed by a short release from SAG responding to some of the AMPTP?s points. Who?s right? Here?s the language from the two releases and my analysis, interleaved so that you can see what items respond to what...
Guild Agreement New Media Thresholds
Posted on July 28, 2008This is a rather technical post:Regarding the AMPTP-proposed SAG agreement, the media has been saying ?The thresholds for new media work are $15,000 per minute, $300,000 per program, or $500,000 per series, whichever is lowest.? This is meant to describe what work is covered and what is not...
Dot Dot Dot ... The Mark of the Beast
Posted on July 24, 2008Jonesing for a color laser printer? You might want to think twice. As the NYT reminds us (it's not a new story), color lasers (but not inkjets nor, presumably, b&w lasers), leave their mark with yellow tracking dots:Some, but not all, [color] laser printers do leave a series of nearly imperceptible yellow dots on the printed page...
SAG Challenge Slate to Oppose Hardliners
Posted on July 24, 2008A slate called Unite for Strength has arisen to challenge the hard line Membership First faction of the SAG Board. Their goals: unseat Membership First, make a deal with the studios, and merge SAG and AFTRA. The move was first reported by the Los Angeles Times yesterday, and in today's hardcopy edition...
WGA MIA?
Posted on July 21, 2008By shutting down the Golden Globes (and threatening to do the same to the Oscars), SAG helped the Writers Guild close its deal and end the writers strike earlier this year. SAG members -- both rank and file and a number of stars -- walked the picket lines and were vocal in their support of the WGA...
AMPTP Ad in LA Times tomorrow
Posted on July 20, 2008The AMPTP (studio alliance) is running an ad in tomorrow's LA Times. Here's the text:?This is the BEST DEAL the guild has bargained for in 30YEARS.?Patric M. Verrone, President of WGAW?This has been a great ACHIEVEMENT for the DGA.?Michael Apted, President of DGA?This is a SOLID DEAL...
SAG commentary
Posted on July 20, 2008No deal yet between SAG and the studios. This commentary explores why:
SAG Hollywood Meeting Yesterday
Posted on July 20, 2008Several hundred SAG members attended a Hollywood branch meeting yesterday, with the Hollywood Reporter estimating 400-500 people and Variety reporting the Guild's estimate of 735. The two Allens received standing ovations and enthusiastic support. They attacked the AFTRA deal and insisted that the studios were still negotiating, but did not provide details on strategy...
Letter from SAG
Posted on July 17, 2008SAG seems to be holding firm to its positions. Here's an email they sent to their members today:July 17, 2008 It?s Not New Media ? It?s NOW Media Dear Screen Actors Guild Member,I want to tell you why your national negotiating committee has not accepted the June 30 offer put across the table by the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers (AMPTP...
SAG - Looking Ahead
Posted on July 16, 2008This short press release from the AMPTP (studio alliance) re today's SAG-AMPTP meeting says it all. Not particularly encouraging. And, below, my analysis.STATEMENT BY THE AMPTP A small group from AMPTP and SAG met today. Both parties agreed that the contents of the meeting should be kept private...
SAG - No New Meetings
Posted on July 16, 2008This short press release from the AMPTP (studio alliance) says it all. Not particularly encouraging:STATEMENT BY THE AMPTP A small group from AMPTP and SAG met today. Both parties agreed that the contents of the meeting should be kept private...
Looking at the World Through SAG-Colored Glasses
Posted on July 11, 2008Day by day, the Screen Actors Guild?s Hollywood leadership stumbles deeper into a morass, dragging behind it a bewildered and divided membership. Yesterday ? Thursday ? saw the spectacle of SAG insisting that it was still negotiating with the studios, while the latter just as steadfastly maintained that no such thing was happening...
Further Thoughts on AFTRA and SAG
Posted on July 08, 2008Expanding on my previous post, I do want to acknowledge the obvious: this vote was a strong victory for AFTRA, especially in light of SAG's aggressive campaign against the vote. It was almost 2 to 1. AFTRA members are making a statement that they want to work, not strike...
Narrow Margin: AFTRA Ratifies Primetime Contract by 62.4%
Posted on July 08, 2008AFTRA has ratified the primetime contract, but SAG?s assault had great effect. The margin ? the percent of yes votes ? was only 62.4%. The percentage of no votes was 37.6%. Turnout was not released. In contrast, the margin on the somewhat similar daytime pact (the AFTRA Network Code), ratified April 30, was 93%...
Searching for Screenwriters in the South of France
Posted on July 07, 2008A change of pace from labor unrest ? a belated letter from Cannes, originally scheduled for print publication, but cut for space reasons. CANNES, France ? Here at Cannes, almost everybody has a home. Stars and directors are found on the red carpet, and producers and distributors inhabit the Film Market in the basement of the Palais, headquarters of both the Festival and the Market...
Qualified Voting Redux
Posted on July 05, 2008Remember "qualified voting"? Also called "affected voting," it's the idea that only some union members should be eligible to vote on a contract (or strike authorization): namely, those who are actually affected by it ? i.e., those who work under the contract...
AMPTP-SAG: How Final is Final?
Posted on July 03, 2008Over on Vallywood, the smart and analytical law professor Steve Diamond has a piece that explains the legal implications of an employer making a "final offer," as the studios did two days ago. It's worth reading, along with my piece that also takes a look at what happens next, but through a different lens.
SAG: What Next?
Posted on July 02, 2008Hollywood?s quiet today. Still, with the studios? ?final offer? on the table, the natural questions is, what happens next ? and will there be a strike? My answer: there won?t be a strike until late July at the earliest, if at all, but there also won?t be a SAG deal until then, at the earliest...
SAG-AMPTP: No News is No News
Posted on July 02, 2008SAG and the AMPTP (studio alliance) met for four hours today. According to the AMPTP, the meeting was at SAG's request, and the AMPTP answered questions on the proposal it put on the table two days ago. The AMPTP adds that SAG said that it (SAG) will contact the AMPTP on Monday...
Investor Conference Call re SAG/AFTRA
Posted on July 01, 2008I'm doing an investor conference call for Wachovia Capital Markets, tomorrow (Weds.) at 11:30 a.m. Pacific (2:30 p.m. Eastern) on the Screen Actors Guild and AFTRA situations. Please join us. Call in details belowDATE: Wednesday, July 2, 2008 11:30 AM Pacific; 2:30 PM EasternPARTICIPANT DIAL-IN: (800) 374-1206 (domestic) (706) 634-5796 (intl) Passcode: 54441528REPLAY DIAL-IN: (800) 642-1687 (domestic)(available for 1 week) (706) 645-9291 (intl) Passcode: 54441528Analysts: MARCI RYVICKER and JOHN JANEDIS, Wachovia Capital MarketsFeel free to publicize -- this invitation is open, and there's no charge...
AMPTP Makes Final Offer to SAG
Posted on June 30, 2008The AMPTP just made a final offer to SAG. I'm advised by a AMPTP spokesman that this offer tracks the AFTRA and DGA/WGA deals in terms of minimums, new media, and other provisions. On force majeure (an actors-only issue), the AMPTP offer holds to the AMPTP's previous position that the existing contract language should be revised...
Marxism in Hollywood
Posted on June 27, 2008Another day, another denunciation. It's hard to know what the SAG Hollywood leadership is thinking. They?ve deployed robocalls, trade ads, emails, and more, in a misguided effort to defeat the AFTRA deal. Success is unlikely, but in any case, the result will probably be continued labor paralysis, not progress...
Curtain Call
Posted on June 18, 2008?We are not done yet!? shouted Screen Actors Guild leader Doug Allen three times at the guild?s anti-AFTRA rally last week. Evidently not, but Hollywood is beyond well-done and beginning to burn. It?s time for SAG to put its full efforts into crafting the best deal it can get, rather than try to derail the AFTRA primetime deal...
Quarterlife Less Than One Percent Life
Posted on June 10, 2008We already knew that the underperforming Quarterlife didn't get a quarter of anything on NBC, but here's how poorly it performed online: of Myspace's 140 million members, there were only 140,000 views of the show, per creator Marshall Herskovitz, speaking yesterday at iHollywood Forum's Digital Media Summit in LA...
SAG Shreds AFTRA's Contract
Posted on June 06, 2008Variety and the Hollywood Reporter are reporting that SAG chief Alan Rosenberg, National Exec Director Doug Allan, and the activist Membership First faction are pushing to have SAG come against the AFTRA deal and urge dual cardholders (members of both unions) to vote against the deal...
With One Union Already Done, SAG Auditions for an Actors Deal
Posted on June 06, 2008One actors union has just done its deal with the studios, and now its larger rival, the Screen Actors Guild, is back at the bargaining table. Is a SAG deal imminent? Not likely. Instead, we may be sliding toward another Hollywood work stoppage. The signs aren?t good...
Acting Up
Posted on May 24, 2008CANNES, France ? Do loose clips sink ships? Apparently the actors think so. Their ongoing union negotiations with the studios are hung up over clip consent ? the issue of whether studios can use short excerpts from movies and TV shows without an actor?s permission...
Workers of the World, Unite -- and Strike
Posted on May 24, 2008Call it poetic (in)justice. After months of analyzing Hollywood's labor troubles, I took a sojourn to Cannes to enjoy the film festival and do a little business. Now it looks like I may have to involuntarily extend my stay. The culprit: a French transportation strike that's been occurring intermittently for the past few days...
Spinning the Web - Seminar at the WGA
Posted on May 08, 2008Interested in writing original scripted content -- web series -- for the Internet? If so, come to Spinning the Web, a seminar on June 21 at the WGA, sponsored by the Writers Guild Foundation. It's an all-day affair with a host of speakers (including me).
Hollywood Actors ? What Now?
Posted on May 08, 2008The Screen Actors Guild primetime and film contract talks collapsed Tuesday, and the next day, the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists began their own primetime TV talks with the studios, raising fears of a SAG strike and heightened inter-union strife between SAG and AFTRA...
SAG Talks Start Today
Posted on April 15, 2008Just a reminder: formal talks between the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the studios (represented by the AMPTP) start today (Tuesday, April 15). And, in less than two weeks - on April 28 - talks begin between another actors union, the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists (AFTRA), and the AMPTP...
A Fine Mess at the FCC
Posted on April 14, 2008The FCC's enforcement of the indecency rules is stalled, reports the LA Times. The reason: a perfect storm of three factors: a Court of Appeals ruling against the rules (as I previously blogged), a pending Supreme Court case that will rule on the rules, and (finally) a growing broadcaster willingness to fight FCC fines, probably in part because the FCC has increased minimum fines ten-fold...
Working With the Media
Posted on April 13, 2008If you're ever interviewed by print, television, radio or online reporters, do you know what to say and how to say it ... what to wear and how to speak? If not, check out my media guide - two articles I wrote that appeared in the Daily Journal.
Is Content Worthless?
Posted on April 11, 2008?Content is king,? many people believe, meaning that films, television shows, music, news and information are more profitable assets than the technology used to deliver them. But there's an older, cautionary aphorism that applies as well: ?Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown...
Trademarking Movie Titles
Posted on April 02, 2008Literary titles - such as book or movie titles - fall in a gray area in U.S. law. For instance, although a book or movie is protected by copyright, its title isn't. Copyright simply doesn't cover titles.And even if the title is distinctive, such as The 40-Year-Old Virgin, courts and the Trademark Office say it can't be registered as a trademark, even though distinctive words and slogans can be registered as trademarks in other contexts...
SAG Thinks, Blinks
Posted on April 02, 2008The Screen Actors Guild bowed to the inevitable yesterday and set a concrete date -- April 15 -- for commencement of talks with the studios. Had SAG not done so, it faced the prospect of a rival actors' union, AFTRA, setting a date for talks first, and thereby setting a template for SAG's negotiations...
Sorry Yari: No Legal Relief for Crash Producer Denied an Oscar
Posted on March 28, 2008Crash producer Bob Yari wanted the opportunity to thank the Academy. The movie won an Oscar, but all Yari got was the chance to sue the Academy -- a poor substitute for a golden statuette, even in litigation-happy Hollywood. And even more of a letdown, his suit isn't winning any awards either...
Albany?s an interesting place,
Posted on March 20, 2008Albany?s an interesting place, and not just because residents of the New York Governor?s mansion seem to spend as much time bed-hopping as signing budgets. On a more important ? although less salacious ? note, downstate Assemblyman Richard Brodsky has introduced legislation that would shore up Internet users? rapidly deteriorating privacy, reports the New York Times today...
Arthur C. Clarke dies at 90
Posted on March 19, 2008Arthur C. Clarke has died, reports the New York Times. A science fiction writer and futurist, he's remembered for three things of particular interest to readers of this blog:Communications Satellites. In 1945, before the first orbital rocket flight, Clarke foresaw the possibility of communications satellites...
Net Neutrality Nice
Posted on March 18, 2008As I previously blogged, the major Hollywood studios recently came out against net neutrality. Now the Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA), which represents independent producers and distributors, has taken a position - and they're for it...
F**king Expletives!
Posted on March 18, 2008Can the Federal Communications Commission impose harsh fines on TV networks when on-air presenters make fleeting and isolated use of an expletive? In other words, if the enthusiastic recipient of a Grammy or Golden Globe says an unscripted "fuck yeah!," can the broadcaster be fined?That's an issue the Supreme Court will take up next year, reports the New York Times...
Viacom Can't Get Punitive Damages in YouTube/Google Suit
Posted on March 13, 2008Viacom's suit against YouTube and Google slowly works its way through the legal system. In a decision rendered last week, but only generally reported yesterday, the Federal District Court in New York hearing the case denied Viacom's motion to amend its complaint to seek punitive damages against the defendants...
Net Neutrality Naughty?
Posted on March 13, 2008Hollywood studios are taking a position on net neutrality ? the principle that ISPs should not discriminate against small users when providing network bandwidth ? and they?re against it. In reported remarks at the annual movie exhibitors conference ShoWest, MPAA chief Dan Glickman claimed that net neutrality would inhibit industry efforts to combat piracy ? presumably because it would ensure that even pirate sites receive sufficient bandwidth for efficient uploads and downloads...
Hollywood Labor: What?s Up with the Actors?
Posted on March 12, 2008AFTRA, a Hollywood actors union, just reached a tentative deal with the networks. Does that mean the actors are done, and we can be assured there?ll be no actors strike this year? Hint: no. Then what does it mean? First, if you?re just tuning in to the Hollywood labor woes of 2007-2008, here?s a summary of what happened...
AFTRA reaches tentative agreement on Network TV Code
Posted on March 10, 2008Here's a press release from AFTRA:---------------------- American Federation of Television and Radio Artists NEWS RELEASEFor Immediate Release: MARCH 9, 2008AFTRA REACHES TENTATIVE AGREEMENT WITH MAJOR NETWORKS AND PRODUCERS ON NETWORK TV CODELOS ANGELES -- The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists--the national labor union of 70,000 actors, singers and recording artists, dancers, announcers, and other broadcast talent--has reached a tentative agreement with the four major television networks and producers on the Network Television Code, which is subject to AFTRA National Board approval and ratification from members...
Talent Managers and Two Sets of Supremes
Posted on February 21, 2008The U.S. Supreme Court hears a tiny number of cases per year. Ditto the California Supreme Court. So, when someone feels wronged, and wants to take a case "all the way to the top," the hardest part of their job is just getting a Supreme Court - of either flavor - to even take the case...
WGA Deal: Details
Posted on February 21, 2008Want to know the gory details of the tentative writers deal (now being voted on by the Writers Guild members)? If so, read on. The Writers Guild has released a deal summary at http://www.wga.org/contract_07/wga_tent_summary.pdf, and actual contract language (not posted, but I can email it to you)...
Format War Over: Toshiba Drops HD DVD
Posted on February 19, 2008It's official: Toshiba has discontinued HD DVD, reports Variety Asia. That's the end of the format -- Toshiba is the owner of the format -- and of the high-def DVD format war. The move follows a string of recent setbacks for HD DVD, and should give a boost to that format...
Blu-ray Wins
Posted on February 16, 2008In the presidential campaign, the battle between blue states and red states hasn't yet begun, but in the DVD format wars, there's finally a victor, reports the New York Times (although the LA Times is a little less certain), and it's blue. Blu-ray, that is...
Loopy Hollywood Accounting on Lord of the Rings?
Posted on February 12, 2008Is it the same old line from New Line? The Tolkien Trust thinks so.That org, a charity controlled by the heirs of J.R.R. Tolkien, has sued New Line for $150 million, alleging that the studio failed to pay a 7.5% gross profit participation due on the three "Lord of the Rings" films, report Variety and The Hollywood Reporter...
Where's the AMPTP? And Do We Care?
Posted on February 11, 2008In a wonderful article, Variety summarizes the last few month of negotiation, and notes that "movement in the WGA talks began when Disney CEO Robert Iger and News Corp. prexy Peter Chernin got into the same room with Verrone, Young and Bowman" and engaged in informal talks rather than formal bargaining sessions...
Writers Deal: Analysis
Posted on February 10, 2008The Writers Guilds East and West held membership meetings Saturday to brief members on the tentative deal. You can read the deal summary here. Here?s my analysis (in the same order as in the deal summary) and recommendations. Note that actual contract language has not been released and may not be prior to ratification, so analysis is shadowed by some uncertainties, some of which are noted below...
Writers Deal: Details Emerge
Posted on February 09, 2008The Writers Guild held a closed-door meeting Friday with strike captains to brief them on the tentative deal. Here?s what a source inside the room told me: The Meeting About 250 strike captains attended. The confab was at WGA headquarters in LA...
What's the Deal?
Posted on February 06, 2008We haven't been hearing much detail yet on the WGA deal in process, but here are a few data points:On ad-supported streaming, Variety says the deal is initially similar to the DGA deal - in other words, a fixed dollar residual. No word if the amount is the same as in the DGA deal, and it might be difficult to make the amounts match exactly, because the fixed dollar amount in the DGA deal is keyed off of provisions in the DGA agreement that may not be identical to those in the WGA agreement...
Favored Nations?
Posted on February 04, 2008With a writers deal apparently in the offing, now's a time to pause and ask about favored nations. The questions are simple:First, if the writers gain an improvement over the directors deal, will the directors "retroactively" get the benefit of the writers bargain? Maybe so - they may insist on it (note that their membership hasn't yet been asked to ratify their deal, and might refuse to do so without the retroactive improvements)...
Recap: Investor Conference Call re the Strike
Posted on February 01, 2008If you missed the call, here's information for replaying the recording, available until Feb. 8:Replay phone number: 800-633-8284International Replay phone number: 402-977-9140Reservation #: 21370994Also, over at Vallywood, Steve Diamond has generously posted a detailed summary of the call.
TiVo Trounces Dish Network
Posted on February 01, 2008TiVo prevailed in part in its patent suit against Dish Network, sending TiVo shares up 29%.
Do You Yahoo!? Microsoft Does
Posted on February 01, 2008Micrososft has made an usolicited offer to buy Yahoo!. Details are or will be available in your favorite newspaper or entertainment trade pub.
Conference Call Presentation Friday on Strike
Posted on January 31, 2008I'm presenting an investor conference call tomorrow on the strike at 11:00 a.m. PST / 2:00 p.m. EST. Email me your contact info and affiliation if you'd like to dial in and learn more about the current state of affairs and prospects for settlement: jhandel at att dot net.
Sundance Film Review: "Secrecy"
Posted on January 27, 2008As the Sundance Film Festival draws to a close, a film review seems in order. The film is ?Secrecy,? a documentary about U.S. government secrecy ? specifically, the use of classification to hide mistakes and embarrassing truths from the citizenry. Although the film is important, it suffers from [two sentences deleted]...
The Writers Guild Faces Reality (and Animation)
Posted on January 23, 2008As I predicted 2-1/2 months ago, before the strike began, the WGA has dropped its demands for reality and animation jurisdiction. That's a very encouraging, positive move. Hopefully, the studios too will see the world in a new light, and be open to some modification of the DGA deal (see The Directors Deal ? Fair or Feasible?) and we can have a deal by Oscar day.
SAG and the WGA
Posted on January 22, 2008Eventually the studios and the WGA will make a deal. Will SAG accept the WGA deal as a template (assuming it doesn't accept the DGA deal as a template)? The conventional wisdom is yes, but the question's still worth asking.Also, there's at least one issue that's important to SAG, but not to the WGA or DGA: forced endorsements...
HBO Free Online VOD Test
Posted on January 22, 2008The Cynopsis Digital email newsletter has an interesting report today:HBO begins testing a new broadband content offering today in a selection of Time Warner Cable systems in Milwaukee and Green Bay, Wisconsin. HBO on Broadband, viewable only on PCs by HBO TWC subscribers, will offer access to some 600 episodes (400 at any one time) of HBO originals per month for no additional charge, including The Wire, Sex and the City and The Sopranos...
DGA Deal Details
Posted on January 20, 2008Looking for details on the DGA deal? Most of it is in the DGA press release, but a few items are in various writers' emails (which may or may not be accurate):DGA press release (HTML or PDF)Ad-Supported Streaming for TheatricalUnited Hollywood analysis (discusses some items writers want that are or may be omitted from DGA deal)For comparison, consider what the WGA obtained in the Worldwide Pants (Letterman) deal:Executive summary
The Directors Deal ? Fair or Feasible?
Posted on January 18, 2008The Directors Guild has reached agreement with the studios. Should the Writers Guild accept the same deal ... or try to negotiate better terms, and possibly continue the strike for months? Is the deal fair, or merely feasible, i.e., the best the DGA thought it could get? What's the tradeoff between fair and feasible, and what should the WGA do next?Let's take a closer look...
Sunny Outlook for Studios at Sundance
Posted on January 16, 2008Several years ago, the Sundance film festival established an Industry Office to assist film industry attendees at the fest, many of whom are buyers scouting for films to acquire. That was an apparently reluctant acknowledgment of what everyone already knew: the festival had become a marketplace as well, and a frenzied one at that...
Directors Should Make a Deal the Writers and Actors Can Live With
Posted on January 16, 2008The Directors Guild has been negotiating with the studios and networks for the last several days. If they want to end the writers strike - and put the industry back to work - they should do a deal on new media that the writers and actors will accept too...
Pirates Say Yo-ho-ho to Strike?
Posted on January 11, 2008Are pirate movie sites benefiting from the strike? Cynthia Brumfield on IP Democracy thinks so. In addition, she cites stats showing a dramatic increase in legit video sharing sites since the strike began.
Fi-Core Furor
Posted on January 11, 2008The Los Angeles Times online opinion page has a piece on John Ridley's decision to go financial core. (See my post here for an explanation of what fi-core means.)Ridley's decision has understandably caused quite the furor: check out the HuffPost, NY Times, NPR, and the Strike Hawk Blog...
Details of Letterman Deal
Posted on January 10, 2008The Guild has posted a point-by-point summary of the Worldwide Pants (David Letterman) deal. The Guild got pretty much everything it wants. Tip of the hat to Michael Learmonth for the heads up.
Weinstein Does Interim Deal With Writers Guild
Posted on January 10, 2008As I suggested might happen, The Weinstein Company has reached an interim deal with the WGA, reports the New York Times.The deal is similar to the one signed by the Guild and United Artists last week, and would be superseded by the agreement ultimately reached with the major studios - whenever that happens.
Oscars Endangered
Posted on January 10, 2008Over at Media Life Magazine, Kevin Downey has an excellent analysis of the prospects for the Oscars. His conclusion: cancel your parties this year.
On the Internet, Everyone Knows You're a Hyphenate
Posted on January 07, 2008Idle hands are the devil's playthings, and writer's hands are no exception. That's why some of them have occupied their time on the Internet, creating short films about the strike, and, in some cases, seeking deals to make Internet content for pay. If this trickle becomes a flood, it could herald a sea change for the industry, as Thom Taylor argues in an LA Times Op-Ed...
Jay?s Probably Not Okay
Posted on January 07, 2008Jay Leno?s writing his own monologues, even though he?s a WGA member. The WGA says that that violates the strike rules. NBC, Jay?s network, says the strike rules as applied contradict the Guild agreement with the studios and networks, and that the rules are therefore invalid...
Writers Strike: Will the WGA do a Deal with Lionsgate or TWC?
Posted on January 03, 2008A friend asked an interesting question: Will Lionsgate make an interim deal with the WGA, a la David Letterman?s Worldwide Pants? The Letterman deal, signed just days ago, was reportedly on the terms the Guild has been demanding ? and that the major studios rejected as economically unreasonable...
HRH-Tube
Posted on December 27, 2007In a first for the British monarchy - and perhaps kings and queens everywhere - Queen Elizabeth II has posted her 2007 Christmas Message on YouTube. The religious tone may not be for everyone, but that fact that this tradition-bound establishment now has its own channel on YouTube is quite something...
The Guilds Will Survive
Posted on December 20, 2007Kevin Morris and Glenn C. Altschuler have an Op-Ed piece in today's Los Angeles Times in which they predict the demise of the Hollywood guilds, or at least, of the WGA and SAG. Their scenario is that massive numbers of primarily high-earning writers and actors - screen writers, television show runners, movie stars and celebs - go financial core, weakening the guilds beyond recognition...
WGA Strike: A More Optimistic Scenario
Posted on December 19, 2007Here's a more optimistic scenario than my recent prediction. It's all speculation, but maybe this is a pathway to a solution:1. The DGA does a deal on new media residuals that's close to what the WGA wants (due in part to pressure from the WGA, as well as, of course, due to its own hard work, leverage and research), but not quite what the WGA is looking for...
International Outsourcing to Evade the Strike
Posted on December 19, 2007NBC is planning to run shows produced overseas, written by non-WGA writers, reports the Wall Street Journal. This is in addition to NBC's and CBS's plans to re-cut, then rerun, shows from their sister cable networks.This makes it all the more important that the WGA hold firm on its little-discussed "Industry Standards" proposal...
Holiday Wishes
Posted on December 19, 2007On a personal note, I want to send my thoughts and best wishes to everyone affected by the strike - writers, actors, directors, below-the-line workers, and suppliers and service providers within and outside the industry, as well as those executives who'd prefer to be working with the writers rather than in opposition to them...
NLRB to be Slow as Molasses
Posted on December 19, 2007The NLRB review of the WGA charges filed against the AMPTP is likely to involve special review by the agency's Washington office, says the Hollywood Reporter. This will make the process even slower than normal, increasing the likelihood (as I previously blogged) that the agency review will come long after the DGA has concluded a deal.
Strike $ Impact
Posted on December 19, 2007LA County economist Jack Kyser told the City Council this morning that the strike has cost the local economy $220 million to date, reports Variety's strike blog. Steve MacDonald, head of Film LA (film permitting organization), told the council the strike is costing $135 million in lost production spending and has cost about 10,000 jobs, the blog reports...
Corporate Tool
Posted on December 19, 2007No, not the AMPTP. (Well, not just the AMPTP.) This time, I'm talking about Kevin Martin, the preppy-boy chairman of the FCC. At his initiative, and on an a 3-2 vote (and apparently without public hearings), the FCC just relaxed newspaper-TV cross-ownership rules, reports the LA Times...
Feedback, Please
Posted on December 19, 2007It'd be great to get feedback on the blog - is it useful, how does it compare to other media coverage and blogs you're reading etc. You can email me at jhandel@att.net, or post a comment on this article.
Extensive Interview
Posted on December 19, 2007I'm the subject of an extensive interview today in Media Life, where I offered thoughts on the anticipated length of the WGA strike, roadblocks to negotiation, and the viewpoint of other unions.
Wedge Issue in the Hollywood Strike: New Media Residuals
Posted on December 18, 2007The directors guild (DGA) and writers guild (WGA) are meeting soon to discuss new media. That's a hopeful sign, but does it mean the WGA leadership is likely to support the new media deal that the DGA and studios ultimately agree to? Maybe not, for several reasons...
WGA Strike: How to Restart the Talks, And Why
Posted on December 17, 2007There may still be time ? a small window at best ? to negotiate a solution to the WGA strike before the DGA does its deal. How might this be done, what?s the deal the WGA and AMPTP should do, and what will happen if the DGA does negotiate a deal first? Read on; but first, some background...
Memo to DGA - Please Propose a Tri-Guild New Media Adjustment Committee
Posted on December 15, 2007Since the WGA negotiations have devolved into nuclear winter, it looks like the next move will be talks between the studios and the DGA. Here's a suggestion/request for the directors: please include, in your proposal to the studios, a tri-guild New Media Adjustment Committee...
DD CGI CO TO IPO
Posted on December 12, 2007Digital Domain, a major visual effects company (CGI, Computer Generated Imagery aka Computer Graphics Imagery), has filed for an IPO, reports socalTECH.com. They're looking to raise $100M.
"Don't Touch My Body (of Work)!" Vivid Tells PornoTube
Posted on December 11, 2007Vivid Video, a major adult video producer, is suing PornoTube, a YouTube knockoff, reports the LA Times. The suit alleges that Vivid's copyrighted content is available on PornoTube. Suit is conceptually similar to the Viacom suit against YouTube and Google...
Vudu Works Its Magic, Releases HD Movies Day-and-Date With HD DVD and Blu-ray
Posted on December 11, 2007For the first time, a movie will be available (legally) in electronic form on the same day it's released on physical media, the LA Times/AP reports.The movie is The Bourne Ultimatum, and it will be available this Tuesday in high-def on the Vudu box - a hybrid download/streaming device - the same day as the DVD is released...
Too Funny - AMPTP.com
Posted on December 10, 2007If you want to visit the AMPTP website, go to AMPTP.org. But if you want to see a hilarious and sharp-tongued parody site, visit AMPTP.com, at least until the lawyers make them take it down (it may amount to cybersquatting). The first sentence on the home page sets the tone:We are heartbroken to report that despite our best efforts, including sending them a muffin basket, making them a mix CD, and standing outside their window with a boombox blasting Peter Gabriel songs, our talks with the WGA have broken down...
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