Media & Entertainment Law

Auld Lang SAG

Posted on March 19, 2009
Should 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, 2009
Though 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, 2009
66 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...

KCRW Interview re SAG

Posted on March 02, 2009

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Hollywood Labor Roundup

Posted on February 28, 2009

Leno?s All Charged Up

Posted on February 26, 2009
The 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, 2009
Last 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, 2009
People 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, 2009
Tomorrow, 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, 2009
There?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, 2009
By 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, 2009
The 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, 2009
Talks 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, 2009
SAG 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, 2009
Friday 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, 2009
An 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, 2009
Over 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, 2009
SAG 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, 2009
The 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, 2009
The 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, 2009
Slumdog 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, 2009
Below-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, 2009
If 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, 2009
A 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, 2009
A 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, 2009
With 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, 2009
After 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, 2009
In 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, 2009
Yesterday, 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, 2009
Sources 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...

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