Media & Entertainment Law

SAG No News Press Release

Posted on January 27, 2009
SAG'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, 2009
SAG?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, 2009
The 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, 2009
The 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...

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SAG National Executive Director Firing ? How it Went Down

Posted on January 26, 2009
The 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, 2009
Sources 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, 2009
Last 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, 2009
The 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, 2009
As 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, 2009
The 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, 2009
The 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, 2009
Where 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, 2009
The 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, 2009
There?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, 2008
p 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, 2008
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. 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, 2008
p 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...

SAG: When Will There be a Deal?

Posted on December 19, 2008
Lately, we?ve been lost in a morass of letters from SAG board members, stars and activists ? wandering through a thicket of politics ? reading the offer from the AMPTP (studios)? observing meetings in LA, NY and LA again ? taking note of other developments ? enjoying press releases ? trying to parse the issues ? and wondering if SAG will strike...

Why Obama Picked Rick

Posted on December 17, 2008
p 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, 2008
p 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...

Why Obama Picked Rick

Posted on December 17, 2008
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. Several reasons occurred to me. Perhaps Obama wanted to distance himself from Bill Clinton, who began his presidency on a pro-gay note by loosening restrictions on gays in the military...

Will SAG Strike? ? Conference Call

Posted on December 17, 2008
There?ve been a lot of developments at SAG in the last few days: town hall meetings filled with members, many of whom in LA were pro-strike and in NY anti-strike; an anti-strike letter from A-list stars; an anti-strike op-ed in the LA Times; and more...

SAG NY Furious

Posted on December 15, 2008
SAG 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, 2008
Over 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, 2008
Developments 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, 2008
A 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, 2008
When (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, 2008
Once 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, 2008
The 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, 2008
I 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...

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