
-SAG wanted a better contract, like the WGA and DGA.
-SAG couldn’t figure it out and the AMPTP pulled out of negotiations.
-A group of New York SAG members filed a written assent removing the head negotiator and gagging the President of SAG, Alan Rosenberg. Those people call themselves Unite For Strength.
- Four people acting under the name Member’s First filed a temporary restraining order to halt the assent written by Unite For Strength. Those four are: Alan Rosenberg, Anne-Marie Johnson, Diane Ladd and Kent McCord. Yes, big SAG names.
I don’t really give half a crap how they figure this crap out, because it all makes so little sense. SAG is not going to get a better deal about residuals without striking, and even if they do strike more money will be lost in the Hollywood economy at this critical time when the entire state of California is feeling the pinch.
This Sunday, there is going to be a teleconference meeting between the two factions, and I’m pretty sure I know what they are going to say. The LA “Membership First” MF’ers are going to say that without a negotiated contract that handles the internet, product placement and residuals form online broadcasting (not internet-based programming, but reruns) that the questionable SAG “coup” is an assault on the middle-class actors who require residuals to live and feed their families.
The New York “Unite For Strengh” faction is made up mostly of big names that you’ve heard of; Matt Damon, Alec Baldwin, George Clooney, etc. These guys are rich enough to see the reality of the situation: SAG needs a contract with the AMPTP. They are operating under the old one which doesn’t have any provisions for the way media operates today and SAG isn’t going to pry a better deal out of the AMPTP because the producers know that if SAG is allowed to hold out for a better contract, the WGA and DGA will be knocking at their doors soon.
Both factions have a good point, but both are being ridiculously pig-headed (a good example is the video from Membership First protests I will post below the cut) and seem incapable of getting on the same damn page.
FIGURE IT OUT, YOU IDIOTS! You’re actors, God-bless you for the entertainment you give me, but I don’t pay money to see middle-class actors (sorry guys), I pay money to see big-name actors. Big-name actors make a name for themselves by pounding the pavement until they rise to the top, just like musicians. Someday, those middle-class actors could be big-name actors and along the way, I’m sure the trials and tribulations of trying to raise a family on residuals from that one M*A*S*H you did in your youth is tough. But writing for money is tough, and directing for money is tough and producing is tough because you have so much money you’ve completely forgotten about what those without really want.
A union like this shouldn’t have been infighting for over a year now. I should not have had to re-photoshop my Union Bitchfight logo. The problem with the Membership First stance isn’t that they feel they were victims of a coup, it’s that the selling point of the union, the name actors, are largely on the side of Unite For Strength. Not only that, but MF already had their chance at getting a new contract and it ain’t going to happen. Membership First: I can find someone on Craigslist who, for $40, will shill for SAG in a YouTube video, I can’t get Matt Damon to shill for anything Matt Damon doesn’t want to.
When the Have-Nots battle the Haves, the Have-Nots must have a unique and irreplaceable skill, and to those with the deep pockets, middle-income actors are disposable.
So figure this out amongst yourself before you weaken the overall position of the Guild…
(video still under the cut)
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