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Thursday, January 8, 2009

SAG Strike - Please, God - No!

Hello, Wavers - I received this video today via the Save the Biz organization and I thought it was a good message and that I ought to share it with you. I don't know enough about the issues on the table with SAG and the AMPTP but I do know a strike would be debilitating for so many who work in the industry. You can make up your own mind.

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9 comments:

A Who said...

Absolutely. What good is a new and improved contract if the company(ies) no longer exists or not producing a product? Please not now...

Cathy Fielding said...

The last thing anyone wants is a strike. That said, isn't it time the AMPTP realized that those "others" made them what they are today?

Anonymous said...

Having spent every day of last year walking the line of the WGA strike, I'll say this: nobody wants a strike...

BUT

I'll also ask this: would you, if you were an actor, accept the unlimited use of your face (which is your stock and trade) for advertising/product placement?

Would you accept a $23 dollar payment for unlimited use of work you've done, knowing full well that the AMPTP/producers of your work are reaping in advertising dollars at a rate which is thousands of times the payment they're offering your work?

Would you accept a reduction (or even an outright elimination of) in your P&H contribution by the AMPTP?

There's no way I'd accept that and I'm in no position to suggest any actor do the same. A strike is a tough thing, but a strike authorization at least offers some leverage in negotiations...Yes, it's a bad economy, but have your seen the profits the AMPTP is making?

And anyone who thinks that the studios will just disappear if they don't get what they want is delusional...

How about putting the pressure squarely where it belongs? Tell the AMPTP to do the right thing and negotiate and come to some sort of "fair" deal.

Put the onus on the AMPTP, that's where it belongs.

Christian H. said...

That is an even more complex thing than WGA. SAG does have a totally different set of problems. They may have up to twenty people employed in a production, whereas the DGA, WGA may only have one.

Their likenesses are actually what people go to "see," but shutting down major productions right now...

I wouldn't want to be Alan and Doug right now.

Julie Gray said...

I couldn't agree more, J.J.

And I do feel badly for SAG members that they are under pressure to fold because of the lasting effects of the last strike and the current economy.

I hope the AMPTP rises to the occasion.

Anonymous said...

Yes, well, if they'd gotten the SAV when the contract expired last July, they wouldn't have had the bad economy hanging over them. Ridiculously bad strategy all along. They'll eat their crumbs and be happy.

Joe Public said...

They have the money. Please see following clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzRHlpEmr0w

Luzid said...

With the WGA currently fighting the studios for NOT PAYING A DIME IN NEW MEDIA RESIDUALS AS CONTRACTED, how is even a question that SAG should fight for a decent contract?

Do people just forget that the AMPTP *never* renegotiates formulas (see VHS and DVD)?

Peter Tomlinson said...

It is the eve of the second stimulus package being voted on before it hits Obama's desk ...another $900+ billion to jack up the economy like the poor tired rusty bucket of bolts it's become over the last eight years of the bush (won't capitalize) administration...repubs are being called Hoover-something or others...the stuff is hitting the fan...listen, the writer's strike occurred in a different economy, and even then many lost their homes- this is not a drill... if SAG strikes now, the whole local economy will come to an ugly screeching halt...we can provide our own local stimulus by continuing to work and putting aside our egos at least until we can all pull through. These times are unprecented and must be respected and navigated as such.