Hollywood rethinks use of A-list actors --- Films are showing that a good concept trumps star power

A producing partner on a film we are working together on (thanks Bill Rogin) brought this article to my attention. Although Condemned (horror) and many other projects don't have the budgets that this article is addressing - the issue still remains .. "talent quotes" and are they really as much a factor as the market requires for a positive ROI? Logic would say .. good script and amazing director and strong actors (focused production team .. lets not forget that FACT). There are so many talented actors out there .. but the market / audience dictates ticket sales! I could go on .... but it is time to get back to work!

 Have a great week everyone!!!

Best,
Jean-Luc 
Producer, Line-Producer, UPM (in no particular order)


Hollywood studios are now thinking twice about splurging on A-list movie stars and costly productions in reaction to the poor economy, but also because of the surprising success of recent films with unknown actors.

After buddy comedy "The Hangover," a movie with a little-known cast, made $459 million at the global boxooffice this past summer, several films have shown that a great concept or story can trump star appeal when it comes to luring fans.

"District 9," a low-budget movie in which the biggest stars were space aliens treated like refugees and the lead actor was South African Sharlto Copley, made $200 million. Thriller "Paranormal Activity," starring Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat, has cash registers ringing to the tune of $100 million.

Next up, on Nov. 20, comes Summit Entertainment's relatively low-budget ($50 million) franchise movie "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," a sequel to 2008 hit vampire romance "Twilight" which made global stars of Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. Online ticket sellers report "New Moon" is one of their highest presale movies of all time, and boxoffice watchers expect the film to have a smash opening.

"Nobody says that a big wonderful movie needs to be expensive, it's just that that's been the trend, and perhaps the trend is misguided," said USC cinema professor Jason Squire.

Last weekend, "Disney's A Christmas Carol," featuring the voice of comic actor Jim Carrey, became the latest celebrity-driven movie to stumble at boxoffices, opening to a lower-than-expected $30 million.

Aside from Carrey and "Carol," which cost at least $175 million, A-listers who suffered boxoffice flops recently have included Bruce Willis ("Surrogates"), Adam Sandler ("Funny People"), Will Ferrell ("Land of the Lost"), Eddie Murphy ("Imagine That") and Julia Roberts ("Duplicity").

"The (major movie) machine didn't fly last summer, if you look at the movies and the names, they were not star-driven movies, they really weren't," said Peter Guber, chairman of Mandalay Entertainment and former head of Sony Pictures.

Hollywood insiders say A-listers are having trouble with salary demands in the $15 million range or participation approaching 20% of gross profits -- deals that were once somewhat common for top talent. Instead, they are being asked to take less money upfront and greater compensation only if a film breaks even.

In "New Moon," Pattinson and Stewart rekindle their romance between an immortal vampire and a high school girl that they brought to silver screens in last year's adaptation from Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" books.

At the time, Pattinson and Stewart were unknown stars but that did not hurt "Twilight," which made $384 million at global boxoffices and gave Summit a bona fide franchise.

It's not unusual for franchises like the "Harry Potter" movies to begin with unknown actors, but as the films' popularity takes root, production budgets relax and actor, producer and other salaries soar.

But in recent years, Hollywood has been racked by the recession, competition from video games and the Web, declining DVD sales and fewer licensing deals with television networks

This week, Disney chief Bob Iger said in a conference call that the sluggish DVD market is one reason the major studio has altered its moviemaking. "It causes us to really reconsider not only what we're investing in our films, but how we market them and how we distribute them," he said.

For its part, fledgling Summit has positioned "Twilight" as a franchise for the recession era by keeping the pressure on the costs for "New Moon," and Hollywood producers are praising them for it.

"Good for them, they are really keeping the costs down. It is unusual," said Lauren Shuler Donner, a producer on the "X-Men" films and 2008's "The Secret Life of Bees."

Summit, whose executives declined to be interviewed, took a page from the playbook of "The Lord of the Rings" by shooting the second and third films back-to-back this summer.

When director Peter Jackson made his three "Lord of the Rings" films simultaneously 10 years ago, it was a novel idea that reduced costs because actors, sets, costumes, locations and other items only had to be assembled and paid for once.

Similarly, by shooting the next two "Twilight" movies together, Summit kept the cost of the third film, "Eclipse," due June 30, around $60 million, one source said.

"What I like is they didn't have a long window (between films), they went in to make a franchise, they didn't go in to see if they had a franchise," said Warren Zide, producer on the "American Pie" and "Final Destination" movies.
Hollywood rethinks use of A-list actors
Films are showing that a good concept trumps star power

By Alex Dobuzinskis, Reuters

Nov 13, 2009, 09:20 PM ET
Hollywood studios are now thinking twice about splurging on A-list movie stars and costly productions in reaction to the poor economy, but also because of the surprising success of recent films with unknown actors.

After buddy comedy "The Hangover," a movie with a little-known cast, made $459 million at the global boxooffice this past summer, several films have shown that a great concept or story can trump star appeal when it comes to luring fans.

"District 9," a low-budget movie in which the biggest stars were space aliens treated like refugees and the lead actor was South African Sharlto Copley, made $200 million. Thriller "Paranormal Activity," starring Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat, has cash registers ringing to the tune of $100 million.

Next up, on Nov. 20, comes Summit Entertainment's relatively low-budget ($50 million) franchise movie "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," a sequel to 2008 hit vampire romance "Twilight" which made global stars of Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. Online ticket sellers report "New Moon" is one of their highest presale movies of all time, and boxoffice watchers expect the film to have a smash opening.

"Nobody says that a big wonderful movie needs to be expensive, it's just that that's been the trend, and perhaps the trend is misguided," said USC cinema professor Jason Squire.

Last weekend, "Disney's A Christmas Carol," featuring the voice of comic actor Jim Carrey, became the latest celebrity-driven movie to stumble at boxoffices, opening to a lower-than-expected $30 million.

Aside from Carrey and "Carol," which cost at least $175 million, A-listers who suffered boxoffice flops recently have included Bruce Willis ("Surrogates"), Adam Sandler ("Funny People"), Will Ferrell ("Land of the Lost"), Eddie Murphy ("Imagine That") and Julia Roberts ("Duplicity").

"The (major movie) machine didn't fly last summer, if you look at the movies and the names, they were not star-driven movies, they really weren't," said Peter Guber, chairman of Mandalay Entertainment and former head of Sony Pictures.

Hollywood insiders say A-listers are having trouble with salary demands in the $15 million range or participation approaching 20% of gross profits -- deals that were once somewhat common for top talent. Instead, they are being asked to take less money upfront and greater compensation only if a film breaks even.

In "New Moon," Pattinson and Stewart rekindle their romance between an immortal vampire and a high school girl that they brought to silver screens in last year's adaptation from Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" books.

At the time, Pattinson and Stewart were unknown stars but that did not hurt "Twilight," which made $384 million at global boxoffices and gave Summit a bona fide franchise.

It's not unusual for franchises like the "Harry Potter" movies to begin with unknown actors, but as the films' popularity takes root, production budgets relax and actor, producer and other salaries soar.

But in recent years, Hollywood has been racked by the recession, competition from video games and the Web, declining DVD sales and fewer licensing deals with television networks

This week, Disney chief Bob Iger said in a conference call that the sluggish DVD market is one reason the major studio has altered its moviemaking. "It causes us to really reconsider not only what we're investing in our films, but how we market them and how we distribute them," he said.

For its part, fledgling Summit has positioned "Twilight" as a franchise for the recession era by keeping the pressure on the costs for "New Moon," and Hollywood producers are praising them for it.

"Good for them, they are really keeping the costs down. It is unusual," said Lauren Shuler Donner, a producer on the "X-Men" films and 2008's "The Secret Life of Bees."

Summit, whose executives declined to be interviewed, took a page from the playbook of "The Lord of the Rings" by shooting the second and third films back-to-back this summer.

When director Peter Jackson made his three "Lord of the Rings" films simultaneously 10 years ago, it was a novel idea that reduced costs because actors, sets, costumes, locations and other items only had to be assembled and paid for once.

Similarly, by shooting the next two "Twilight" movies together, Summit kept the cost of the third film, "Eclipse," due June 30, around $60 million, one source said.

"What I like is they didn't have a long window (between films), they went in to make a franchise, they didn't go in to see if they had a franchise," said Warren Zide, producer on the "American Pie" and "Final Destination" movies.

What do reality TV stars make, anyway?

Hello all,
I knew that our reality starts were making a good living and honestly this does not surprise me: supply and demand!
Jean-Luc

From the (The Frisky) -- After the premiere of VH1's "Sex Rehab," I found myself thinking one thing: How much did folks get paid to be on this show, because I certainly hope it's a whole heck of a lot.

Ask and ye shall receive -- a day later, I have my answer.

Comedian Artie Lange, a former heroin and cocaine addict, has revealed to the NY Post that he was offered $200K to go on "Celebrity Rehab." He turned the offer down. "They said it was about me getting better, but if I relapsed, they're not going to air that?" he said. "My mother knows I've done coke, but she's never seen me do it." Still, that is a lot of dough we're talking about. Let's see how that compares to what others get for starring in reality shows.

* European production company, Eyeworks, has supposedly agreed to pay the 14 children of OctoMom Nadya Suleman $125,000 for 36 days of shooting their forthcoming reality show.

* "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell allegedly banked $36 million last year. And this year he's said to be negotiating for an extensive raise.

* MTV reportedly paid Ozzy and family $5K each per episode for the first season of "The Osbournes." For the second, they each got a ginormous raise to $5 million per episode. Aw, I miss that show!

The Frisky: 10 celebrities and their cocktails of choice

* Kristin Cavallari supposedly gets $63K per episode of "The Hills." Meanwhile, Heidi Montag denies making $100,000 per episode.

* "The Real Housewives of New York City" stars were reportedly negotiating for six-figure salaries for the upcoming season. That just doesn't seem fair though, because they have all those fabulous New York sample sales that save them money already.

The Frisky: Match these celebs with their party invitations!

* The unit that is composed of Jon and Kate Gosselin earned about $75,000 per episode, for "John and Kate Plus 8," and I guess most of that should go to buying school shoes.

The Frisky: These biracial stars make us want to diversify!

* "Dancing With the Stars" contestant Shawn Johnson got $125,000 for signing on for the show. She seemed to think that the base pay, plus $50K bonuses, was worth her time, unlike Nick Lachey.

The Frisky: Rihanna talks to Glamour about Chris Brown assault

What do you think -- are they all getting what they're worth?

WGA report shows tough times for screenwriters

Hello All,
Not sure what to say about this article in the LA Times because for one I am not a writer and have no intention of being one. Although some of the writer quotes I have been dealing with make me want to start writing yesterday. Now .. I could start arguing with myself because maybe the writer deserves the high quote and their reputation as a produced, high ROI speaks clearly and loudly and that is where negotiation starts. BUT and here is my issue ... a non-produced, no respectable ROI writer should be grateful for 1% of a non studio film. In reality I have always felt the writer knows what is fair but ..... then walks in the manager, the agent and the attorney and guess what they KILL the deal. Enough said ... before I really get myself in trouble. Our economy is fixing a lot - and that is across the board .. I hope


10% fewer writers reported earnings last year, and income fell 18%. The guild had a $5.1-million deficit.

To pen a living as a Hollywood screenwriter has always required fortitude and patience. Given the ratio between number of writers and available work, the odds of success are long.

Now it looks like the odds have become a whole lot longer.

Thanks to a recession-driven downturn forcing studios to make fewer movies and TV shows, coupled with a screenwriters strike last year that ground production to a halt, the wordsmiths of Hollywood have seen jobs and income evaporate.

That's the bleak take-away from the annual financial report of the Writers Guild of America, West, the union that represents about 8,000 movie and TV screenwriters. It has been the worst year for writers since at least 2003, with total earnings well below levels of five years ago. According to the WGA, only 4,163 writers reported earnings last year, down 10% from a year earlier, with the total earnings declining 18% to $801.4 million.

Not surprisingly, with a strike that paralyzed the television industry, TV writers took a big hit. Employment in 2008 declined 11% and total earnings dropped 3% to $437.5 million.

"For the second half of the year, we found that while WGA series rebounded, the companies responded to the economic downturn by reducing the size of TV series staffs," the report said.

Even harder hit were movie writers, who saw employment drop 14% and total income plunge 30% to $361 million. The guild blamed the sharp downturn on "pre-strike stockpiling" and a decision by the studios to release fewer movies in response to the weakening economy.

Although the WGA said declines in union dues were offset by improved collections and higher residuals from reuse of TV shows overseas, the guild ended the fiscal year with a $5.1-million deficit because of "investment losses caused by the struggling economy."

Hollywood's actors also have been buffeted by similar circumstances. The Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists both experienced deficits in the last fiscal year largely because of a decline in investment income. The actors unions, however, do not release earnings reports similar to the writers guild's.

The weak job market has deepened anxiety among the writers guild's members, who are getting ready to elect a new leader.

The heated election pits writer-producer John Wells, a former guild president, against the guild's secretary-treasurer, Elias Davis, who has the backing of outgoing President Patric M. Verrone.

Although members are divided over which candidate to support, they agree on one thing: Times are hard.

The erosion of scripted prime-time shows on broadcast networks, a result of the popularity of reality TV and NBC's shift of Jay Leno to prime time, has left writers with fewer job opportunities.

Cable television is expanding, but the pay often is lower and many shows aren't covered by union contracts.

Writers are having a difficult time getting bumps in their fees. And studios are hiring feature writers for shorter periods of time and paying for one draft of a script instead of two.

"There is a sense in the community, whether it's among agents, writers or even producers, that things have really tightened up -- and not in a good way," said former board member Craig Mazin, a Wells backer and co-publisher of the widely followed screenwriting blog "The Artful Writer."

Davis is on the same page. "John and I certainly agree that these are tough times," he wrote in a recent statement to guild members. "Every writer I know is feeling more than a little uncertain about the future of our business world and our place in it."

Film biz mulls mixed messages Is it cash infusion, or confusion?

I truly believe if there was any time to produce a movie it would be now. Enjoy Peter Bart's message.

Jean-Luc Martin
Producer, Line-Producer, UPM



Peter Bart
Several sectors of our economy are showing signs of life these days, but here's my forecast for the entertainment business: There will be a significant recovery thanks to increased spending, stepped-up production and an easing of the credit crunch.

On the other hand, there will be sharper cutbacks, reduced output and a further pinch in the job market.

Confusing? Sure. But if you talk to Hollywood power players those are the sorts of mixed messages you'll hear.

The narrow issue of film output offers an intriguing microcosm of this mixed outlook. The major studios believe there are vastly too many movies out there and say they're cutting back. Co-financing entities are biting the dust and independents complain that the banks are still acting like skinflints.

The picture is clear except for one factor: The movie business has always been remarkably self-replenishing. Though logic may dictate caution and cutbacks, there's no way of reversing the engines.

Take a quick glance at the studio horizon: Universal has had a dicey summer, Paramount is retooling and MGM seems to be nearing another corporate chasm. That's the bad news.

But Morgan Creek, DreamWorks and New Regency are newly energized and financially refurbished, Summit is riding high on its "Twilight" franchise while Spyglass is relishing its shares of hits like "Star Trek" and insiders speculate that it may expand its business plan to encompass distribution.

Further, the co-financiers with portentous names like Legendary and Relativity are still finding abundant capital to meet their obligations, and Village Roadshow has reinserted itself into the marketplace thanks to its new resources.

Mind you, the task of eliciting a greenlight is ever more formidable. The project with the dicey title of "Dinner for Schmucks" will finally move forward in October after a seven-year battle. Jay Roach will direct Steve Carell and Paul Rudd.

Yes, this was originally the Sacha Baron Cohen project that DreamWorks was going to make, but now the funding will come from DreamWorks, Reliance, Paramount and Spyglass and it wouldn't surprise me if even another financier clambered aboard. But the movie's finally getting made -- that's the law of self-replenishment at work again.

So where does all this money come from? Clearly, it doesn't exist, except it does. Spyglass and New Regency can borrow against their very substantial libraries. Ryan Kavanaugh has his hedge fund to back Relativity and the redoubtable Jim Robinson underwrites Morgan Creek for a very "Hollywood" reason -- he loves the movie business to the tune of four films a year.

And for every nightmare like "Land of the Lost" there's a "Twilight" to re-energize everyone's business plan.

"One big hit can cover over a lot of dumb mistakes," confides the head of one indie company.

Spyglass suffered through "The Love Guru," but its success stories date back to "The Sixth Sense" and "Bruce Almighty."

To be sure, the majors may have to rethink their convenient business model of the last few years. A hedge fund was always on hand to provide downside protection. Funding from Relativity has thus propped up Universal and Dune has provided protection for Fox, but the sources of outside capital may have to be restructured in future years. That, in turn, may further incentivize the majors to try and cut back their production schedules. It's risky out there in the sun without Wall Street's sunscreen.

But again, Hollywood always seems to find new money. The playpen is too entertaining and the upside too enticing.

So, that's the key explanation for an optimistic forecast: The party is too much fun to shut down.

SAG talks to start early ...

SAG to start early in the next round of negotiations -- you think!

"An unprecedented but little-noticed provision in SAG's hard-fought new contract requires that the guild must initiate six weeks of negotiations on Oct. 1, 2010 -- a full nine months prior to the expiration of its just-ratified feature-primetime contract." ... to read article:

Jean-Luc Martin
Producer, Production Manager

SAG: TV/Theatrical Negotiations

Finally! We can all put negotiations to rest with ALL unions and guilds for a couple of years (we can only hope)

Jean-Luc Martin
Producer, Production Manager



Screen Actors Guild Members Overwhelmingly Ratify TV/Theatrical Agreements

Los Angeles, (June 9, 2009) – Screen Actors Guild announced today that members have voted overwhelmingly to approve its TV/Theatrical contracts by a vote of 78 percent to 22 percent.

The two-year successor agreement covers film and digital television programs, motion pictures and new media productions. The pact becomes effective at 12:01 a.m. June 10, 2009 and expires June 30, 2011.

The contracts provide more than $105 million in wages, increased pension contributions, and other gains and establishes a template for SAG coverage of new media formats.

Approximately 110,000 SAG members received ballots of which 35.26 percent returned them – a return that is above average compared with typical referenda on Screen Actors Guild contracts. Integrity Voting Systems of Everett, WA, provided election services and tonight certified the final vote tally upon completion of the tabulation.

The vote count in the Hollywood Division was 70.70 percent to 29.30 percent in favor. In the New York Division, the vote count was 85.74 percent to 14.26 percent in favor. And in the Regional Branch Division, the vote count was 89.06 percent to 10.94 percent in favor.

Screen Actors Guild President Alan Rosenberg said, "The membership has spoken and has decided to work under the terms of this contract that many of us, who have been involved in these negotiations from the beginning, believe to be devastatingly unsatisfactory. Tomorrow morning I will be contacting the elected leadership of the other talent unions with the hope of beginning a series of pre-negotiation summit meetings in preparation for 2011. I call upon all SAG members to begin to ready themselves for the battle ahead,” Rosenberg added.

Screen Actors Guild Interim National Executive Director David White said, “This decisive vote gets our members back to work with immediate pay raises and puts SAG in a strong position for the future. Preparation for the next round of negotiations begins now. Our members can expect more positive changes in the coming months as we organize new work opportunities, repair and reinvigorate our relationships with our sister unions and industry partners, and continue to improve the Guild’s operations.”

Screen Actors Guild Chief Negotiator John McGuire said, "I want to thank the SAG members and staff who dedicated their time to the negotiations process. We emerged with a solid deal that the members have now voted up. The negotiating team worked tirelessly, building on the work of the first negotiating committee, to deliver these improvements to members.”

Screen Actors Guild began talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on April 15, 2008. Guild Chief Negotiator John McGuire, Interim National Executive Director David White, and Deputy National Executive Director for Contracts Ray Rodriguez, working with a 10-person negotiating task force comprised of Screen Actors Guild board members and officers representing the three divisions, reached the tentative agreement on April 16, 2009 after 12 months of periodic negotiations with the motion picture studios and television networks.

SAG NATIONAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS APPROVES TENTATIVE TELEVISION AND MOTION PICTURE CONTRACTS AND RECOMMENDS RATIFICATION

From the real world .. not sure if this was the answer indie producers needed but will let you know from my world.

Los Angeles (April 19, 2009) - The Screen Actors Guild National Board of Directors today voted 53.38 percent to 46.62 percent to approve and recommend to members, new, two-year successor agreements to the 2005 Producer-Screen Actors Guild Codified Basic Agreement and 2005 Screen Actors Guild Television Agreement.

The proposed agreement, covering actors in motion pictures and television delivers 3.5% effective annual increases comprised of a 3% wage increase and a .5% pension and health contribution increase upon ratification, and a 3.5% wage increase in year two.

The board passed the below motion shortly after 4:00 p.m. today:

It was moved and seconded that the National Board directs the Interim National Executive Director to send the tentative agreement between the Producers represented by the AMPTP and the Screen Actors Guild for successor agreements to the 2005 Producer-Screen Actors Guild Codified Basic Agreement and the 2005 Screen Actors Guild Television Agreement to the membership for ratification, with a recommendation from the Board to vote ‘Yes.'
Approved: 53.38% -46.62%

"I urge members to carefully review both the pros and cons in the referendum materials, and exercise their right to vote," said Screen Actors Guild National President Alan Rosenberg.

Interim National Executive Director David White said: "We are pleased that Screen Actors Guild members will soon be voting on a deal for television and motion pictures. We're eager to get our members back to work and to focus now on the challenges ahead, particularly on initiating a comprehensive effort to thoughtfully plan for the future.

"Our negotiating committee, task force and professional staff have worked countless hours on this agreement over the last year. On behalf of the National Board, I thank them for their time, commitment and expertise."

Chief Negotiator John McGuire stated: "This tentative agreement delivers increased contributions to the SAG pension plan, increased minimums, a significant gain in background actor numbers from 50 to 55 over the term of the contract, and it tracks the new media provisions achieved by other entertainment industry unions. The term of the agreement puts SAG in sync with the other unions, and does not include the extended term recently proposed by the AMPTP."

Provisions of the proposed deal include:
• A two-year term of agreement concluding June 30, 2011.
• Effective annual increases comprised of 3.0% in wage increases and .5% in pension contributions upon ratification, and a 3.5% wage increase one year following ratification.
• A new media structure that tracks those achieved by other industry unions, resulting in gains for actors including:
o Jurisdiction on all derivative, made-for new media productions; automatic jurisdiction on all high-budget, original, made-for new media productions; plus jurisdiction on low budget original, new media productions that employs at least 1 covered performer.
o Residuals for exhibition of TV and Theatrical motion pictures on consumer pay platforms (Electronic Sell Through) at a greater percentage than those paid for DVD distribution.
o Residuals for ad-supported streaming of feature films and television programs.
o Residuals for derivative new media programs.
• Additional 5 covered background actors in feature films. From 50 to 53 covered background positions upon ratification of the contract, and from 53 to 55 covered background positions in year 2. Adds 1 covered background position in TV, from 19 to 20, upon ratification.
• Increased compensation for guest star premium from 7.5% to 10%.
• Increased trailer money break from $2,500 to $3,000, or more per week.
• Increased overtime money break for three-day performers from $2,700 to $3,000.

Ratification ballots will be mailed to eligible SAG members in early May, with an expected return date at the end of the month. Tabulation will occur immediately upon the conclusion of balloting.

Bargaining for a successor agreement to the 2005 SAG TV/Theatrical Contract began on April 15, 2008.

SAG, AMPTP reach tentative deal

Guild's national board expected to approve

In a move that had been widely expected, SAG leaders and the congloms have reached a tentative agreement on a new two-year feature-primetime contract -- opening the door for a pitched battle over ratification.

Announcement of the tentative deal came Friday afternoon, nearly 10 months after the previous pact expired, via a brief joint statement from the Screen Actors Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

The last major point to be settled centered on SAG insisting on an expiration date in June 2011 in order to stay in synch with the WGA, DGA and AFTRA expirations. Three days of official talks cratered in mid-February over the expiration date - even though both sides had agreed on other issues -- with the companies demanding a three-year deal that would have expired in 2012.

The statement said that no details would be disclosed until Sunday following review by SAG's national board at its previously scheduled meeting. That panel, which saw control shift last fall to a moderate coalition, is expected to approve the terms of the pact and trigger the mailing of ratification ballots to its 120,000 members.

The ratification process will take about three weeks. SAG president Alan Rosenberg and his allies in the hardline Membership First faction, which lost its board majority to the moderates, has vowed it will urge members to vote down the deal on grounds that it falls short in on on multitude of areas, particularly new media.

The deal comes following two months of back-channels talks between SAG toppers and moguls such as Disney's Robert Iger and Warner Bros. Barry Meyer with SAG's chief negotiator John McGuire and AMPTP exec VP Carol Lombardini executing the specifics of the new pact. SAG's board ousted Doug Allen in January as SAG national exec director for allegedly botching the negotiations, replacing him with David White as interim national exec director and McGuire as chief negotiator.

Membership First has been protesting the presumed deal ever since Allen was fired and the negotiating committee was abolished and replaced with a task force. Scott Wilson, a SAG member who was on the negotiating committee, told Daily Variety that he'll continue advocating a "no" vote in order to persuade the companies to sweeten the terms.

"If all that's been changed is the term of the deal, it is up to the members to step up and claim their union by voting this down," he said.

The AMPTP's counter on its website asserted Thursday that SAG actors have lost $66.6 million in pay gains as a result of spurning the final offer, which it valued at $250 million. The counter had been taken down on Friday.

SAG members have worked since the expiration under terms and conditions of the expired deal.

To Screen Actors Guild Guaranteed Completion Agreement (GCA) Signatories

It has come to the Guild's attention that some distributors of Guild-covered projects have expressed concerns about risks associated with distributing projects covered by GCAs in the event of a Guild work stoppage. As you know, one of the benefits of being signatory to a Guild GCA is the assurance that any work stoppage would not affect the continued production of the picture.

GCA signatories and distributors have the Guild’s full and complete assurance that there will be no disruption of distribution of projects properly covered by Guild GCAs due to any work stoppage.

Signatories or distributors with questions should feel free to contact the Guild’s Theatrical Contracts Department at (323) 549-6828.

FILMMAKER BLOG
Saturday, January 17, 2009
SAG NIXES GUARANTEED COMPLETION CONTRACTS
Just a couple of days after I noted SAG's response to the question of whether or not studios could acquire films made under their Guaranteed Completion Contracts, the guild has now decided to stop issuing these waivers to indie films entirely. Dave McNary reports in Variety:
With a SAG strike becoming less likely, the Screen Actors Guild has announced it's pulled the plug on offering waivers to indie film producers that would allow production to continue if there's a work stoppage.

SAG made the brief announcement Friday evening, suspending a program that's covered over 800 productions in about a year.


In their statement, SAG says that the "Guaranteed Completion Contracts have served their purpose" and are now to be discontinued. What purpose is that? Allowing their members to be hired and to have their salaries, health care and pensions paid for by independent producers who are not parties to the failed studio negotiations? In their initial statement, which now I can't seem to find online, SAG mentioned that producers could work under the 2005 Minimum Basic Agreement. But, as producer Noah Harlan noted to me in an email:
The concern is that if SAG goes on strike our projects will be shut down as well. That means that financing is going to get tough as debt services (gap, incentive cash flows, MG advances) won't be able to get completion bond companies to back them and thus won't commit. Basically it makes going into pre-production from now until this is resolved a potentially risky endeavor. To avoid this situation SAG offered Guaranteed Completion Contracts starting last June when the current agreement ran out. Those contracts allowed films that were not directly related to a studio (or other member of the AMPTP) to film regardless of whether there was a strike. The conditions were that the distributors would have to adhere to the final terms agreed to in the negotiations with the AMPTP when that gets resolved. There were 800 of those contracts issued.


Of course, many don't believe SAG will get the votes needed for a strike from its membership, but this is still a dispiriting development for independent producers trying to maintain their output during these economically challenging times.