SAG Actors,
Given that in labor history any significant gains almost always require a strike to achieve, is there something at stake in this SAG contract negotiation that you would walk out for: That you believe means the difference between being able to make a living as an actor being unable to?
** If not getting jurisdiction down to dollar zero (meaning that every AMPTP production no matter how low the budget would have to be done union) meant giving away a place for our signatory employers to do non-union work, would you strike for that? (Note: Many feel that this would be akin to making the same mistakes we made decades ago in cable in VHS/DVD Home video by allowing our employers to cultivate a non-union workspace.)
** If we don’t get any increase in DVD and break the strangle-hold that has existed for more than two decades when projections are that home video/DVD will remain at the present income levels well into if not through the next contract (many are projecting at least the next 6 years), meaning more than 10 billion dollars lost, would you strike over that?
** Are you a background actor? Would you be willing to strike if SAG got no more than the 1 covered actor increase that AFTRA got without even excluding stand-ins?
** If we don’t get adequate protection for actors who are then forced to give away consent for clips at the time they are hired when they are the most vulnerable and the studios continue to sell those clips (the returns are already in the hundreds of millions of dollars for companies like YouTube as our employers purchase channels and provide clips and content (see for yourself: GooTube)) would you be willing to strike over that?
** Would you strike if you made your living primarily in commercials and the studios were forcing you to endorse, for example, Coke on an episode of The Office and that endorsement FOR NO MONEY disqualified you from doing a commercial for any competing soft drink or years possibly as that clip was sold to MySpace and went viral? What if Product placement continues to become more popular and the series regulars do all the endorsing and commercial opportunities diminish even more significantly than they already have for your typical commercial actor?
** Do you do a lot of driving to jobs? Would you be willing to strike over an increase in the mileage reimbursement in this time of $4-$5/gallon gasoline when the federal rate is 58 cents and we have been making 30 cents for decades?
** Is there legitimately ANYTHING you would strike over? Let me know.
** Is there legitimately NOTHING you would strike over? Let me know.
Thank you for your responses. Your input is important to me and I will convey your thoughts to the negotiating committee.
In solidarity.
Anthony De Santis
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Please vote NO on the proposed AFTRA contract.
Do you really want AFTRA negotiating practically all of your work from now on? That’s exactly what’s going to happen if you vote to approve the AFTRA TV contract.
I don’t know who this person is who wrote this, but i felt compelled to at least send my thoughts to you. In addition to your encouragement for him or her to (get involved), I also added some thoughts in the text of their email.
Maybe helpful, maybe not.
(Text of original email is in regular font, actor’s response is in italics).
(Original email text begins here.) I’ve read every one of the emails from SAG related people over the last few months and now you’re going to read mine.
I would like to take this moment to give some perspective on the current SAG negotiations. The media always seems to “eat up” the controversy and in-fighting at SAG. So knock it off! “We all have to stand together or divided we fall!” After attending the Los Angeles Town Hall meeting on May 19th, I feel that we have the smartest and best of people working on our behalf and our guild is finally unified! Let’s remain unified and secure our future…
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Twenty years ago an actor received his first job on television. His “one line” wasn’t even a complete sentence; it was a hyphenate, just “Seventy-twenty-one.”
The casting director asked him if he would accept what was pretty much the minimum for the show, $600 for the day. Although 20 years ago SAG minimum was just around $350 at the time, it was fairly standard to pay far above that, even to an inexperienced day player at the time.