NEWS

THE SCREEN ACTORS GUILD STRIKE

This year the film industry is flinching in anticipation of the largest strike they have ever faced by the SAG (Screen Actors Guild), the American labor union representing over 120,000 actors of the film and television industry.The anticipated strike would be against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), a trade organization that represents the interests of American film producers, production companies, and movie studios.

The proposed strikes are coming at a time when the American Film and Television industry is still reeling from the loss of revenue encountered from the writers strike in November 2007 that lasted for five months. Both strikes are about the current handling of royalties from the sale of films distributed through new media methods. This includes royalties earned from Internet distribution services such as iTunes, as well as DVD sales, neither of which are currently written into actors contracts.

The strike date is set for some time this month, chosen due to its coinciding with the expiration of several contracts between the labor union and the AMPTP. Talks are currently being held on the possible terms of a renewal, but the two sides are reportedly far from any deal. The 2007-2008 Writer’s strike cost the industry dearly with controversial estimates putting the cost to the economy of Los Angeles at $1.5 billion, with many saying it may have cost them more than that. If that’s anything to go by the Actor’s strike could cost even more money for LA. People are trying their damndest to stop the strike but with talks having ended on July 7th things don’t look good.

The Guild was founded in 1933 in an effort to eliminate exploitation of actors in Hollywood who were being forced into oppressive multi-year contracts with the major movie studios, which did not include restrictions on work hours or minimum rest periods, and often had clauses that automatically renewed at the studios' discretion. These contracts were notorious for allowing the studios to dictate the public and private lives of the performers who signed them, and most did not have provisions to allow the performer to end the deal.

It is because the unions involved represent the near sum-total of working actors (for film and television) in America, film industry leaders agree that if the strike does occur, film production (including scripted television programming) would be practically at complete standstill during the strike period. Production companies are therefore bracing for the strike by accelerating production of films and television episodes in the time prior to the strike, in an effort to stockpile enough material to continue regular film releases and TV schedules during the strike period. Michael Bay is rumored to have decided against filming Transformers this summer instead working on a project predominantly CGI based so as to remain unaffected by the strike.