IUC Discussion Forum

http://blog.sagwatch.net/2009/…..e-reached/

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Rumors are flying that SAG and the AMPTP are close to reaching a settlement on a 2-year Film/TV contract:

The Screen Actors Guild and the congloms have begun moving toward a tentative agreement on the long-stalled feature-primetime contract with a 2011 expiration.

SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers had no comment Sunday. But members of SAG’s negotiating task force have been summoned to meet Tuesday for an update on recent informal talks with the companies — a step indicating that recent back-channel talks have likely led to a compromise that’s acceptable to both sides.

It’s not yet clear whether Tuesday’s meeting will lead to the announcement of a tentative agreement with the AMPTP or a final round of negotiations.

SAG spokeswoman Pam Greenwalt denies that any actual deal has been reached, characterizing any such report as “premature.” Regardless, the opposition remains:

SAG hardliners, who lost their board majority last fall, have promised to oppose the deal as falling short in a wide variety of areas, particularly in new-media. Hollywood-based Membership First has been staging weekly rallies to blast the deal, usually drawing about 100 supporters, and will stage this week’s event outside AMPTP’s headquarters in Encino on Thursday.

Over at the Los Angeles Times, Richard Verrier reports:

SAG’s interim executive director David White and a group of top entertainment executives are “very close” to resolving most of the remaining sticking points that caused negotiations to break off in February, according to people familiar with the situation who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss the negotiations.

White has spent the last four weeks meeting privately with several top Hollywood executives, including Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger and News Corp. President Peter Chernin to end the standoff. Iger and Chernin played a pivotal role in helping to craft new contracts last year with Hollywood’s directors and writers. They and other studio executives began talking among themselves last month about finding a way to end the impasse after receiving calls from big-name actors including Tom Hanks and George Clooney.

Verrier adds, optimistically, that “The union’s national board could vote on a final contract when it meets April 18.”

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UPDATE: Jonathan Handel observes that the passage of time throws more roadblocks in the path of reaching a deal:

Right now, AFTRA’s minimum are 3.5% higher than SAG’s. That’s because AFTRA did a deal last June, and received an increase at that time. SAG has continued to work under the expired agreement and old rates. Come June 30 of this year—a scant 12 weeks from now—AFTRA’s minimums will kick up another 3.0%, while SAG will still be stuck in neutral if there’s no contract. At that point, it would take a 6.5% increase to bring SAG up to parity.

Are the studios likely to cough up such a large increase? Maybe. And maybe you’ll find dollar beers and fifty-cent pizzas at the local multiplex. In other words, not likely—or not easily, at any rate. The point is, the pay gap would become yet another tough issue to fight over, and yet another impediment to a deal.

Handel believes the window to reach a deal is short — maybe two months — after which the next round of SAG elections will prevent any further movement until at least October or later. At that point, of course, preserving a mid-2011 expiration date would be extraordinarily difficult.”

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