* Actors Back at Bargaining Table !!

Hollywood Reporter

1/5/2005

By Jesse Hiestand

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Negotiators for Hollywood's actors and the industry plan to resume contract talks Wednesday, and sources are confident that a deal can be reached fairly quickly, perhaps within days.

The optimism rests on the steadfastness of employers, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), who have demonstrated a willingness to increase health care contributions if Hollywood's unions abandon their efforts to get more DVD residuals.

Those basic terms were recently offered to, and accepted by, the Directors Guild of America and Writers Guild of America, leading to a quick resolution of those talks. Industry insiders believe the Screen Actors Guild (news - web sites) (SAG) and smaller cohort the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) have been offered a similar deal, giving them little choice but to take the health improvements or risk a prolonged and potentially devastating strike.

SAG officials insist they will still seek higher DVD residuals even though they understand that the studios are willing to risk a strike to preserve the current levels of DVD revenue.

In a recent message to members, SAG's lead negotiator, national executive director/CEO Bob Pisano, said the union would seek a "more equitable share of residuals" as well as higher funding for the pension and health plans, stronger terms for background actors and a further unifying of SAG and AFTRA's separate television agreements.

"Undoubtedly, we will face challenges similar to those that directors and writers at our sister guilds encountered this year," Pisano said in the winter issue of Screen Actor magazine. "Equally certain, we are ready to fight for the best deal possible for our members."

These talks originally got underway a year ago, though SAG-AFTRA took a one-year contract extension to avoid a showdown over residuals.

The current agreement does not expire until June 30 but AMPTP's member studios do not want the process to drag on, potentially forcing the studios to consider stockpiling features well in advance of a potential strike. That last happened in 2001, resulting in a "de facto" strike that saw months of frenzied production followed by a long lull.

The new talks opened Dec. 6 and recessed Dec. 16 for the holidays. The SAG-AFTRA talks are taking place at AMPTP's Encino headquarters amid a news blackout.

SAG officials may seek higher DVD residuals but unfortunately, half of the “Phase-one” structured negotiating team is AFTRA! And DVD ain’t a real big bleep on their radar!

So, even if the majority of SAG negotiators are willing to stand up for an increase in DVD revenue, the committee’s faction of SAG “go-along-to-get-alongs” with the support of an indifferent AFTRA bloc, under the leadership of Netflix Bob, will most likely gobble up whatever scraps Nick and his AMPTP pals put on the floor.

In light of the fact that under "Phase One" AFTRA accounts for only about five percent of the stakes but has a FIFTY PERCENT say in the outcome, ah, perhaps "Phase Two" should be to Phase Out "Phase One!"