Brian Hamilton

By David Robb

When actor Robert Loggia died in 2015, his widow, Audrey Loggia, was notified by the SAG Health Plan that she was entitled to receive continuing health coverage as a surviving spouse “for the remainder of her lifetime or until she remarried.” But a class action lawsuit filed today against the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan and its trustees says that “before either of those circumstances appreciated, the Plan notified her on November 24, 2020, that she would lose coverage on September 30, 2021” under eligibility and benefit changes that take effect in the New Year.

Facing staggering deficits, the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan announced in August that it will be raising premiums and earnings thresholds for coverage on Jan. 1 in order to stay afloat. “While this restructuring will preserve access to an excellent health plan for the majority of our participants, the changes will be disruptive for some,” the Plan said in a letter to participants, noting that those who lose coverage because they don’t meet the new earnings requirements may be eligible for coverage under Obama Care. “Without restructuring the Health Plans, we are projecting a deficit of $141 million this year and $83 million in 2021, and by 2024 the Health Plan is projected to run out of reserves,” the letter stated.

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from VARIETY:

The SAG-AFTRA Health Plan and its trustees have been sued in federal court by Ed Asner and nine other senior participants over the upcoming cuts in benefits and eligibility for the plan.

Asner, a six-time Emmy winner, is the lead plaintiff in the class action complaint, which was filed on Tuesday in Los Angeles. The suit alleges two counts of breach of fiduciary duty, one count of engaging in a prohibited transaction and one count of failing to disclose information material to plan participants.

The suit said the 91-year-old Asner, a former SAG president and current member of the SAG-AFTRA national board, will lose his coverage, even though he had more than $25,950 in yearly covered earnings with residuals and sessional earnings because he will not reach the new qualifying threshold by sessional earnings.

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FilmLA Explains Why It Quickly Rescinded New Limits On After-Hours Filming In Los Angeles – Update
By David Robb at DEADLINE

November 25, 2020 2:55pm
Without explaining its reasoning, the film-permitting office just issued this statement:

“Los Angeles County and the City of Los Angeles have advised FilmLA that filming will not be restricted to the hours between 5 a.m. / 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., as previously announced. Filmmakers are highly encouraged to stay within those limits, if feasible, and be mindful of community impact while California’s Limited Stay at Home Order is in effect. Today’s original Production Alert is hereby withdrawn. This notice will be removed from the FilmLA website on 11/27/20.”

Reached by Deadline today, Dr. Muntu Davis, L.A. County’s health officer — the person who actually signs health-closure orders — said of FilmLA’s original order: “As far as we have discussed, we mirror the state’s order on that. I don’t know where that’s coming from.”

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Nov 25, 2020 7:00am PT :  By Cynthia Littleton at Variety

This is the winter of discontent for Hollywood workers, as no level of seniority has been spared from the wave of mass layoffs.

Warner Bros. has been shaken by two rounds of layoffs and a wholesale restructuring that have ushered out veterans with decades of service to the Hollywood studio.

NBCUniversal has rewired the structure of its TV content production and distribution operations, leading to hundreds of job cuts. ViacomCBS has periodically shed bodies by the dozens in the year since its two halves formally tied the knot again in December 2019. AMC Networks last week disclosed it will let go of 10% of its U.S. workforce, or about 100 staffers.

Discovery Inc., Sony Pictures and Lionsgate have also let sizable numbers of staffers go in 2020.

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