By Robert Goldrich
With the recent changing of the guard at the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), there’s trepidation in some circles over the prospects for reaching an agreement on a new commercials contract next year. Hopefully those fears are unfounded and a fair contract can be attained without the angst and acrimony of 2000 when a six-month walkout arguably further fueled runaway spot production to foreign countries.
Perhaps some solace can be found in the nature of the Directors Guild of America (DGA) spot contract, which was recently ratified by Guild members (see story, p. 1). Indeed the give-and-take of collective bargaining can bear fruit. As reported in SHOOT last month, the negotiating teams for both sides felt they made significant gains in the new four-year pact, which runs through Oct. 31, 2009.
DGA president Michael Apted noted that the agreement contains substantial increases in health plan contributions and in minimum rates for directors and assistant directors.
According to DGA Eastern executive director Russ Hollander, the deal “will benefit both sides of the bargaining table–it means more work for the companies and more jobs for our members.” He stated that the Guild’s negotiating committee “was intent on finding creative solutions that benefit our members, while simultaneously enabling production companies to compete in the global marketplace.”
AICP president/CEO Matt Miller cited several areas of flexibility in the contract. These include under certain circumstances a U.S. production house not being required to transport a first assistant director to a foreign country where lensing is taking place. Miller related that saving assistant director first class travel and per diem on a U.K. shoot, for example, helps to make an American shop more competitive in bidding for the work against a U.K. production company.
Additionally, the AICP/DGA agreement has a low-budget provision, and gives “good faith consideration” to AICP production house requests to provide production services on U.S. shoots for non-signatory foreign production companies. This would apply only to spots that are being shown solely in foreign markets outside the U.S. and Canada.
The DGA has also agreed to make its longstanding assistant directors training program in New York more responsive to the commercialmaking community. There will be a newly placed emphasis, said Hollander, on training spot assistant directors.
Meanwhile, Hollander described DGA membership gains as substantive in terms of wage increases and increased pension and health contributions. The latter is essential given the state of healthcare.
“In many ways,” stated Miller, “our negotiations with the Guild reflect the close working relationship that commercial producers share with our directorial partners every day. Thanks to that relationship, and the Guild’s understanding of the unique nature of commercial production, we were able to make headway on issues that will allow our member companies to better compete in the global marketplace while continuing to afford members of the Guild important protections in the workplace.”
(For a more detailed rundown of the new DGA commercials contract, see SHOOT‘s previous coverage of the negotiated agreement–10/7, p. 1.)
Alec Baldwin Urges Judge To Stand By Dismissal Of Involuntary Manslaughter Case In “Rust” Shooting
Alec Baldwin urged a New Mexico judge on Friday to stand by her decision to skuttle his trial and dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against the actor in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie.
State District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case against Baldwin halfway through a trial in July based on the withholding of evidence by police and prosecutors from the defense in the 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust."
The charge against Baldwin was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it can't be revived once any appeals of the decision are exhausted.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey recently asked the judge to reconsider, arguing that there were insufficient facts and that Baldwin's due process rights had not been violated.
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer on "Rust," was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal when it went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the revolver fired.
The case-ending evidence was ammunition that was brought into the sheriff's office in March by a man who said it could be related to Hutchins' killing. Prosecutors said they deemed the ammunition unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin's lawyers alleged that they "buried" it and filed a successful motion to dismiss the case.
In her decision to dismiss the Baldwin case, Marlowe Sommer described "egregious discovery violations constituting misconduct" by law enforcement and prosecutors, as well as false testimony about physical evidence by a witness during the trial.
Defense counsel says that prosecutors tried to establish a link... Read More