As reported in last week’s SHOOT e.dition, the three-month Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike against the television/feature studios exacted a heavy toll on the California economy–at a time when our country’s economy was already, and continues to be, besieged by rising fuel, food and healthcare costs.
According to a Milken Institute study, the WGA strike, which ended four months ago, will cause a net loss this year of nearly 38,000 jobs tied directly and indirectly to the entertainment industry. Though the WGA strike concluded in February, many of those crew people who lost their jobs have not yet been hired back as TV/feature studios scaled back production.
The Milken research estimates that lost wages in California will amount to some $2.3 billion in ’08 due to the strike. These losses will diminish by early ’09 as production hopefully returns to previous levels–unless there’s a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) strike.
At press time, SAG was in talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on a new features/TV contract. The current SAG features/TV pact expires on June 30.
Meanwhile the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), which split from SAG to conduct its own collective bargaining sessions with the AMPTP, has reached an agreement on a new features/TV contract. However, at press time, SAG was asking those of its members who are also in AFTRA’s rank and file to vote against ratification of that AFTRA/AMPTP contract, contending that it undermines actors getting the best possible feature/TV deal.
The ad biz will has cast an interested eye on how the SAG/AFTRA relationship evolves. Keep in mind that the two-year extension to the commercials contract for actors is set to expire at the end of October. It remains to be seen what bearing, if any, AFTRA’s split from SAG on the primetime TV contract front will have on prospects for reaching an agreement with the ad industry.
The commercials contract extension was agreed upon by the advertising industry, SAG and AFTRA. The two years have and are being used to conduct a joint study exploring alternative compensation models for performers spanning traditional spots as well as nontraditional ad fare spanning a growing array of new media. The results of that study are to be used to form the basis for renegotiating the next commercials contract this year.
There’s been nary a whisper of what that joint study has yielded thus far. Whether no news is good news or if that silence is ominous depends on whether you view the proverbial glass as being half full or half empty.
While one of civilization’s failings has been to let bad history repeat itself through the ages, our sincere hope is that labor and management will learn a lesson from recent history, namely the heavy losses in jobs and revenue resulting from the WGA strike. We cannot afford any more prolonged labor unrest. So consider it our wish that cooler heads prevail, that both sides of the negotiations keep the greater good in mind and work in cooperative give-and-take fashion to arrive at fair deals.
Netflix Series “The Leopard” Spots Classic Italian Novel, Remakes It As A Sumptuous Period Drama
"The Leopard," a new Netflix series, takes the classic Italian novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and transforms it into a sumptuous period piece showing the struggles of the aristocracy in 19th-century Sicily, during tumultuous social upheavals as their way of life is crumbling around them.
Tom Shankland, who directs four of the eight episodes, had the courage to attempt his own version of what is one of the most popular films in Italian history. The 1963 movie "The Leopard," directed by Luchino Visconti, starring Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale, won the Palme d'Or in Cannes.
One Italian critic said that it would be the equivalent of a director in the United States taking "Gone with the Wind" and turning it into a series, but Shankland wasn't the least bit intimidated.
He said that he didn't think of anything other than his own passion for the project, which grew out of his love of the book. His father was a university professor of Italian literature in England, and as a child, he loved the book and traveling to Sicily with his family.
The book tells the story of Don Fabrizio Corbera, the Prince of Salina, a tall, handsome, wealthy aristocrat who owns palaces and land across Sicily.
His comfortable world is shaken with the invasion of Sicily in 1860 by Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was to overthrow the Bourbon king in Naples and bring about the Unification of Italy.
The prince's family leads an opulent life in their magnificent palaces with servants and peasants kowtowing to their every need. They spend their time at opulent banquets and lavish balls with their fellow aristocrats.
Shankland has made the series into a visual feast with tables heaped with food, elaborate gardens and sensuous costumes.... Read More