In a painful case of déjà vu—only this time drawn out over 13 days of intense negotiations in New York—the actors’ unions and the ad industry have failed to reach an agreement on a new contract. This means that any hope for an immediate end to the actors’ strike has been quashed, with no new talks scheduled.
Facilitated by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, this was the third get-together between the two sides since the strike by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) began on May 1. But optimism was building in this latest round of talks due to its duration (the two earlier sessions broke off quickly) and the fact that it seemed incumbent upon the unions and the Joint Policy Committee (JPC) on Broadcast Talent Relations to finally come to a settlement. The JPC represents the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s) in the negotiations.
However, the stumbling blocks somehow proved too great. And yet again, the sides came away with strikingly different interpretations of the proposals on the table and what they represented monetarily. Of the ad agencies and the advertisers, SAG president William Daniels stated: "During a period of record profits and unprecedented prosperity for their industry, they have refused to offer an overall increase of more than seven percent over a three-year period."
By sharp contrast, the JPC contended that its proposal called for a seven percent increase each of the next three years. The JPC noted that it also backed off its demand to end pay-for-play residual payments on Class A network television.
SAG and AFTRA claimed that in exchange for retaining Class A residuals, the JPC insisted on an undesirable cable payment structure. The JPC refuted this contention, countering that over the life of its proposed three-year pact, cable payments would have increased 85 percent as compared to the prior contract.
Another major sticking point centered on commercials produced specifically for the Internet. "The JPC recognizes the importance of the Internet going forward, but unanimously agreed that given the early stages of broadband in the medium, more information is essential," related JPC chief negotiator John McGuinn.
The JPC proposed the formation of a joint committee, with industry and actors’ union representatives, to analyze and observe the use of commercials made for the Web during the three-year span of the proposed contract. In the case of so-called "move-overs," commercials made originally for television that are then used on the Internet, the JPC offered a standard payment of three and a half session fees, a 50 percent hike over the current prescribed rate.
But in the new media arena, the JPC was only willing to recognize the unions’ jurisdiction over spots made for TV that later surface on the Web. The JPC claimed that the actors’ unions don’t have authority in the case of spots made expressly for the Internet.
"The industry has refused to recognize the unions’ jurisdiction over commercials produced for the Internet," confirmed AFTRA president Shelby Scott. "This position is totally untenable; the performers are the same, the work is the same, the employers are the same. In fact, the only difference is that the industry seeks to deny these actors the benefits provided by their unions for all other commercial productions."
Federal mediators proposed a 90-day "cooling-off period" during which actors could go back to work under terms of the old contract while negotiators continue to work at hammering out a new contract. The JPC agreed to the 90-day window but SAG and AFTRA rejected the idea on the grounds that it would allow advertisers to stockpile new commercials that could be used if the strike resumed.
SAG and AFTRA now figure to escalate their strike activities, deploying major celebrity power to try to gain more coverage in the consumer press and to marshal public opinion in the unions’ favor. The actors’ unions also will institute a previously announced plan to boycott Procter & Gamble (SHOOT, 9/29, p. 1).
The JPC, in the meantime, maintains its stance that spots will continue to be produced. "Commercial production has continued at high levels throughout the strike," said Ira Shepard, legal counsel to the JPC. "The industry intends to continue commercial production until an equitable resolution of this strike can be reached."
However, that ongoing spot production isn’t translating into business for many stateside crew people and industry suppliers/ support services. Picketing in Greater Los Angeles, for instance, has prompted commercial shoots to move to other U.S. cities, as well as to foreign countries.
As chronicled in SHOOT, spot location filming levels have declined dramatically in Los Angeles over the past five-plus months of the strike. According to a preliminary tally from the Entertainment Industry Development Corporation (EIDC)—the private/public sector partnership that oversees the joint Los Angeles County/City Film Office—there were 164 commercial location shoot days in Los Angeles from Sept. 1 to 28, a 62 percent decrease as compared to the 438 shoot-day total for the same period in 1999.
From May 1 to Sept. 28, 2000, there were 1,266 film permits issued for exterior spot shooting in Greater Los Angeles, a 51 percent drop from the 2,618 granted for the same five-month stretch in ’99.
According to local government officials, the strike has cost Los Angeles an average of $1 million in direct revenue daily during the Monday-Friday workweek. When factoring in the indirect economic impact of that business, the loss per workday rises to $2.5 million.
"It’s an understatement to say that we’re disappointed," said Matt Miller, president of the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP). "It’s incredible based on what we’ve seen that these two parties weren’t able to come together on an agreement over the course of 13 days. … This is a very negative, hard time for the industry. People are going to continue doing what they need to do … [production] work will continue. But it’s one thing to hunker down and stay the course when you see some light at the end of the tunnel. It’s quite another when there seems to be no end in sight. The actors are hurting. Crew people are hurting. Industry support services and suppliers are hurting."
The prolonged strike will only serve to further fuel runaway production, continued Miller. American production companies find themselves increasingly in Canada and overseas.
And even when the strike eventually ends, the damage could be lasting to the aforementioned U.S. crew people and the country’s infrastructure of support service/supplier companies. An increasing number of advertisers and agencies have had favorable experiences—creatively and in terms of cost savings—shooting in foreign countries during the strike. "Clients and agencies have bid many cities in the past," said Miller. "But now there will be a larger international list in that mix of cities, as more [advertisers and agencies] have become comfortable working outside the U.S."
Ironically, as news emerged that the strike figures to go on indefinitely—likely escalating runaway spot production—California is on the verge of deploying two progressive measures that offer incentives for filming in the state (see separate story, p. 1).
