At press time, as the actors’ strike entered its fourth week, dramatically different views were voiced as to its impact on spot production. Ira Shepard, legal counsel to the Joint Policy Committee (JPC) of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s) and the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), stated: "We have now met with over 600 advertisers, agency and production officials, and can report that commercial production is continuing virtually unimpeded by the SAG/AFTRA strike."
The JPC canvassed those 600 professionals largely during the course of forums it held last week in Chicago and Los Angeles, and the week prior in New York. Advertisers, agencies and commercial producers attended the sessions, which reviewed procedures for producing commercials during the strike, and provided updates on the industry situation.
Shepard’s claim also gained some measure of statistical verification, as the Los Angeles City/ County Film Office reported that through the first 22 days of the strike, there were 350 locations reflected in film permits for spot shooting in Greater Los Angeles. That is a 12.5 percent decrease from the tally of 400 reported for the same time period in ’99.
However, a pair of impartial sources, who requested anonymity, claimed that the Los Angeles City/County numbers might not represent as accurate a measuring stick as they have in the past. Some contend that the industry has been including a number of false multiple locations on permit applications to throw off union organizers in an attempt to avoid picketing at filming sites.
Reports of picketing at spot locations have also yielded mixed assessments. Picketing actions in the core of Los Angeles, including Hollywood and downtown, have seen a strong turnout in numbers. But several picket lines in outlying Southern California areas appear to be thinning. SAG and AFTRA also picketed the aforementioned JPC forum in Los Angeles.
