More than 30 actors dissatisfied with stalled contract talks said Wednesday they have joined to campaign for seats on the Screen Actors Guild’s board of directors, a move that could eventually break the stalemate with Hollywood studios.
The 31 actors running under the name Unite for Strength are challenging the leadership of guild president Alan Rosenberg and the faction that supports him, Membership First.
“We can no longer afford leaders who sow division,” Unite for Strength leader Ned Vaughn said in a statement that singled out the gap that opened between SAG and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists during the talks.
In response, SAG said only that it planned to release the official list of candidates on Aug. 5 after the nominating period has closed and candidate eligibility has been confirmed.
Ballots will go out to members on Aug. 19 and are due back to the union by Sept. 18, with results expected to be announced that evening. About a third of the board’s 71 seats are at stake.
It’s unlikely there will be any movement in the negotiations until after the election, said entertainment attorney Jonathan Handel, a former associate counsel for the Writers Guild of America.
If the current leaders remain in control, it could be seen as an endorsement of their position on the contract. But a ballot result favoring Unite for Strength could prove to be a game-changer.
“If the challenge slate gains control, it will probably move to fire the executive director, change the composition of the negotiating committee, and the studios will probably sit down with them pretty promptly and negotiate a deal,” Handel said.
The studios, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, made what they have called their final offer on June 30, when the three-year SAG contract expired.
The producers have said the proposal is worth $250 million in additional compensation over three years, compared to the previous contract. SAG has disputed the figure and said the deal falls short in pay and union jurisdiction on made-for-Internet productions.
The offer mirrors those previously accepted by writers, directors and by AFTRA, the smaller actors union. SAG’s had urged AFTRA members to reject the deal.
The writers guild deal was reached after a 100-day strike that ended in February and cost the local economy an estimated $2 billion. SAG members have kept working after their contract expired.
The alliance has said it’s not interested in further negotiations. No new talks are scheduled.
“Private Practice” stars Kate Walsh and Amy Brenneman are part of the slate of challengers.
Unite for Strength said its goals are to win a majority of the national board seats designated for Hollywood branch members and to end control of the board by Membership First, which the new faction said has long maintained a hostile stance toward AFTRA.
A total of 11 board members and 22 alternates will be elected by Hollywood division members. The New York division is voting for five board members and nine alternates, with seven seats for SAG branches in other cities to be filled.
Rosenberg became president nearly three years ago with the goal of taking a harder line in contract talks with studios.
Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey Launch Production House 34North
Executive producers Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey have teamed to launch 34North. The shop opens with a roster which includes accomplished directors Jan Wentz, Ben Nakamura Whitehouse, David Edwards and Mario Feil, as well as such up-and-coming filmmakers as Glenn Stewart and Chris Fowles. Nakamura Whitehouse, Edwards, Feil and Fowles come over from CoMPANY Films, the production company for which Cicero served as an EP for the past nearly five years. Director Wentz had most recently been with production house Skunk while Stewart now gains his first U.S. representation. EP Clancey was freelance producing prior to the formation of 34North. He and Cicero have known each other for some 25 years, recently reconnecting on a job directed by Fowles. Cicero said that he and Clancey “want to keep a highly focused roster where talent management can be one on one--where we all share in the directors’ success together.” Clancey also brings an agency pedigree to the new venture. “I started at Campbell Ewald in accounts, no less,” said Clancey. “I saw firsthand how much work agencies put in before we even see a script. You have to respect that investment. These agency experiences really shaped my approach to production--it’s about empathy, listening between the lines, and ultimately making the process seamless.” 34North represents a meeting point--both literally and creatively. Named after the latitude of Malibu, Calif., where the idea for the company was born, it also embraces the power of storytelling. “34North118West was the first GPS-enabled narrative,” Cicero explained. “That blend of art and technology, to captivate an audience, mirrors what we do here--create compelling work, with talented people, harnessing state-of-the-art... Read More