In our special 40th Anniversary Supplement on Nov. 3, the value of history and its relevance to today and tomorrow were clearly borne out. There are distinct parallels that can be drawn between the past and the present—and between the past and our industry’s future.
The adage that we can learn from our past rings resoundingly true. Alas, so too does the adage that bad chapters in history repeat themselves when we fail to take such lessons to heart.
Which adage will apply to the upcoming actors’ and writers’ negotiations for a new feature/ TV contract? In this case, the lesson to be learned from history does not require deep retrospective powers—all one has to do is go back to May 1 when the actors’ strike against the advertising industry began. After six months of labor unrest, a settlement was finally reached—with terms that seemingly could have been hammered out much earlier if different, more progressive strategies had been applied by both sides.
Instead, the prolonged six-month stretch translated into financial hardship for union actors, U.S. crew people and support service businesses. The strike served to only exacerbate a profound runaway production problem. And the strike’s settlement isn’t likely to be a panacea for the exodus of American spot production to foreign countries. During the strike, many advertisers had positive creative and cost-saving experiences shooting outside the U.S., and have come to regard the foreign option as viable.
It’s estimated that during the actors’ strike, SAG and AFTRA members lost well in excess of $200 million. Greater Los Angeles was adversely impacted to the tune of some $1.5 million for each day of the strike.
A feature/TV strike next year could cost Southern California a staggering $1.8 billion to $2 billion a month, according to the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation’s chief economist. And with long-form production timetables sped up now in anticipation of a possible strike or strikes, there could be a dead period next year of two to three months even if a strike action doesn’t come to pass.
Clearly, it’s imperative that management and labor come together to avert such insanity—the way they should have come together to avoid, or at least reduce, the duration of the actors’ spot strike.
Feature/TV labor unrest would have a ripple effect on the commercialmaking community, as pointed out by Gary Rose, partner/executive producer of bicoastal Moxie Pictures, in this week’s Special Report On Production Companies (see story, p. 34). If a strike comes to fruition and if it "has some legs and the networks are forced to re-run shows, trust me—advertisers aren’t going to want to produce new work for old shows that they figure they’re not going to get the viewership for," observed Rose.
It also stands to reason that a feature/TV strike would cause suppliers in that sector to seek out other pockets of business, including commercials. That would have a negative impact on those spot supply/support service houses that are just now trying to recover from the actors’ strike against the advertising industry. "We could be getting squeezed again," related Rufus Burnham, principal in The Camera House, a North Hollywood-based spot specialty rental shop that was hit hard by the SAG/AFTRA commercials strike.
Additionally, several ad agency heads of production have told me that they’re already receiving inquiries from agents representing feature talent—directors, DPs and performers—about possible spot work next year. "If a strike occurs, you might see an influx of feature people who weren’t available for commercials ever before," said an agency executive producer who requested anonymity. "I’ve had some intriguing names come up."
