On the heels of earning an Emmy for his role in HBO’s Grey Gardens, Ken Howard scored another victory with his election to serve a two-year term as president of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).
Howard won 47 percent of the ballots cast, easily outdistancing Anne-Marie Johnson who finished second with some 32 percent of the 27,295 votes.
Howard succeeds outgoing president Alan Rosenberg whose Membership First coalition had backed Johnson. Howard is part of the Unite for Strength wing of SAG which is billed as being more moderate in its approach to negotiations and other unions. Howard in fact campaigned on the promise that he would strive to establish a closer bond with the American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (AFTRA) as a means to help strengthen SAG’s position at the negotiating table with producers.
Unite for Strength also gained additional clout within the union as its candidate Amy Aquino won election to a two-year term as secretary-treasurer, outdistancing chief candidate Connie Stevens. Furthermore, Unite for Strength won a majority of the 22 seats up for grabs on the 69-member board spanning SAG’s Hollywood, New York and Regional Branch divisions.
Johnson and Stevens, however, were elected from the Hollywood division as national SAG board members.
“Despite the sharp differences that those of us active in Guild affairs sometimes have over strategy and tactics, we need to continually remind ourselves that we’re all on the same team, fighting for the same thing–and by pulling together, we’ll only grow stronger.”
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