One down, one to go. That’s the simplified scorecard on the labor front—as talks between the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the Alliance of Motion Picture &Television Producers (AMPTP) were, at press time, slated to begin this week.
The "one down" refers to the settlement reached earlier this month (5/4) on a tentative three-year Writers Guild of America (WGA)/AMPTP contract. Last week, the WGA board approved the agreement, which is now subject to ratification by WGA members. Ratification is considered a fait accompli.
The accord between writers and feature and television producers was welcome news to the commercialmaking community (SHOOT, 5/11, p. 1), which had feared that a WGA strike would compromise the fall TV season, causing advertisers to curtail their original spot production. That same trepidation now applies to the prospect of a SAG strike against the feature/TV studios.
But the WGA contract certainly improves chances that the AMPTP and SAG can follow suit and hammer out an agreement. Furthermore, conventional wisdom is that SAG would not be quick to go out on strike this time after having struck for six months last year against the advertising industry. The commercials strike cost SAG members more than $100 million in lost wages, and word is that the union would be hard pressed to go out again in light of that significant financial hit.
SAG and AMPTP talks are taking place at the AMPTP’s Encino headquarters. The current AMPTP contract with SAG expires June 30.
