With an actors strike set to begin on May 1 (SHOOT, 4/21, p. 1), the spotmaking community is preparing to continue production with nonunion actors and willing union actors in the U.S. or in foreign countries, if necessary. Were going to hunker down and do as much work as we can, related Matt Miller, president of the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP).
As earlier reported (SHOOT, 3/17, p. 1), the AICP sent a memo to casting and talent agents nationwide, asking them to be prepared to continue working in the event of a strike. According to Miller, the casting community has been cooperative in facilitating the nonunion alternative. Theyve collected tons of head shots [of nonunion performers], related Miller, adding that even before the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) approved the strike start date, a number of nonunion casting breakdowns had made their way through the commercial industry pipeline. Some of those were obviously for dual casting at that time, said Miller. But the point is that the wheels are in motion.
Meanwhile, the SAG and AFTRA executive boards have reportedly been discussing plans to formulate an interim agreement that individual advertisers can sign in order to keep producing commercials with union talent during the strike. The Joint Policy Committee (JPC) of the Association of American Advertising Agencies (4As) and the Association of National Advertisers have advised advertisers and agencies not to agree to the interim pact, which would contain terms proposed by SAG and AFTRA in their negotiations with the JPC.
As previously delineated, the major stumbling block in those talks has been the residuals issue. The ad industry wants to replace the pay-per-play residuals system for spots on broadcast network television with a flat-rate formula. Meanwhile, SAG and AFTRA are looking to not only retain the residual system for broadcast but also to extend it to spots that run on cable television.
The unions regard the JPC proposal as a serious rollback for actors. In an age of unprecedented prosperity for both the advertising and entertainment industries, management is crying poverty and wants to roll back the gains working actors have made over the past four decades, said SAG president William Daniels in a released statement. It is SAG and AFTRA members-their voices and faces-who expertly sell the products that create revenue and income for advertisers and agencies. To not allow performers their fair share of the wealth they create for others is wrong; asking for rollbacks in this time of economic growth is insulting.
A statement from AFTRA president Shelby Scott read: We are particularly concerned over establishing equitable pay for television commercials that appear on the now extremely profitable cable networks, and for commercials played on or made for the Internet, and instituting a monitoring system that would allow for accurate payment of residuals to our members.
However, the JPC claims that its proposals are fair given the changing nature of the media landscape. Attorney John McGuinn, the JPCs chief negotiator, related that the residuals system was instituted back when there were only three major networks that collectively delivered a 90 audience share. Today, continued McGuinn, the big three networks have been reduced to less than 50 percent of the audience while other broadcast networks (i.e.-WB, UPN, Fox) have emerged and cable networks have proliferated. This significantly escalates the uses of commercials in a given 13-week cycle, contends the JPC, noting that this does not translate into reaching a greater number of viewers. Instead a commercial must air many more times to reach close to the same level of viewership attained back in the days of dominance by the big three networks.
The JPC thus argues that the residuals system is seriously flawed, and that a flat payment formula better reflects current marketplace reality. The JPC also contests the union contention that the increasing number of uses has led to overexposure of performers. The ad industry claims that each use of a spot in a 13-week cycle reaches a smaller audience, negating the overexposure contention.
Per its last formal proposal on April 14-the day negotiations broke off-the JPC said that it offered significant gains to union members. With the contingency that SAG and AFTRA accept a flat payment structure in broadcast, the JPC proposal calls for a claimed 60 percent increase in current cable rates for spot usage.
The unions dispute the alleged size of that increase, countering that in the big picture with the JPC residuals rollback, actors earnings would be adversely impacted. Meanwhile, the JPC says that under the unions suggested cable residuals system, payment for actors would increase more than 350 percent.
If the strike materializes and serves as a catalyst for spot production leaving the U.S., it represents a sad irony, according to Miller. As earlier reported (SHOOT, 7/9/99, p. 1), SAG has staunchly opposed runaway production, teaming last year with the DGA to co-sponsor a study documenting the detrimental economic impact that lost filming business has on the U.S. economy.
As American clients have been shooting increasingly in foreign locales-for creative reasons and/or to save money in production (via favorable exchange rates and other factors)-talent buyouts have also been discovered as a significant source of cost savings. Last summer, the AICP issued a position paper on runaway production, suggesting various means to address the issue, including a restructuring of costly residual use fee systems. The AICP letter claimed that usage fees for onscreen talent serve as strong financial deterrents to U.S. advertisers shooting domestically (SHOOT, 7/23/99, p. 1).
In light of the pending actors strike, Miller related, While our members can work anywhere, weve always pointed out that we need to make things more film-friendly here. The more expensive it is here, the less friendly it becomes. To widen the gap between how business is done here and abroad will hurt-and this comes at an unfortunate time.
The irony, continued Miller, is that the industry [JPC] position in the long run will help the health of the American industry and union members.
While some harbor hope that the actors unions and the JPC will resume talks prior to May 1, McGuinn told SHOOT that seemed highly doubtful. However, SAG and AFTRA have said that their negotiating team has confirmed its willingness to return to the negotiating table to avoid the work stoppage, if the industry is prepared to address the key issues of concern.
