A newspaper ad placed by Hollywood studios touts their contract offer to the Screen Actors Guild as a groundbreaking deal that mirrors those already accepted by other industry unions.
Meanwhile, guild leaders pressed their case at a weekend SAG meeting attended by an estimated 700 people and got an enthusiastic reception, Daily Variety reported on its Web site Sunday.
SAG President Alan Rosenberg and Doug Allen, national executive director, said over the weekend that negotiations are continuing despite the studios’ insistence that they put their final offer on the table June 30.
The SAG leaders didn’t discuss strategy but Allen noted that SAG still could strike, Variety said. The union has not scheduled a strike authorization vote.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers ad, to appear Monday in the Los Angeles Times, is titled “The Deal: Let’s Keep Working” and includes comments made by other union leaders about their agreements reached earlier this year.
Writers Guild of America, West, President Patric M. Verrone is quoted as calling the writers’ contract “the best the guild has bargained for in 30 years” — a comment he made in March when WGA leaders recommended the proposal to its members.
The ad repeats the studios’ contention that their three-year offer to SAG would give members $250 million in additional compensation and “the same groundbreaking new-media terms that have already served as the cornerstone” of other major industry agreements.
In explaining its rejection of the offer, SAG has disputed that figure and cited shortfalls in pay and union jurisdiction on made-for-Internet productions. It claims the deal would allow nonunion actors into almost all new-media productions for the foreseeable future.
SAG did not immediately respond Sunday night to an e-mail request seeking comment on the alliance ad.
The two sides met several times since June 30, when the current contract expired, but no progress has been reported. No new meetings were scheduled.
Producers have said if their final offer is not ratified by Aug. 15, any proposed wage increases would not be made retroactive to July 1, potentially costing actors more than $200,000 a day.
SAG represents 120,000 actors in movies, TV and other media.
“Se7en” Turns 30, Gets A Special Restoration From David Fincher For Its Re-Release
For David Fincher, seeing “Se7en” in 4K was an experience he can only describe as harrowing. That or a high school reunion.
“There are definitely moments that you go, ‘What was I thinking?’ Or ‘Why did I let this person have that hairdo’?” Fincher said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.
He’s OK with the film being a product of its time in most respects. But some things just could not stand in high-definition resolution.
“It was a little decrepit, to be honest,” said Fincher. “We needed to resuscitate it. There are things you can see in 4K HDR that you cannot see on a film print.”
Ever the perfectionist, he and a team got to work on a new restoration of the film for its 30th anniversary re-release. This weekend the restored “Se7en” will play on IMAX screens for the first time in the U.S. and Canada, and on Jan. 7, the 4K UHD home video version will be available as well.
The dark crime thriller written by Andrew Kevin Walker and starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman as a pair of detectives looking for a serial killer was somewhat of a career-reviver for Fincher, whose directorial debut “Alien 3” had not gone well. “Se7en” was not a sure thing: It was made for only $34 million (and only got that when Fincher managed to persuade studio execs to give up $3 million more). But it went on to earn more than $327 million, not accounting for inflation, and continues to influence the genre.
Fincher has over the years overseen several restorations of the film (including one for laser disc) but decided this needed to be the last. It’s why he insisted on an 8K scan that they could derive the 4K from. He wanted to ensure that it wouldn’t have to be repeated when screens get more... Read More