Now Eyes Turn To Actors Whose Contract Expires June 30
On Sunday (2/10), the Writers Guild of America (WGA) board and negotiating committee unanimously approved a tentative contract reached on Feb. 1 with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). And now the deal is no longer tentative as WGA members who cast ballots overwhelmingly voted in favor of returning to work. Some 93 percent of the 3,775 who voted gave a thumbs-up to ending the strike.
The new writers’ contract is modeled to some extent on the agreement reached earlier between the AMPTP and the Directors Guild of America (DGA), which included an accord on the key issue of compensation for content running on the Internet.
As reported in SHOOT, the WGA strike–which began on Nov. 5–has had indirect and direct impact on the advertising and spotmaking communities. For example, the direct impact on the visual effects biz has been profoundly negative, according to then Visual Effects Society (VES) chair Jeffrey A. Okun (SHOOT, 12/7/07).
Beyond the industry, the strike has hit the economy at large quite hard, particularly in Greater Los Angeles where assorted businesses depend on revenue generated by feature and TV production. Estimates run as high as the L.A. economy losing some $22 million a day because of the work stoppage.
Hopes now run high that at least part of the primetime TV season can be salvaged. Also high on the wish list is that the agreements between the AMPTP and the WGA and DGA, respectively, will make upcoming negotiations with the actors proceed smoothly and yield a contract sans any strike action. The actors’ unions agreement with the AMPTP is set to expire on June 30. But there’s some acrimony already on just one side of the bargaining table as the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) has broken ranks with the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).
AFTRA’s board of directors voted on Feb. 2 to separately negotiate its upcoming primetime TV contract with the AMPTP–without SAG being party to those talks. If that AFTRA decision holds, it will conclude a longstanding joint partnership between the two actors’ unions in negotiations with the major feature/TV studios.
And keep in mind that the extension to the commercials contract for actors is set to expire at the end of October. It remains to be seen what bearing, if any, AFTRA’s split from SAG on the primetime TV contract front will have on prospects for reaching an agreement with the ad industry.
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More