SAG Strikewatch: Waiting For AFTRA
July 8, 2008 by Tom
Image details: Screen Actors Guild Holds Labor Rally In Los Angeles served by picapp.com
Now that filming is underway, Ugly Betty fans are holding their breath. Will it suddenly come to an end due to labor strife, as it did when the writers went on strike last year?
I haven’t spoken much about it because I don’t want to jinx it, but the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) is now effectively working without a contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), and negotiations have been…somewhat less than cordial.
Here’s the latest news, as reported by Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood Daily. Last week, the AMPTP made a “last best final” offer (something they also did with the writers several times). The evaluation and negotiation about that offer has stopped, until the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) votes on their deal, hammered out with the studios on May 28 (boy, they’re in no hurry to ratify, are they?). The votes should be counted by tonight, with an announcement shortly thereafter.
So, we wait.
In the meantime, what’s your feel on all of this? Will there be an actors strike? Or would the cost to both sides be so high, they’ll find a way to hammer out a deal? I haven’t done a poll in a while, so I’ll make that this week’s poll question.
I’m one of the two UB fans following the strike for the MGSG forum and it’s looking like SAG may not have the back-up needed to get an approval vote for a strike. I’ve seen quotes from a lot of actors that are remembering the stress put on Hollywood by the writer’s strike and are feeling less than thrilled about being the reason behind another strike.
It’s hard to tell who’s holding the most cards at the table, but it’s looking more and more like this time it’s the AMPTP. I read an article in the NYT that TV studio execs aren’t sweating this strike like they were the writer’s strike because they can just plop in another reality show. (here’s the article–http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/arts/television/01netw.html?_r=1&ref=arts&oref=slogin) That saddens me because I’m not looking forward to a Fall season of mostly reality TV. However, I’m optimistically believing that a resolution will be decided way before a strike vote needs to be called… And really, it looks like it’s all depending on how the vote on the AFTRA contract falls.
i just hope that there aren’t as many interruptions, in contrast to last time, which as a result affected season 2 of ugly betty. although i’d be shocked and gutted if this show was cancelled or pulled off the network for good, should things such as the strike affect the production of the show