The ABCs Of SAG: Do They Really Spell Strike?

By William Booth
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 30, 2008

Q: Whoa!? Are the Hollywood actors going on strike?

A: Not yet. The Screen Actors Guild's three-year contract expires today. The actors union and the movie and television producers have been negotiating a new deal for weeks. The actors and their studio bosses are fighting over a super complex formula involving --

-- Money?

Very perceptive. The actors are beating the tom-toms, and Tinseltown is bracing for possible picket lines. But a strike, if it comes, is likely several weeks away.

Isn't George Clooney going to save the day?

The Clooney is trying. He issued a public appeal Thursday pleading with the two sides to lay down their rhetorical arms. "What we can't do is pit artist against artist," Clooney wrote.

Wait -- actors vs. actors. Sounds hot. What show are you talking about?

There are actually two "sister unions" representing actors, the littler American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) and the bigger Screen Actors Guild (SAG). The two guilds have traditionally negotiated their deals side by side with the studios, but this year there was a spat between the sisters and they're no longer on speaking terms.

The studios must be loving that.

It gets worse. There are 70,000 members in AFTRA. There are 120,000 members in SAG. There are 44,000 people who belong to both unions. AFTRA reached a tentative agreement with the studios. SAG is now asking its "dual-card" members who belong to AFTRA to reject that contract, saying it weakens their position at the bargaining table and calling the deal "not good enough." The national executive director of AFTRA, Kim Roberts Hedgpeth, countered by calling the SAG meddling "appalling," "shameful" and "a disgrace." Results of the AFTRA vote are expected July 8.

Wait. There are 120,000 actors?

There's an old joke in Hollywood. What do you call a SAG member? Waiter. Anyway. The vast majority of SAG card holders do not make their living on-screen. Two-thirds of them earn less than $1,000 a year. Fewer than 20 percent earn more than $7,500 a year. A very small percentage at the top earn most of the money, like Clooney.

Have other big names taken sides?

Batting on the pro-AFTRA team are Tom Hanks, Alec Baldwin, Sally Field. On the pro-SAG side are Jack Nicholson, Viggo Mortensen, Holly Hunter.

Sounds like a cat fight at a poodle convention. Hey, didn't the Hollywood writers just go on strike? What is this, a union town?

In Hollywood every three years, the guilds (writers, directors, actors) negotiate with their studio masters. The Writers Guild of America went on strike for 100 days. Eventually, its members won more money and, very important to them, they got some rights when their work appears on so-called "new media" (cellphones, MP3s, computers, etc). Meaning: They want residuals and payment when their shows are streamed or downloaded off the Internet.

So what do the actors want?

Same things. Specifically, SAG wants "significant increases" in the minimum rates paid to actors in minor and major roles, including those performing stunts and serving as "background" (commonly called the extras). They want the studios to contribute more to their health insurance and pensions, give them a sweeter cut on DVD sales, increase their reimbursements for mileage and pay residuals for all new media.

Good luck. Isn't all this uncertainty hurting the industry?

The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. estimated that the writers' strike cost the county $2.5 billion in lost income. A lot of TV executives (and writers and talent) think that the strike hurt their scripted television shows, as viewers turned to other fare, such as reality programming.

So what about me, the audience member?

Films take a few years to make and market, so the SAG negotiations will not impact the summer, fall and holiday film schedule. With the interruption from the writers' strike behind them but with a SAG strike still a possibility, the movie studios long ago decided to push films to completion before the contract expired today. TV production has also been hot and heavy, but a strike by actors would disrupt schedules and shows. The smart money in Hollywood is that a strike will be avoided, but we'll stay tuned.