Screen Actors Guild and studios amp up the rhetoric war

With the collapse of mediation talks between the major studios and the Screen Actors Guild, the warring parties wasted little time launching campaigns aimed at discrediting each other while courting the sympathies of actors who will cast ballots in a strike referendum next month.

In a letter sent to the union's 120,000 members today, SAG President Alan Rosenberg blasted the major studios for seeking to impose "one-size-fits-all demands" on the union and accused management of using the depressed economy as an excuse to rebuff the needs of actors, especially when it comes to securing their future in the burgeoning world of online entertainment.

"It's also curious that these global corporations are preaching to us about the bad economy,'' Rosenberg said. "Like it's our fault. As middle-income actors we are the victims of corporate greed. We didn't cause this turmoil. Now, more than ever, we need to make a unified stand, in solidarity. … Our ability to make a living as professional actors for decades to come is at stake."

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which bargains on behalf of the studios, issued a swift rebuttal: "SAG's latest mass e-mail fails on three counts: It fails to explain why SAG deserves more than everyone else in the industry. It fails to justify why SAG members should bail out a failed negotiating strategy by striking during a time of historic economic crisis. And it fails to explain why it makes sense to strike when SAG members will lose more during the first few days of the strike than they could ever expect to gain."

The mass e-mails kicked off an informational campaign that the guild's negotiating committee overwhelmingly approved Saturday after a federal mediator declared the talks were over. The guild is expected to spend more than $100,000 on a campaign to muster support for the strike referendum, communicating through e-mails, mailouts, newsletters, town hall meetings and residual checks.

SAG launched a similar and unsuccessful campaign to defeat a contract negotiated by the smaller actors union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which has since secured a number of pilots for TV shows as producers look for a hedge against a possible strike by SAG. The 44,000 members who belong to both unions could be pivotal in determining the outcome of the strike vote.

The AMPTP has mounted its own campaign, aimed at portraying SAG's leaders as out of touch with economic reality and seeking better deals than five other unions that have signed agreements with the studios. They will get their message across through various advertisements and possible direct mailings to SAG members, sources close to the studios said.

Amid the conflicting claims, the ailing economy is certain to play a central role in the referendum, in which SAG members will be asked to give the union's board authority to call a strike "as a last resort."

Although Rosenberg did not specify when ballots would be sent, guild insiders said tit probably would be by mid-December. It would take 30 more days for ballots to be counted, meaning that the earliest SAG could strike would be in early January. The timing appears aimed at disrupting the Golden Globes and Academy Awards shows early next year. The board has final say over whether a walkout would occur.

In order to pass, a strike authorization requires approval of 75% of members who vote. Ordinarily, that would be a given. Union members typically approve such votes overwhelmingly as a show of solidarity to their union leadership and in the belief that the threat of strike can yield gains at the bargaining table. What's more, the vast majority of SAG's members do not earn their living through acting, so they have less to lose in the event of a shutdown in film and TV production.

On the other hand, those members who rely on other jobs to supplement their incomes also are more vulnerable to the broader economic downturn and could be less inclined to support a walkout.

— Richard Verrier

Scene Stealer: 'Twilight's' treetop filming

That timeworn teenage vampire wooing ritual of taking your girl climbing high into the pine forests of the Pacific Northwest looks a lot simpler on screen in "Twilight" than it was in real life. To support actors Robert Pattinson and  Kristen Stewart (and their stunt doubles) as they stood on a  branch at the top of a particularly high pine in Oregon's Silver Falls  State Park, the visual effects team, led by Richard Kidd, had to install a support rig up about 100 feet and spanning three pine trees. "It was four really large pipes that created the structure like a box and they snapped together like Lego pieces," he said. The rig not only steadied the tree that high up but also housed the winches and pulleys used to get the actors and stunt people into the trees. Additionally, the camera had to be installed on its own series of cables and winches high in the trees, where it was controlled remotely. But once they got their shot, Kidd's team's work wasn't finished.  It had to go back and digitally remove the rig, the cables and even the harnesses strapped under the actor's clothes, which required weeks of digital tweaking. The results speak for themselves.

--Patrick Kevin Day

Photo: David Strick / Hollywood Backlot

Writers Guild and Tyler Perry make peace, sign deal

The Writers Guild of America, West has settled its ugly spat with comedian Tyler Perry, sources close to the matter say.

The guild filed an unfair labor practice complaint last month with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that mini-mogul Perry had unlawfully fired four writers on the TBS cable sitcom "House of Payne" for trying to secure a union contract. Perry's attorney said at the time that the writers were sacked for "the quality of their work."

But sources say Vic Bulluck, head of the Hollywood chapter of the NAACP, has helped to broker a peace between the show-business entrepreneur and the writers union. Under the terms of the pact, Perry's production company agreed to sign a contract with the guild for "House of Payne" as well as another upcoming comedy series. The company will also pay an undisclosed sum to the fired writers, said the sources, who asked not be identified because the settlement was confidential.

The union had been trying for months previously to negotiate a contract covering writers on "House of Payne." But those efforts broke down, according to the guild, when the director/producer/playwright/actor fired the writers after warning them that they could be replaced if they continued to angle for a guild contract. Things got so ugly in October that at one point the guild staged a protest outside Perry's new studio facility in Atlanta -- intended to draw attention as much as to embarrass the staunch supporter of President-elect Barack Obama.

The guild declined to comment on the matter. Perry could not reached.

-- Richard Verrier and Greg Braxton

Photo of Tyler Perry by Kevin Winter/Getty Images

'The Big 10': Who needs a Hollywood bailout?

Forget the Big Three automakers -- who's going to help Paris Hilton?

Uncle Sam's been pretty free with his pocketbook in the past few weeks. Banks and insurance firms have already gotten hefty sums to keep their boats afloat in the current economic crisis. Now the Big 3 automakers are asking for some cash. It seems everyone has an idea for who should get some green goodness: Can Las Vegas casinos, movie studios and TV networks be far behind?

We surveyed the entertainment landscape and hit upon some other bloated, creaky entertainment franchises that once bestrode the world like Colossus but now are desperately in need of some outside assistance (whether they want to admit it or not). Luckily, our crack team of experts has words of wisdom for each of them. Take a look.

MySpace Music (finally) names president

MySpace named MTV executive Courtney Holt as president of MySpace Music, concluding a months-long search for a candidate to run the social network's joint venture with the world's largest music companies.

Holt, whose appointment has been the subject of online speculation for weeks, has had a career that bridges music and technology. As executive vice president of digital music for MTV Networks, he oversaw digital initiatives for MTV, VH1 and CMT channels. Before joining MTV, he was senior vice president of new media for Interscope Geffen A&M.

"He was the first person that we really found that had the music experience, both from a marketing perspective and from a music programming perspective, the technical knowledge, and the relationships with all the major labels as well as independent labels," said MySpace co-founder Chris DeWolfe, who said 40 candidates were interviewed for the job. "He’s the only one out there that had all those variables that we could check off."

DeWolfe said he first met Holt in 2005, when he worked for Interscope. Holt was the first label executive to use MySpace's social network as a launch pad for new singles and albums from such major acts as Black Eyed Peas, Weezer and Audioslave, he said.

"In each case, each of those bands sold more albums than they’d ever sold before," DeWolfe said. " He was a visionary."

Despite a career working for a major label and MTV, DeWolfe said Holt brings an appreciation for the independent artists who have long used MySpace as a launch pad. Holt owns The Echo, which DeWolfe characterized as one of the largest venues for independent artists on the West Coast.

Inside image-conscious L.A., Courtney even scored fashion points.

"If you look at Courtney, from the clothes that he wears to the glasses that he may wear, he’s got a very eclectic style to him," DeWolfe said. "A very unique style." 

--Dawn C. Chmielewski

Photo credit: Nicole Bengiveno

'Twilight' star Kristen Stewart goes to 'Adventureland'

Can’t get enough of Kristen Stewart? Well, you’re in luck. The “Twilight” darling and overnight sensation will return to the big screen in March 2009 for “Adventureland.”

"Adventureland," which is directed by “Superbad’s" Greg Mottola, will allow Stewart to flex her comedic chops.  She’ll be joined by comedic heavyweights like SNL’s Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader, along with Ryan Reynolds and Martin Starr (who you probably know as that bearded guy from “Knocked Up.”) 

The film, set in 1987, is a coming-of-age tale about a college graduate who gets stuck spending his summer working at an amusement park. It’s not all bad, however, because his free-spirited co-worker, Em (Stewart) is there to spice things up.

-- Stephanie Lysaght

Photo: Miramax Films

'Twilight' sequel 'New Moon' gets the greenlight from Summit

UPDATE: "Twilight" will take in a staggering $70.6 million for the weekend. How many times are you going to see it?

Good news "Twilight" fans — "New Moon" is officially on the way.

After news broke that the film adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's vampire romance made a big $35.7 million in its first day of release — the second biggest opening day gross outside of summer after "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" — Summit greenlighted production on the sequel "New Moon."

Here's the word from Summit Entertainment:

Los Angeles, CA November 22, 2008 — Summit Entertainment announced today that the studio is officially moving forward with the production of NEW MOON, the second installment of its filmed franchise TWILIGHT, the action-packed, modern day vampire love story. The movie will be based on the second novel in author Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, titled New Moon. The first movie in the TWILIGHT franchise, the self-titled TWILIGHT, arrived in theaters this weekend to sold-out showings.

Stephenie Meyer stated, "I don't think any other author has had a more positive experience with the makers of her movie adaptation than I have had with Summit Entertainment. I'm thrilled to have the chance to work with them again on NEW MOON."

This isn't a big surprise. But, given the early fan reaction — which has ranged from ecstasy to, well, plain unhappy -- is this a good thing? (Or is that a stupid question?)

Is there anything you'd like to see that was left out of "Twilight" included in the "New Moon" movie? (Say, Carlisle's history with the Volturi, perhaps?)

And what about the Jacob dilemma? Is someone starting a "Keep Taylor Lautner" campaign? Do you all want to see him as older-looking werewolf Jacob? If not, which actors would you like to see cast in the role?

As usual, I want to hear all your thoughts and concerns. Leave them below!

Catch up on past Countdown interviews: Robert Pattinson (Parts 1, 2 and 3), Kristen Stewart, author Stephenie Meyer, director Catherine Hardwicke (Parts 1 and 2), screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg, Peter Facinelli, Edi Gathegi and Taylor Lautner.

— Denise Martin

Related:
Complete "Twilight" Countdown coverage
Complete "Twilight" coverage on Hero Complex

Screen Actors Guild to seek strike authorization vote

The Screen Actors Guild said early this morning that it would seek a strike authorization vote from members after last-ditch efforts by a federal mediator to end a months-long stalemate in contract negotiations with the major studios sputtered.

"Management continues to insist on terms we cannot possibly accept on behalf of our members," the union said in a statement. "We remain committed to avoiding a strike but now more than ever we cannot allow our employers to experiment with our careers."

SAG, which represents 120,000 actors, said it would now begin a "full-scale education campaign" in support of a strike referendum, in which members would be asked to authorize a strike should their negotiators fail to reach a deal with the studios.

SAG members have been without a contact since June 30 and are sharply at odds with the studios over how actors are to be paid for work distributed over the Internet.

The guild's announcement came shortly after the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which negotiates on behalf of the major Hollywood studios, disclosed that the "parties were unable to reach an agreement" and that the mediator had "adjourned the process" after two days of meetings.

The outcome was not unexpected. Few pinned much hope that federal mediator Juan Carlos Gonzalez would be able to bridge the enormous gap between the parties. Gonzalez also was unable to mediate a contract dispute last year between writers and the studios.

What's more, the union's 71-member national board previously gave the guild's negotiating committee authority to seek a strike vote in the event that mediation efforts failed. Ultimately, the board will have final say on whether to call an actual walkout, which would shut down most major film and TV production. It's unclear whether newly elected moderates on the national board would seek to block such a drastic action.

Actors previously struck in 2000 in a six-month walkout over a commercials contract. If SAG strikes this time, it probably wouldn't be until early next year. A strike referendum takes several weeks and would probably not occur until after the guild conducts an aggressive campaign to muster support. SAG leaders are expected to time any walkout to disrupt the upcoming Academy Awards and Golden Globe award shows early next year and studio plans to ramp up production on movies set for release in 2010.

It is not uncommon for unions to seek such votes as a way to gain leverage in contract negotiations on the theory that employers would be more inclined to take their demands seriously when confronted with the threat of walkout.

But securing such a vote in the current climate could be difficult for SAG. The referendum would require 75% approval from members who vote in order to pass. Although union members typically grant strike authorizations to leaders in negotiations, that could be a difficult threshold to meet given the deteriorating economy and strike fatigue after a 100-day walkout earlier this year by the Writers Guild of America.

During meetings Thursday and Friday, Gonzalez expressed frustration that neither side appeared to back down from its positions. Among the chief sticking points is SAG's insistence that it should have jurisdiction over all shows created for the Internet, regardless of budget. The studios said that would limit their ability to experiment in new media and instead proposed limiting contracts only to shows above certain budgets levels or when professional actors are hired. They argued that SAG should accept the same new-media pay framework already negotiated by five other unions, including the smaller sister union the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the WGA.

The studios have repeatedly touted how actors were losing out on contract gains negotiated by the other unions. But that argument came under fire this week when the WGA accused the studios of reneging on some of the key terms of its contract negotiated in February -- a point that was seized on by SAG in its statement.

The AMPTP had no immediate response.

-- Richard Verrier

'Twilight' Countdown: Fans sound off on 'Twilight'

We're here! Today's the day! By now, many of you have already crossed the finish line. Congrats!

But was it worth the wait? Some of you have already posted your reviews in the comments of previous "Twilight Countdown" posts. Others e-mailed  their ideas directly to me.

In general, the consensus is that the movie gets the job done and many of you thought director Catherine Hardwicke and stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson delivered the goods. You're even planning second and third trips to the theater already. A minor complaint among the majority of you is the movie's special effects, which are of the low-budget variety. (However, nearly all of you qualified that, keeping in mind that Hardwicke was working with $40 million -- not a large sum by Hollywood movie standards.)

Of course, some of you were let down. With expectations so high, it's not surprising.

So what did I think? I should say I enjoyed reading "Twilight," a guilty pleasure with equal parts breathless romance and suspense. I read through the whole thing the day I started it. After two screenings of the film, however, I ultimately felt that the movie deviated from the book in ways that made the story better. Less of a "guilty" pleasure. True, as some have complained, screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg stripped much of Edward and Bella's back-and-forth moments of dialog. But I thought having shots of Pattinson looking anguished and Stewart looking like she craved him worked a lot better than having Edward tell Bella repeatedly about how torn he is about their relationship and her pushing back. Kristen Stewart's Bella, too, comes off as stronger, her feelings more grounded albeit obsessive. In Hardwicke's version, Forks is a little more diverse, a little grittier, and the love story more real and less sweepingly and conventionally romantic.I give it an enthusiastic thumbs up.

Here's a sampling of how the rest of the fans who wrote to me felt:

The Silverman lining in NBC's cloud

If Ben Silverman is getting ready to leave the peacock flock, neither he nor NBC is acting like it. In fact, the signals suggest he's not about to fly the coop.

On Thursday NBC parent company General Electric Co. added Silverman to the board of the Peacock Equity Fund, a $250-million media investment vehicle owned by NBC Universal and GE Commercial Finance. Earlier in the week, Silverman sat across the table from interviewer-of-the-moguls Charlie Rose to wax about the future of digital entertainment, television and advertising.

And then there was a curious item on the New York Post's Page Six last week that all but left bus tire treads on Katherine Pope, who runs NBC's in-house TV studio that produced the network's failed series "My Own Worst Enemy." The item, which many in Hollywood speculated was spin to take the heat off Silverman, blamed Pope for NBC's struggles in prime time.

Silverman has been engaged in negotiations for a new contract that would extend his tenure as co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios beyond June, when his current contract expires. One person close to the situation says a deal could be reached by the end of the year.

Almost from the start, some have questioned Silverman's commitment to NBC.

For example, the free-spirited TV producer back in June 2007 would sign only a two-year deal, figuring that would be sufficient for him to turbo-charge NBC's lackluster prime-time lineup. Then the ambitious entrepreneur could move on to bigger things.

But six months after Silverman took the gig, the network TV business, already in decline, tumbled off a cliff. 

Script writers went on strike, shutting down production of shows. TV executives scrambled to plug their schedules with mediocre replacement programs. Once the strike was settled in February, they had to prepare a fall season without the benefit of the traditional program development process.

Then the season got off to a shaky start. The major networks are now posting record low ratings. Most new fall shows, including Silverman's pet projects, the Christian Slater drama "My Own Worst Enemy," the adventure series "Crusoe" and the Brooke Shields power-woman drama "Lipstick Jungle," have sputtered or choked.

If all of that wasn't depressing enough, the faltering economy has prompted advertisers to scale back their purchase of commercial time. Media executives are bracing for an ugly first quarter.

All of this makes it a lousy time to be running a major network -- making some wonder why Silverman needs the headache. He doesn't need an NBC paycheck, since earlier this year he sold his production company, Reveille, to Elisabeth Murdoch for more than $125 million.

But NBC would like to keep Silverman, according to people close to him. His bosses think he's been a good steward. Profit has increased this year, in part because Silverman wooed advertisers to plug their products in NBC shows such as "Knight Rider." He has also been instrumental in lowering the network's programming costs through co-productions (of course, all networks have had lower programming costs this year because of the strike).

Two months ago, NBC Universal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker appeared to be teeing up expectations that Silverman would stay put.

"I could not be more pleased with the job that he's done," Zucker said of Silverman in an interview with The Times. "He's done everything that we've asked of him."   

-- Meg James

Photo: NBC Universal