SAGWatch

The Allens apparently recognize that they’re running out of bullets. Tonight they released a statement saying they’re “disappointed” that the AMPTP rejected their “reasonable request” to return to the bargaining table, and saying the Negotiating Committee will meet later this week to discuss the rejection – which really can’t be much of a surpise.The Negotiating Committee, [...]

It took a couple of hours, but, as we predicted, the AMPTP’s response to the let’s talk letter from the Allens has been leaked first, then sent. At least they didn’t reduce the offer on the table.
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September 29, 2008
Dear Alan and Doug:
This is in response to your letter dated September 29, 2008 to Peter Chernin, [...]

The following letter went out today to the AMPTP and two CEOs, as the Allens try to get the producers to go back to the table on TV-Theatrical, even though they’ve clearly said the offer on the table is last best and final.
Our analysis: the letter, posted as it was being sent, is an admission [...]

Wall Street’s meltdown is very public, with a half dozen bailouts on the way. Our morning reading has us worried about a similar meltdown in the financial side of the entertainment industry.Stories, in very different media, all say the trend towards content distribution via the net is unstoppable and increasing in velocity. This has major [...]

In Canada, negotiations on a new commercials contract aren’t going well. After a year and a half of negotiations, ACTRA has rejected industry’s latest proposal, which the union says would mean sharply reduced compensation to actors, and they’re holding a strike authorization vote.
A big stumbling block, no surprise, is new media.
Here’s ACTRA’s statement. 
If you’re [...]

 
We’re saddened to tell you that Paul Newman has passed away at age 83.  The New York Times described Newman as “a likable renegade, a strikingly handsome figure of animal high spirits and blue-eyed candor whose magnetism was almost impossible to resist, whether the character was Hud, Cool Hand Luke or Butch Cassidy.” 
He got his break [...]