The union’s new voluntary Personal Managers Code of Ethics and Conduct really isn’t going over well with some managers. Just a day after the code was unveiled, SAG-AFTRA today sent an email to members over the “uninformed lobbying” against the new scheme by the Talent Managers Association . SAG-AFTRA claimed that its former partners in crafting the code had “reached the level of direct misrepresentations being sent to union members in an attempt to frighten them about the true intent of this Code.” Related: SAG-AFTRA Sets New Ethics Code For Personal Managers “Managers have been asked by SAG-AFTRA of the guild if we intend to help them get work,” reads one email from a personal manager obtained by Deadline. “I’m afraid that if we want to stay in the guild’s good graces we must turn away all guild members who approach us with agency representation.” The latter sentence refers to state labor laws in California and New York that limit personal managers’ ability to procure … [Read more...] about SAG-AFTRA Slams Talent Managers Association For Scare Tactics Over New Ethics Code
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SAG-AFTRA Posts 10 Reasons To Vote Yes On New Contract; Do Members Agree?
Taking a cue from David Letterman , SAG-AFTRA has released a “Top Ten” list of reasons why its members should vote “yes” on the union’s just-negotiated film and TV contract . We’ve laid out the list here, with some heavy-handed editing for, ahem, excessive length, but all the words are theirs, not ours. What do you think about their list? Do you have your own list of reasons (yes or no) to back the contract? 1. A Competitive Wage Package: … By achieving wage gains of 2.5 …to 3 percent applied to all programs …your committee maximized the money that members have the opportunity to earn. And by electing to increase the Pension, Health and Retirement contribution rates by .5 percent in the first year…, we not only improved the funding of the benefits plans—a crucial step toward … merger—but also extracted the maximum dollar value from the Producers. … network primetime rerun ceilings will increase by 2% each year…. a deal valued at $30 million more than… 2011…an … [Read more...] about SAG-AFTRA Posts 10 Reasons To Vote Yes On New Contract; Do Members Agree?
WGA Members Approve New Contract; Less Than 15% Of Eligible Voters Cast Ballots
With one day to go before its current 3-year contract expires, the WGA said today that its members ratified the new agreement by a huge margin — the ones who actually voted, that is. “The WGA membership overwhelmingly voted in favor of ratifying the contract by 98.5 percent,” the union said in a statement. Ballots were to be cast online, by mail or at membership meetings in New York and Los Angeles on April 29. Not that a lot of the union’s members turned out to actually vote on the deal that was struck on April 2 with the Alliance of Motion Picture and TV Producers . Of the 8,218 eligible WGA voters, only 1,193 valid votes were actually cast. That’s just 14%. Of those actually voting, there were 1,175 “Yes” votes and 18 “No” votes, according to the union. Last time round in 2011 , 1,952 votes were cast with 90.7% voting in favor of the agreement. Having said that, at least the WGA revealed how many members voted. When DGA members ratified their new deal earlier this year , … [Read more...] about WGA Members Approve New Contract; Less Than 15% Of Eligible Voters Cast Ballots
‘The Last Of Us’ Has Made A New Hit Of Linda Ronstadt’s 53-Year-Old Song ’Long Long Time’ – All Because Seth Rudetsky Knows Everything
Two years ago to this very day, Seth Rudetsky , the Broadway composer, musician, podcaster, host of a show on SiriusXM radio, fundraiser , musical cruise host, conveyer of pop culture trivia and, now, “source music consultant,” received a text from Craig Mazin, the screenwriter, director and producer. Mazin was friends with Ted Griffin, who is married to Sutton Foster, who knows, as does seemingly everybody else in musical theater, Rudetsky. “I get this text,” Sudetsky remembers, “in all capital letters, saying IT’S EMMY AND GOLDEN GLOBE AWARD WINNING CRAIG MAZIN. STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING. I NEED YOUR HELP.” Specifically, Mazin needed a song for a TV episode he was working on, a show tune along the lines of “I Miss The Music” from the 2006 Kander & Ebb musical Curtains , only older. If you’ve seen the third episode of HBO’s The Last Of U s, the post-apocalyptic drama created by Mazin and Neil Druckmann (based on a 2013 video game), you’ll know where this is … [Read more...] about ‘The Last Of Us’ Has Made A New Hit Of Linda Ronstadt’s 53-Year-Old Song ’Long Long Time’ – All Because Seth Rudetsky Knows Everything
Hello Sunshine Shuts Down Kids & Animation Division
EXCLUSIVE: Deadline has learned that Hello Sunshine is shuttering its kids and animation business as part of a strategic decision to focus Candle Media ’s kids and animation efforts under Moonbug , the family production studio the corp snapped up for a near $3 billion in November 2021. Hello Sunshine will collaborate with Moonbug on future kids and animation projects. As a result, a few individuals will be departing Hello Sunshine over the coming weeks. The Blackstone-backed Candle Media, which is also co-run and co-founded by Tom Staggs, acquired Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine in August 2021 for $900M. At last April’s MIP TV , Candle Media co-founder Kevin Mayer spoke about synergies between both Hello Sunshine and Moonbug. The latter is the production company behind popular kids shows like CoComelon. CoComelon was one of the top three streaming programs in 2022 with 37.8 billion minutes viewed on Netflix per Nielsen, behind Stranger Things (52B) on … [Read more...] about Hello Sunshine Shuts Down Kids & Animation Division
SAG-AFTRA Extras Squeezed Out Of Health & Pension Plans As Their Annual Earnings Continue To Plunge
With negotiations for a new set of SAG-AFTRA film and TV contracts set to begin May 5 , the plight of the unions’ lowest-paid members is coming to light. Data obtained by Deadline shows that earnings for SAG’s film and TV extras have been in a steep decline during the past 10 years, leaving fewer and fewer of them eligible for SAG’s basic health plan. Data collected by the SAG Pension and Health Plans shows that during the past decade, the number of SAG members who have qualified for SAG health benefits based on their earnings from extra work alone has plummeted by more than 67%, down from 2,782 in 2003 to only 905 in 2011, the most recent year for which those numbers have been made available (see chart 1). Related: SAG-AFTRA Working On Wide-Ranging Casting Diversity Report The numbers began their precipitous plunge in 2004, when the SAG Pension and Health Plans raised the earnings needed to qualify for basic health coverage from $7,500 a year to $11,000, an … [Read more...] about SAG-AFTRA Extras Squeezed Out Of Health & Pension Plans As Their Annual Earnings Continue To Plunge
WGA Members Ratify Public TV Contract
WGA members have voted unanimously to ratify a new contract with public broadcasting stations WGBH Boston and WNET New York. The pact also covers guild members employed at KCET Los Angeles, though it did not take part in the negotiations, and at numerous production companies that produce shows for WGBH and WNET. The new deal increases minimum pay rates, which are also the basis for residuals payments, by 2% retroactive to July 1, 2014, and 2.5% on July 1, 2015. The companies also have agreed to contribute an additional 0.5% to the Producer-Writers Guild of America Pension Plan. In a statement, the WGA said it represents “the people who write some of the best-known and most compelling programs broadcast on public television, including Frontline , American Experience , Nova and American Masters . Most of the covered shows are produced by WGBH in Boston and WNET in New York.” The WGA remains on strike against several other public TV stations including KQED San … [Read more...] about WGA Members Ratify Public TV Contract
Original Media Writer-Producers Vote To Join WGA East
In another victory for the WGA East’s ongoing campaign to organize reality TV shows, the writer-producers at Original Media have voted to be repped by the guild in collective bargaining. The vote, held under the auspices of the National Labor Relations board, was 42-9 to join. Original Media produces shows including Swamp People, Inkmaster and Stormchasers . “We look forward to sitting down with the company and negotiating a contract that will provide health benefits, paid time off, minimum compensation levels, and other basic union protections,” said Lowell Peterson, executive director of the WGA East , in announcing voting results today. In the last five years, the guild has negotiated contracts with three New York-based reality TV companies in Sharp Entertainment, Lion TV and Optomen Productions. It trying to get two others – ITV and Peacock Productions – to sign its contract. During recent hearings before the New York City Council , the guild presented … [Read more...] about Original Media Writer-Producers Vote To Join WGA East
Saquon Barkley Drilled In Face During Pro Bowl Dodgeball Game
Courtesy of NFL Saquon Barkley can pull off nasty juke moves against linebackers on the football field, but when it comes to dodgeball and Demario Davis ... ehhh, not so much. The New York Giants star proved he ain't exactly elite at the children's game during the 2023 Epic Pro Bowl Dodgeball tournament ... taking a huge shot right to the face!! Here's what happened ... Barkley and Davis, a New Orleans Saints linebacker, were the only ones left in the NFC offense vs. NFC defense competition on Thursday in Las Vegas -- and had to take each other out in a one-on-one showdown to win it all. Barkley showed off some impressive defensive moves by bobbing and weaving at first ... but that ended quickly after Davis threw a heater right at the guy's face. Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media. To his credit, Saquon shook it off -- and it actually helped his NFC team win ... because headshots aren't allowed, and Davis was DQ'ed for it. "Got … [Read more...] about Saquon Barkley Drilled In Face During Pro Bowl Dodgeball Game
Bill Maher Condemns Woke Revolution, Twitter’s ‘Red Guard’, And Its US Parallels
China was much on Bill Maher ’s mind in this week’s edition of HBO ’s Real Time . His first mention came during the opening monologue, when he talked about people “freaking out” over the Chinese spy balloon over Montana. “Now they know where we keep the cows,” Maher said. He noted the Chinese are denying that the balloon is being used to spy on us. “That’s what TikTok is for.” Maher was against those who want to shoot it down, calling for calm. “We have to watch til it crashes and burns,” he said. “Like we’re doing with Kanye” But Maher turned serious during his New Rules editorial, noting how the woke are trying to reinvent the very nature of human beings. He talked about the Red Guard movement in China, where people would attack those accused of not toeing the ideological line, making them wear dunce caps and publicly shaming them. Such tactics, Maher said, were an attempt to change things by screaming at it, a problem then — and now, again, becoming more … [Read more...] about Bill Maher Condemns Woke Revolution, Twitter’s ‘Red Guard’, And Its US Parallels