Screen Actors Guild

Phase One Reanimator

Jonathan Handel | Posted 10.05.2008 | Entertainment


Jonathan Handel

Aieee, it's alive! Remember Phase One? That's the 27 year old joint bargaining arrangement between SAG and AFTRA that collapsed this spring.

Report: SAG Strike Would Have No Immediate Credit Impact on Entertainment Conglomerates

Jonathan Handel | Posted 10.03.2008 | Entertainment


Jonathan Handel

Fitch Ratings, a leading global rating agency that rates the credit of large businesses, municipal governments, and entire industry sectors (they must...

SAG: Toss that Hot Potato Back (UPDATED)

Jonathan Handel | Posted 10.02.2008 | Entertainment


Jonathan Handel

SAG's negotiating committee has the power to send a strike authorization referendum to the membership at large, but it instead punted to the national board.

SAG Negotiators Ask Board For Strike Vote

AP | RYAN NAKASHIMA | Posted 10.02.2008 | Entertainment


LOS ANGELES — The Screen Actors Guild's negotiating committee voted Wednesday to support a strike authorization vote, a tactic meant to break st...

SAG: A Half Step Closer to a Strike

Jonathan Handel | Posted 10.02.2008 | Entertainment


Jonathan Handel

SAG moved closer to a strike today, but not quite as far as some predicted. The guild's negotiating committee, which has the power to send a strike...

SAG Apparently Seeking Strike Authorization

Jonathan Handel | Posted 10.01.2008 | Entertainment


Jonathan Handel

SAG's appears to be playing a dangerous game: Seek an authorization and fail to obtain it, and the guild's leverage collapses.

SAG Nudges the Studios, but the Studios Say No Thanks

Jonathan Handel | Posted 09.29.2008 | Entertainment


Jonathan Handel

A key sentence warns "If your intransigence continues, however, our choices become harder and fewer." Whether SAG actually has any leverage to back up those words is unclear.

SAG: The Calm before the Storm

Jonathan Handel | Posted 09.22.2008 | Entertainment


Jonathan Handel

The SAG elections are over, and the Unite for Strength challenger slate now has a razor-thin majority on the national SAG Board. Indeed, one of MF's ...

Acting Like Change Is at Hand

Annabelle Gurwitch | Posted 09.19.2008 | Entertainment


Annabelle Gurwitch

Yesterday brought exciting news for many SAG members who voted to elect candidates endorsed by and representing our interests who banded together to form the group Unite for Strength.

A Push-Poll with No Oomph

Jonathan Handel | Posted 09.18.2008 | Entertainment


Jonathan Handel

Sarah Palin may not know what the Bush Doctrine is, but SAG's leadership seems to have forgotten what we might call the (Teddy) Roosevelt Doctrine: s...

The Denigration Express

Jonathan Handel | Posted 09.17.2008 | Entertainment


Jonathan Handel

The writers strike settled in February, but in the months since, the Screen Actors Guild has been flying apart at the seams like a rag doll spun through the air by a petulant 2-year-old.

SAG: How to Make a Deal

Jonathan Handel | Posted 09.15.2008 | Entertainment


Jonathan Handel

SAG staggers on, occupied by bitterness and dissension, but with little apparent progress towards a deal with the studios. The last contract expired ...

SAG independent candidate interviews archived

Jonathan Handel | Posted 09.06.2008 | Entertainment


Jonathan Handel

The Screen Actors Guild's Board elections are in process. Last week on Look at LA, I interviewed the two large slates of candidates, Membership First...

Can SAG Keep a Secret?

Jonathan Handel | Posted 09.05.2008 | Entertainment


Jonathan Handel

I don't mind bar codes, at least when they're on books, boxes, and bags of sugar. When I find them on ballots, though, I get more nervous. That tu...

Live TV interviews with independent SAG Board candidates

Jonathan Handel | Posted 09.03.2008 | Entertainment


Jonathan Handel

Last week, I did live Internet online video interviews on my Look at LA talk show with representatives of Membership First and Unite for Strength, the...

When Will There be a Contract?

Jonathan Handel | Posted 09.03.2008 | Entertainment


Jonathan Handel

When will there be a new SAG TV/theatrical contract - i.e., when will the studios and SAG close a deal? My guess: not until January or even February of next year.

What Happens if the Challengers Win Control of the SAG Board?

Jonathan Handel | Posted 09.03.2008 | Entertainment


Jonathan Handel

What happens if the challengers, Unite for Strength, win control of the SAG National Board? That would effectively happen if UFS (aka U4S) won a ce...

SAG Slate Interviews: Disappointment

Jonathan Handel | Posted 08.31.2008 | Entertainment


Jonathan Handel

As I've said, if SAG were willing to accept the studios' new media framework, it would more than likely be able to negotiate some of the other issues that matter.

Archive Video of Interviews with SAG Candidates

Jonathan Handel | Posted 08.28.2008 | Entertainment


Jonathan Handel

Yesterday, I did live streaming video interviews with SAG candidates and board members from the incumbent, dominant faction, Membership First (represe...

Live TV interviews with SAG Board candidates/members

Jonathan Handel | Posted 08.25.2008 | Entertainment


Jonathan Handel

There's a fight for control of the Screen Actors Guild. Elections are going on now, and may determine whether and when the Guild finally reaches a dea...

SAG Still Talking? And What Next?

Jonathan Handel | Posted 08.16.2008 | Entertainment


Jonathan Handel

Note that Nov. 5 will be the one-year anniversary of the start of the writers strike. A great day for a deal, I suppose, or, more darkly, what better time to cripple the industry with another work stoppage?

SAG DVD Residuals Increase: RIP

Jonathan Handel | Posted 08.04.2008 | Entertainment


Jonathan Handel

Three years from now, when the SAG agreement and WGA agreement expire a month apart, the unions may decide to try once again to increase DVD residuals.

SAG Challenge Slate to Oppose Hardliners

Jonathan Handel | Posted 07.24.2008 | Entertainment


Jonathan Handel

A slate called Unite for Strength has arisen to challenge the Membership First faction of the SAG Board. But the slate doesn't have any A-list stars on it, which reduces its chances of successfully wresting control of the Board.

Screen Actors Guild (SAG) commentary

Jonathan Handel | Posted 07.20.2008 | Entertainment


Jonathan Handel

No deal yet between SAG and the studios. This video commentary explores why.

SAG - Looking Ahead

Jonathan Handel | Posted 07.16.2008 | Entertainment


Jonathan Handel

This short press release from the AMPTP (studio alliance) re today's SAG-AMPTP meeting says it all. Not particularly encouraging. And, below, my ana...