I received an angry email from a friend of mine, who's a Steadicam operator, in response to my last post. He tells me "Very few (below the line) people in our business get Residual Income (actors, writers...who else?). The rest of us slug it out on an hourly basis, and if we don't get the hours - we're screwed!" I have several friends who are currently working on TV shows, and they are upset, and rightly so about the possibility of lost wages due to a strike. They're equally concerned about the real fear of potentially losing their health insurance as it is directly tied into their days worked. I understand they might feel caught in the cross fires of a strike that they perceive is not their issue.
But is that true? Really? It's not their issue because they don't get residuals, right? Wrong! While they don't get an actual residual check like writers, actors, and directors, they do get a tremendous and direct benefit from residuals. If you pick up a copy of the general memorandum of agreement of Aug. 1, 2006 between AMPTP and I.A.T.S.E, the Moving Pictures Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the US and Canada, you will see inherent in their collective bargaining agreement with the AMPTP clearly outlines that the members of these unions get a piece of residuals too. It's more than a piece actually, and I'm happy to elaborate.
The WGA has done extensive research on the subject, so feel free to log-on to their website for more information @ www.wga.org . So here's where YOUR residual payments go. Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiated between the AMPTP and the following unions: I.A.T.S.E, IBT Local 399, Studio Utility Employees Local 724, IBEW Local 40, Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 78, Plasters & Cement Masons Local 755, residuals from the reuse and sale of TV and feature films are paid into your pension and health plans.
According the WGA's handout, these payments comprise a majority of the total funding for your pension & health plans, and here's how the numbers break down,
From January 1, 2007 - September 1, 2007 residual contributions to the pension & health plans totaled $261 Million Dollars.
Projected residual contributions for 2007: $351 Million Dollars
Total P&H contributions from residuals in 2006: $339 Million Dollars
Total P&H contributions from residuals in 2005: $348 Million Dollars
Still think this is not your cause, my friend?
If you are a member of I.A.T.S.E, Teamsters Local 399 or the Basic Crafts, you work under a pension & health plan that is entirely funded by your employer.
Again, I cite the WGA's information, but if you don't believe this or me, then may I suggest you call the Motion Picture Industry Pension and Health Plans directly @ 310-769-0007. Because unlike the AMPTP's ad in the LA Times and the NY Times last Friday, the WGA isn't distorting the numbers. "The AMPTP uses numbers the way a drunk uses a lamppost - more for support than illumination." So make the call and decide for yourself, who's giving you the facts and who's giving you the distortions.
In 2006, residuals accounted for 55% of total pension & health plan contributions. The remaining 45% of P&H contributions came from your employers who contribute a fixed percent on your behalf from every hour you work. This means that more money is being contributed to P&H from residuals than from actual hours of work. If there are funding surpluses from residuals, retirees receive a 13th & 14th check (instead of the 12 normally paid in a year.) Ask any retiree! Monies paid in the form of residuals will provide the MAJORITY of your pension when you retire. But don't take my word for it or the WGA's word, call the Motion Picture Industry P&H and ask them yourself. 310-769-0007
So if the Writers get residuals on the internet, then you, and all of the unions mentioned above will get residuals on the internet too!
This strike is not just about writers; it's about all of us. Or at least anyone who wants to make a living in this business. And as my dear, but angry friend of 20 years said, "There would be no film or television if ANY of our crafts (camera, electric, wardrobe, hair & makeup, etc. etc.) were eliminated from the business." And I agree with him. A 100%! But I would also say to my friend, there would be nothing for him to shoot, and nothing for me to say, if not for writers. There would be no stories without them, and hence, no work for any of us without writers.
To my dear friends, who are described as "below the line" crew members.... Elisabeth, Peter, Bob, Jim, Annette, Chris, Tim, Ashton, and Tom, the writers may create the films and the TV shows we all work on, but without you, the world they've created would still just be on paper. Thank you for your hard work, your understanding, your patience, and your support!
In solidarity and hope,
Susan Savage
Actress,
Screen Actors Guild
National Board member
Read more about the strike on the Huffington Post's writers' strike page.