LOS ANGELES (AP) - Hollywood's studio heads, stuck in a standoff with the Screen Actors Guild, are making their plea to the rest of the industry in a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times as the threat of a strike looms.
The "open letter" that appears in Monday's paper says the actors are jeopardizing the work of other unions that have already made deals with producers.
It says "SAG is demanding that the entire industry literally throw out all its hard work because it believes it deserves more than the 230,000 other people working in the industry."
The letter was signed by the chief executives of eight major Hollywood studios including The Walt Disney Co. and Paramount Pictures.
The guild responded by accusing the executives of "stonewalling" and said it should not be forced to accept deals made by other unions.
"No other guild or union can negotiate a pattern deal that fits the industry and SAG members, any more than ABC can negotiate license fees for NBC," it said. "Our issues are different — not better, but different."
SAG wants union coverage for all Internet-only productions regardless of budget and residual payments for Internet productions replayed online, as well as continued actor protections during work stoppages.
Directors, writers, stagehands and another actors union settled for lesser terms and the studios, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, said it was untenable for SAG to demand a better deal, especially now that the economy has worsened.
The union is holding a strike authorization vote this month. |