After getting smacked by the WGA writer's strike last season, and during a weak fall season by the broadcast networks already, the TV industry (and the movie industry) may be facing yet another strike, this time by the actors of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).
Variety reports:
In a move toward Hollywood's second strike in a year, the Screen Actors Guild will seek a strike authorization from its 120,000 members -- prompting an angry response from the congloms.
SAG made the announcement early Saturday morning after federal mediator Juan Carlos Gonzalez abandoned efforts to bring the two sides together, following their first face-to-face meeting in four months. Neither side budged significantly during two lengthy sessions Thursday and Friday with negotiators spending much of the time reiterating previous positions. [...]
The final decision on striking would rest with the national board, where control shifted to a less assertive coalition in September elections and away from the more aggressive Membership First faction. The moderates campaigned during the summer on the platform that Membership First had bungled the negotiations by alienating AFTRA, which ratified its primetime deal in July.
"Now, SAG is bizarrely asking its members to bail out the failed negotiating strategy with a strike vote - at a time of historic economic crisis," the AMPTP said. "The tone deafness of SAG is stunning."
Read the entire article here.
