Word: aftra
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...members, SAG is the nation's largest actor's union, ahead of the 70,000 strong American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). The current leadership's concern over digital media residuals is a valid one, though many A-list SAG members question the timing of holding a strike now, during a recession. Actress Rhea Perlman and husband Danny DeVito recently wrote a letter imploring the union to achieve a settlement with the studios rather than strike: the letter was seconded by such box-office draws as Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Cameron Diaz, Matt Damon, and Morgan Freeman...
...media and DVD residuals) are the same ones the writers fought over. But the actors are in the unique position of being represented by two unions that can't stand each other. Those unions - the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the smaller American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) - are negotiating their contracts with the Alliance of Motion and Picture Television Producers (AMPTP) separately for the first time in 27 years. AFTRA has reached an agreement that closely mirrors the one writers and directors approved earlier this year; its 70,000 members must vote to approve it by July...
...long-simmering battle between the two unions escalated in March amid allegations that SAG was trying to poach actors from the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful, which is under AFTRA jurisdiction. Now the fight has gotten to the hair-pulling stage: SAG is attempting to defeat AFTRA's contract vote, which would force the unions back to the bargaining table together. The latest weapon is dueling robo-calls: actor James Cromwell is calling AFTRA's members to support the contract. Sandra Oh is calling the 44,000 actors who are members of both unions to vote to defeat...
...Producers say the rancorous SAG negotiations have already hurt Hollywood. "A de facto strike is quickly shutting down production across the industry as SAG's Hollywood leadership stalls for time to pursue its campaign against AFTRA's new contract," says AMPTP spokesman Jesse Hiestand. "For each day that we are without an agreement, the losses continue to mount for the talent, crews, their families and the businesses that rely on the entertainment industry...
Then there's the crucial question of whether a host, as a Writers Guild member, would even be allowed to write material for himself on his own show. A Writers Guild spokesman told TIME that the hosts (who are also members of AFTRA, the union representing performers) are free to perform on their shows, but not to write material for themselves. Of course, the question of whether a wisecrack that Conan or Dave thinks up in advance should be regarded as written material or an ad-lib could be the subject of unending philosophical debate...