By Dave McNary

Variety July 20, 2019 4:17PM PT

SAG-AFTRA and streaming giant Netflix have agreed to a new three-year contract with expanded coverage for union performers.

Netflix has previously employed SAG-AFTRA members under the union’s standard master contracts for television and film and had been signing on a production by production basis.

The union announced Saturday that the new deal recognizes performance capture as covered work and includes coverage of dubbing, which applies to all of Netflix’s foreign-language live-action and animated motion pictures dubbed into English.

The deal was approved Saturday by the union’s national board by an “overwhelming” margin, although SAG-AFTRA did not specify the exact numbers. The agreement, which expires on June 30, 2022, does not require ratification by the union’s membership.

SAG-AFTRA said the new deal also includes gains in theatrical residuals, greater rights for members in the areas of options and exclusivity, improved overtime rules for stunt performers and specific protections for members regarding harassment and auditions. It gave no specific numbers for the gains in residuals.

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It also includes the same harassment protections contained in the recent deals for non-primetime TV and commercial contracts in addition to a ban on auditions in private residences and hotel rooms — a policy SAG-AFTRA enacted last year in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal.

“Netflix has set the industry standard with its Respect at Netflix program that is held as the gold standard in the industry for awareness of gender equality and promoting the participation of all regardless of gender, ethnicity or race,” the union said Saturday.

SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris said, “We are always looking to adapt and grow within the changing environment of our industry. This groundbreaking agreement speaks to that. Netflix recognizes the value of working with SAG-AFTRA members, and the contributions we make in this global industry. I am gratified that this deal achieved longstanding member goals in particular the recognition of performance capture work, and other important improvements that members want and deserve.”

Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos said in a statement: “We are pleased that we were able to work with SAG-AFTRA to address these issues unique to Netflix’s production needs and we commend SAG-AFTRA leadership for its creative approach.”

SAG-AFTRA represents about 160,000 performers. Its current three-year master contract covering film and TV expires on June 30. The union has not yet scheduled negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

https://variety.com/2019/film/news/sag-aftra-signs-netflix-deal-expanded-coverage-1203274575/

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Coverage?  Yeah!  Stay Tuned!

Arl

The Ol’ SAG Watchdog

*Headline photo selected by the Watchdog

By David Robb  Deadline

July 20, 2019 10:44am

SAG-AFTRA’s 10-month strike against the Bartle Bogle Hegarty ad agency is over, with the agency agreeing to sign the guild’s newly negotiated commercial contract. It’s a major victory for the union, which had engaged in picketing, mass rallies and shaming in its efforts to get BBH to return to the union fold. Under the terms of the settlement, The agency will sign the guild’s newly negotiated commercials contract and produce all of its commercials under those pacts.

“We’re pleased that BBH has returned to their longtime status as a SAG-AFTRA signatory,” said SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris. “Since the inception of our relationship nearly 20 years ago, we have partnered effectively to provide the best talent in the world to BBH clients while ensuring fair compensation and safe working conditions for SAG-AFTRA members. It has been and will continue to be an extraordinarily productive relationship delivering value to the entire industry. Now, with our new 2019 Commercials Contracts we are thrilled that BBH can take full advantage of the transformative compensation models in this groundbreaking agreement to better compete in the constantly evolving advertising industry.”

Their falling out began in November of 2017 when BBH served SAG-AFTRA with notice of its intent to withdraw as a signatory to the contracts. In response, SAG-AFTRA filed an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB and called a strike against the agency. In May 2019, an administrative law judge ruled against BBH and instructed BBH to both recognize SAG-AFTRA as the representative of commercial performers and to negotiate with the union.

“Our goal from the start was to produce high-level, cutting-edge creative work for our clients on a level playing field in a fast-evolving industry,” said Brett Edgar, managing director of BBH NY. “We lost the battle, will respect the ruling and move on. We thank our clients for their unrelenting support throughout this process.”

“We are pleased to welcome BBH back to the SAG-AFTRA family,” said David White, national executive director of SAG-AFTRA. “The tremendous solidarity of our entire membership is to thank for helping bring BBH back to the table. Our members look forward to once again collaborating with BBH and providing their professional talent to create innovative, memorable and award-winning commercials.”

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Okay!

Arl

The Ol’ SAG Watchdog

*Headline photo selected by the Watchdog

By David Robb  Deadline
July 19, 2019 2:30pm

ICM Partners has filed a motion to dismiss an anti-packaging lawsuit brought by the WGA, calling the guild’s claims “absurd.”

The WGA and writers Patricia Carr and Chip Johannessen sued the agency in April for breach of fiduciary duty and constructive fraud. ICM’s demurrer, filed today in Los Angeles Superior Court, is similar to the answer filed by CAA early this month. WME and UTA, who also were sued by the guild, are expected to file their motions for dismissal early next week.

“In a remarkable and naked attempt at a power grab, plaintiffs – a top-heavy writers’ union and some of the most influential and wealthiest writers and TV producers in Hollywood – seek to eliminate the industry-wide practice of packaging,” ICM said (read its demurrer here). “Yet, this very same union, and these same writer-producers, expressly consented to and benefitted from packaging for nearly five decades.”

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The WGA has been locked in a bitter dispute with Hollywood’s talent agencies for more than three months over packaging fees, which the guild says amount to “illegal kickbacks” to the agencies from the studios. ICM said in its demurrer that the WGA’s claim that packaging fees violate a federal criminal law that prohibits bribing union officials “is absurd on its face. Section 302 of the Labor Management Relations Act has never been applied outside the union context in its 72-year history and has no application here.”

On April 13, the guild ordered its members to fire all their agencies who refuse to sign its new Code of Conduct banning packaging fees, which had been allowed under the now-expired Artists’ Managers Basic Agreement for 43 years. At last count, more than 7,000 writers have fired their agents.

The WGA “first attempted their power grab through an unlawful group boycott and mandated mass firing of the agents who represented their writers for decades,” ICM said in its filing. “Now, plaintiffs seek to eliminate packaging by abusing the court system, brazenly asking this court to declare packaging illegal. But they have no legal basis to do so. Their claims are barred by their own express consent to packaging. Even absent that consent, the claims are not legally cognizable. The WGA’s fiduciary duty and constructive fraud claims fail because the WGA – a union of more than 14,000 individuals (only a fraction of whom have ever participated in packaging) – has no standing to bring such individualized claims. This is not a class action, and the individual WGA members’ common law claims may not be aggregated and transformed into an industry-wide action.”

ICM attorney Marvin Putnam told Deadline that the claims made by Carr and Johannessen “are laughable because the shows that she claims we impermissibly packaged all occurred well before her relationship with ICM, and the show that Johannessen says was packaged, was not.” Carr is a member of the WGA West’s board of directors, and Johannessen is a member of the guild’s agency negotiating committee.

Putnam claims that the guild filed its lawsuit “for strategic reasons, not legal reasons. One of the clearest indications of that is that they claim that ICM breached its fiduciary duty to the WGA. But that it legally impossible because ICM has no fiduciary duty to the WGA. That is a factually and legally absurd position, and the law says that it definitively not true. Their lawyers know that, and could have only brought this suit for the strategic reason that the WGA has told its members, which is to increase costs to the agencies and therefore force them to sign the Code.”

Last month, the guild declared an impasse in its talks with the Association of Talent Agents, and offered a new deal to individual agencies that would allow them to continue packaging and taking packaging fees on films and TV shows for one more year before switching over to a 10% commission model – a business model that hasn’t existed in decades.

In its demurrer, ICM cited this offer as proof that packaging is not illegal. “After filing this lawsuit, in June 2019, the WGA publicly offered to extend packaging for one calendar year to any agency willing to sign onto its other terms and conditions. The WGA’s offer is squarely at odds with its stated litigation position that participation in packaging is illegal … something it would hardly do if it actually believed packaging violated federal law or harmed writers.”

ICM also said that the WGA’s “theories that packaging constitutes unfair competition because it universally breaches fiduciary duties and amounts to constructive fraud fail for at least two reasons. First, the fiduciary duty and constructive fraud claims fail because the WGA and the individual plaintiffs consented to the concept, structure, and economics of packaging, as exhibited by the AMBA. Second, and critically, breach of fiduciary duty and constructive fraud are, are necessarily individualized claims. If individuals give informed consent, an action by an agent is not a fiduciary breach or constructive fraud even if it would otherwise constitute a conflict of interest.”

ICM further asserts that the WGA lacks standing to even bring a claim for breach of fiduciary duty. “The WGA does not – and cannot – allege that ICM breached fiduciary duties owed to the WGA; the agencies are indisputably not fiduciaries of the WGA. Rather, the WGA purports to assert claims on behalf of some undisclosed number of its approximately 14,000 members (only a fraction of whom were ever represented by ICM). In essence, the WGA asks this court to issue an advisory opinion declaring that ‘packaging fees,’ as a general proposition – and in every single instance – ‘constitute a breach of the Agencies’ fiduciary duty to their writer clients.’”

“This is impossible,” ICM said in its demurrer, “as it would require the court to assume facts as to each specific writer who is not a party to the litigation, and otherwise base its opinion upon a hypothetical set of facts that may or may not apply to each individual agency-writer relationship. Not only is this a clear misuse of the declaratory relief statute, but such a claim fails for lack of standing.”

As for plaintiff Carr, ICM said that while she “vaguely asserts that she was harmed ‘by the payment of packaging fees to agencies,’ she pleads no facts sufficient to establish that ICM breached any fiduciaries owed to her. For example, Carr asserts that she worked on packaged shows 90210, Mixology, Private Practice, and Reba, yet she fails to allege that any of those shows were packaged by ICM. To the contrary, Carr specifically alleges that CAA, not ICM, packaged 90210, Private Practice, and Reba. And she alleges that ICM only represented her from January 2018 to April 2019, years after Mixology ended its run in 2014. Carr admits that ICM began representing her after all four shows ended. Carr’s claims thus contain no well-pleaded facts against ICM and must be dismissed.”

CAA, WME and UTA have all filed separate antitrust lawsuit against the WGA, claiming that the guild has engaged in an “unlawful group boycott.” The guild has said those suits have “no merit.”

As for plaintiff Johannessen, ICM said that he “does at least allege ICM packaged his show Saints and Strangers. That allegation, however, is wholly false; ICM did not package Saints and Strangers.”
The WGA and the ATA, meanwhile, haven’t met in more than a month, and no new talks are scheduled.

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https://deadline.com/2019/07/icm-seeks-dismissal-of-wga-packaging-lawsuit-ata-1202649428/

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The Heat stays on!

Arl

The Ol’ SAG Watchdog

*Headline photo featured in the Deadline article

By David Robb Deadline

July 18, 2019 3:40pm

EXCLUSIVE: Amid allegations of “union-busting,” the office staff at the Art Directors Guild, IATSE Local 800, will vote this month in a contentious battle over whether they want to be represented by a union. In early June, a slim majority of the bargaining unit – which now stands at 28 – signed union representation cards with the Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 537.

The guild could have recognized OPEIU voluntarily but chose to allow the vote to proceed instead. In a statement, the guild said that it “believes strongly in the rights of workers to decide to be in a union.” The vote on unionization will be held July 29.

“We staff in the office have been putting up with a pretty toxic work environment for some time and are finally self-organizing, seeking representation from OPEIU Local 537,” said a staffer who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal. “Now that we have submitted union cards to the executive staff, they have been union-busting pretty aggressively – at a union office.”

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White-Brown OPEIU

“We are looking forward to winning this election and to be able to provide them with a collective bargaining agreement,” said Jacqueline White-Brown, OPEIU Local 537’s business manager/secretary-treasurer. “Just as Local 800 has a wonderful contract for their members, we are looking to do the same for ours. We want to be the union inside the union.”

Supporters say the local’s leadership added six part-time employees to the bargaining unit after the representation cards were signed in order to defeat the drive — a charge the guild flatly denies. They also accused Casey Bernay, the local’s director of education, of “union busting” – a charge she vehemently and angrily denies.

“I heard that there is someone over there trying to union-bust,” White-Brown told Deadline. “That is what I heard from another employee.”

Bernay, who comes from a family of IATSE leaders – and who was recently elected as Local 800’s delegate to the L.A. County Federation of Labor – is outraged by the allegation. “I work my tail off for the members of this union,” she said. “To accuse me of union-busting is bullshit. I’m owed an apology. I want a freaking apology for having an opinion.”
Bernay Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock

Said Bernay, who is part of the bargaining unit that will be voting on unionization: “Unions have a very important place in our culture, in our world. Their job is to protect people and to make sure they are protected. They are crucial to ensuring that workers are treated fairly, and to make sure companies enforce their social contract. And unionism is the best way to achieve that. I’ve spent most of my life as a union member and a union organizer. Workers have a right to unionize.”

She acknowledges that she told another OPEIU rep at a meeting in June that she was opposed to the unionization effort at Local 800. “I walked up to her, introduced myself, shook her hand, and said, ‘Hi, I’m hostile to this effort.’ I sat down and listened to what she had to say, and shook her hand when she left.”

Bernay also took issue with the allegation that the guild did anything wrong by adding part-timers to the bargaining unit – which includes field reps, accountants, dues and membership services employees, and other administrative staff. “Are they saying that part-timers are not eligible to be members of the unit? They should do their homework.”

In its statement, the guild said: “Upon the parties meeting, it was discovered that OPEIU’s list included some but not all of the guild’s regular part-time workers. To be fair we have provided OPEIU with contact information for those employees who were not included in their list, so that they could communicate with them about their effort. The guild also asked that since OPEIU 537 had signed representation cards from just under 54% of the complete unit, that all employees be permitted to vote on the question of representation. On July 15th, the Art Directors Guild and OPEIU 537 entered into a Stipulated Election Agreement with the National Labor Relations Board. That election will take place on July 29th at the guild’s offices. Neither national executive director Chuck Parker nor associate national executive director dooner have taken a position on this question as they, and the guild, believe that it is up to the employees to decide, without interference or influence. The Art Directors Guild will abide by the decision of its regular full time and part time employees as expressed in their secret ballot votes.”

Art Directors Guild Re-elects Chuck Parker As National Executive Director

“Workers have a right to unionize,” Bernay said. “In the case you’re discussing, I’d like to know what those workers want. That’s the question I’ve been asking, and no one’s given me any answers. How I feel about an organizing drive within my own office is my business.

“What are they offering that people in this office don’t already have?” she asked. “I have yet to get an answer to that question. We already get everything that our members get – pension, health, vacation, and sick days – all of it. We already get the contractual raises they get every August – the same that everyone else in the basic agreement gets. That’s why I’m wondering: What’s the issue?”

“I am a union member, a member of Local 800, and proud of it,” she said. “I’m proud to be part of the IATSE. My whole freaking family has been a part of the IATSE — my sister, my mother, my father and me. I don’t think that having no information and the way certain things are handled is union-busting. I have a problem where I’m being kept out of the loop on purpose, before anybody knows my opinion. And I wasn’t the only one kept out of the loop. There were at least three others who were not approached until the last meeting, and there may be others. I’ve not been included in any conversations, and I’m supposed to be alright with that? A lot of people are working really, really hard to make sure that people in the workplace are protected, and I am one of them.”

She added: “If someone accuses me of union-busting, I will respond. Really. Trying to break a union. Who’s breaking what? I’ve had absolutely no contact with that organization.” She also took issue with White-Brown’s comment about her. “How appropriate is that for her to spread gossip to you?” she asked. “I’m insulted.”

Bernay, who has spearheaded the drive to train IATSE members in order to expand their careers, also works with local schools and colleges to prepare them to enter the industry. Her father, Joe Bernay, was a longtime IATSE official and former head of the union’s West Coast office. Her mother, Martha Bernay, was a longtime member of IATSE Illustrators and Matte Artists Local 790 before its merger with the Art Directors Guild in 2008, and served as the office manager of the IATSE’s West Coast office for many years until she retired in 1985. Her sister, Marjo Bernay, was the business agent of Local 790 and IATSE Set Designers and Model Makers Local 847 from 1979 until they merged with the Art Directors Guild.

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https://deadline.com/2019/07/art-directors-guild-battle-to-unionize-turns-ugly-1202648752/

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When all is said and done let’s hope they draw the right conclusion!

Arl

The Ol’ SAG Watchdog

*Headline photo is featured in Mister Robb’s article

By David Robb  Deadline
July 18, 2019 12:00pm

On-location shooting days in Los Angeles fell 3.9% in the second quarter of 2019 compared with the same period last year, with feature films down 16.7%; TV down 1.2%; commercials plunging 19.8%, and TV reality shows down 16.2%, according to FilmLA, the city’s film office. The only bright spots were TV dramas (up 17.3%), TV comedies (up 3.2%), TV pilots (up 35.5%) and web-based TV (up 7.4%).

“Although our latest report reveals a decline in filming on location, local production facilities tell us that they are operating at capacity,” said FilmLA president Paul Audley. “We’ll be looking at soundstage production again this fall to put some of these numbers in context, and examine demand and opportunities for new local infrastructure investment.”

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Feature films and scripted TV shows that received state tax incentives accounted for 632 shooting days from April 1 to June 30 – up 44.9% from the same time period last year. But they represent only a fraction of the 8,632 on-location second-quarter shooting days in the city.
FilmLA

“Scripted television production in Los Angeles is increasingly driven by the California Film & Television Tax Credit Program,” FilmLA said. “In the second quarter, 51.7% of local TV drama shoot days came from incentivized series – a new milestone. Meanwhile, incentive projects power 20.8% of L.A.’s on-location TV comedy production. A sampling of recent incentivized projects includes Animal Kingdom, Ballers, Euphoria, Good Trouble, Mayans MC, Snowfall, Strange Angel, SWAT, Westworld, Why Women Kill and You.”

But film projects brought to Los Angeles by California’s film incentives contributed only 9.7%, or 96 shooting days, to the feature film category in the second quarter. Incentivized features recently filming in L.A. include Covers, Island Plaza, Main Stream, Palm Springs, SJ2, Torrance, and The Walk. “During the prior quarter, incentivized features were nearly absent from Los Angeles, although such projects were in production elsewhere in California,” FilmLA said.

The five-year average of second quarters is also down significantly, despite California’s generous film incentives program. Total on-location filming is down 7%; feature films are down 14.1%; all television is down 16.5%; TV reality fell 34.4%; commercials are down 5.4%; TV dramas are down 4.2%; TV pilots are down 6.2%, and web-based TV is down 10.3%. The only categories bucking this downward trend are TV comedies, which were up 7.3%, and those projects classified as “Other,” which includes student projects, still photography, music videos and industrial videos. They were up 4.9%.

Commercial production, which is not eligible for state tax incentives, “has been trending downward as producers pursue alternatives to Los Angeles for filming,” according to FilmLA. “A tightening market due to consumers’ turn towards streaming services and away from ad-supported entertainment products are also thought to play roles in the sector’s downturn.”

FilmLA bases its data on days of permitted production within its jurisdiction, with one “shoot day” defined as one crew’s permission to film at one or more defined locations during all or part of any given 24-hour period. The data does not include production that occurs on certified sound stages or on-location in jurisdictions not served by FilmLA.

Total shoot days in the second quarter came in at 8,632 – down from 8,978 in the second quarter last year. Feature film came in at 986 shoot days; television accounted for 2,918 shoot days; commercials 1,280, and “Other” 3,448. In the second quarter, “Other,” which receive no tax incentives, accounted for nearly 40% of all on-location shooting days.

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https://deadline.com/2019/07/los-angeles-on-location-filming-down-second-quarter-2019-1202648643/

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Stay Tuned!

Arl

The Ol’ SAG Watchdog

*Headline photo selected by the Watchdog