I received the following e-mail Alert from SAG/AFTRA:

Global Rule One Alert for Unintended

July 19, 2018

Unintended is a theatrical film being produced by Metro Wealth Studios LLC. Please be advised that this film is not being produced under the terms of a SAG-AFTRA contract.

As a reminder, Global Rule One stipulates that a member may not perform any services as a performer nor make an agreement to perform services as a performer for any producer who has not executed a basic minimum agreement with SAG-AFTRA which is in full force and effect, in any jurisdiction in which there is a SAG-AFTRA national collective bargaining agreement in place.

Therefore, unless and until the producers of this picture enter into a contract with SAG-AFTRA, employment on this picture will constitute a violation of Global Rule One and will subject SAG-AFTRA members to possible disciplinary proceedings which may result in a reprimand, fine, suspension, or expulsion from membership.

If you have any questions, please contact Melissa Goodman at (404) 239-0131 Ext. 11 or via email at melissa.goodman@sagaftra.org .

—

There you go SAG/AFRA members.   No excuse for any Unintended work on this film!

Arl

The Ol’ SAG Watchdog

*Headline photo selected by the Watchdog

Comments

comments

SAG-AFTRA Passes TV Animation Strike Authorization for SVOD Fight

8:59 PM PDT 7/18/2018 by Jonathan Handel

The fight is over animation for streaming platforms, but a strike — if one happens — would silence all TV animation made with union voices.

SAG-AFTRA members overwhelmingly granted the union’s board of directors the ability to call a TV animation strike, voting 98.27 percent in favor of the authorization, according to a letter to members from union president Gabrielle Carteris that appeared on the SAG-AFTRA website Wednesday after voting closed.

The union’s fight is with production for streaming video on demand platforms such as Netflix and Amazon, which SAG-AFTRA says do not pay scale wages or residuals, according to a June 27, 2018, letter, also posted. SAG-AFTRA actors do the voice work for most television animation.
“The last offer that the producers made, which is now expired, contained a partial, inadequate improvement … at an unacceptable price,” says the letter.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers offered a more sanguine view: “The AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA have been engaged in meaningful discussions over a new Television Animation Agreement and a new Basic Cable Animation Agreement for several months,” said an AMPTP spokesman. “Those discussions have yielded progress, but there are still a few open items to resolve.”
Although the letters focus on SVOD platforms, a union FAQ explains that a strike would affect all television animation — including broadcast and cable work — because a single pair of contracts govern.

They expired over a year ago, June 30, 2017, and the June 27 letter says that since then 22 additional series have been produced for subscription-based streaming platforms, compared to 23 new series for basic cable.

Negotiations over the past year have not yielded an acceptable contract, said the letter. SAG-AFTRA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Our animation community finds itself in the fight of its life,” says the earlier of the two letters, “working under expired contracts that do not provide for scale wages or residuals in the fastest-growing area of their work: Animated programs made for subscription-based streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon.” The letter also cites Warner’s Boomerang streaming platform, which has ordered at least eight original series, and Disney’s platform still in development.

The union intends to use the strike authorization vote, or SAV, as leverage at the bargaining table. But the studios urged forbearance.

“Given the animation Producers’ longstanding positive relationship with the leadership of SAG-AFTRA, as well as their commitment to exploring a variety of ways to reach a deal, we hope that talk of a strike can be put aside in favor of ascertaining the facts about the business that are relevant to the issues that separate us and finding ways to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement.”

An SAV is not the same thing as a strike. “This referendum result does not mean members are on strike,” explains Wednesday’s letter. “Rather, it gives the National Board the authority to declare a strike if absolutely necessary. We will keep negotiating with producers.”

The union obtained improvements for so-called high budget SVOD shows in 2014 and 2017, but those terms are tailored for live action content. Minimum budget and duration thresholds apply — $1.3 million per episode and 20 minutes per episode — that the June 27 letter says have excluded almost all animation productions, leaving them subject to a skeletal framework negotiated in 2008-09 that contains no minimums.

According to the letter, “approximately 80 percent of live-action programs made for subscription-based streaming platforms are covered by terms that provide scale wages and residuals,” i.e., the high-budget SVOD terms. That figure has not previously been made public.

In contrast, says the letter, “the producer’s last offer will cover less than half” of animated programs made for SVOD, and even that comes with various required concessions the union deems unacceptable.
The union declined to say how many members voted for the SAV, releasing only the percentage.

Typically, SAV and contract ratification ballots for specialized areas of work are sent only to “affected members,” meaning members that have achieved a particular level of earnings in that type of work over a specified, recent period of time. The requisite level and time period are defined as part of the process of preparing for negotiations or action.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/understand-svod-tvod-avod-terms-busines

” SVOD = Subscription VOD

Subscription VOD is a type of service, where you enter into a subscription agreement, which will then grant you access to the service – typically to watch until you drop, that means watch with no limits.

Most services will operate with monthly subscriptions, which generally renews until cancelled by the subscriber. This is of course a huge contrast to the traditional Cable TV operator terms, where lock down periods of 6 to 12 months was normal. The “easy in – easy out” aspect of SVOD is something that is defining these services and the whole OTT industry in general, which then in return means the services must work hard to retain customers.

The prime example of an SVOD service is Netflix.”

Arl

The Ol’ Dog FF

*Headline photo featured in the article

Comments

comments

by David Robb
July 18, 2018 12:01pm

On-location filming in Greater Los Angeles slid 5.2% in the second quarter of 2018 compared to the same time period last year. The downturn comes after a strong first quarter, but a dismal 2017, when feature films, TV pilots and reality shows all hit five-year lows despite the state’s $330 million-a-year tax incentives program.

The incentives program, however, is definitely having a positive impact on the number of shooting days for on-location films and TV drams shot in the city, according to data compiled by FilmLA, the city’s film permit office. The tax program was recently extended through 2025.

The number of on-location shooting days for films that received state tax incentives has been steadily on the rise since 2015, when the city captured only 247 feature film shoot days. That figure more than doubled in 2016 to 549 days, and bulged again to 872 days last year. Through the first half of this year, there have been 298 shooting days of incentivized feature films – which is slightly off last year’s pace.

Incentivized dramas are also on the rise, from 887 shooting days in 2015, to 1,370 days in 2016, and to 1,401 days last year. So far this year, there have been 728days of incentivized shooting, which is ahead of last year’s pace. Incentivized TV dramas that filmed here during the second quarter included The OA, SWAT, Strange Angel, Snowfall, Mayans M.C. and Animal Kingdom.
FilmLA

Altogether, there were 8,978 on-location shooting days in the city during Q2 2018 – down nearly 7.7% from the first quarter and down from 9,466 shooting days in the second quarter last year. Overall, on-location television shoots saw a 15.1% decline to 2,953 shooting days, led by a 31.6% decline in shooting days on reality shows and a 9% decline in TV dramas. The only second quarter bright spots this year were feature films, commercials and TV comedies.

On-location feature film shooting day were up 11% in the second quarter compared to the same period last year, accounting for just 11.3% of the 1,184 on-location film shooting days during the quarter. Incentivized films that shot in the city during the quarter included Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Captain Marvel and Bumblebee.

TV comedies rose 23% in the second quarter compared to a year ago to 470 shoot days, with incentivized comedies accounting for 17.4% of the activity in the category. Projects that received state tax subsidies included Ballers, which fled Florida after the state eliminated its tax incentives program, and Showtime’s I’m Dying Up Here.

“We are grateful for the continued positive impact of the California Film Tax Credit as it boosts employment and production in Greater Los Angeles,” said FilmLA president Paul Audley. “While TV drama is down quarter to quarter, much of that is due to the production cycle of these shows which went on hiatus during the second quarter. Increases in feature film, commercials and TV comedy production are very good news for the region’s economy.”

On-location Commercial production continued to rise in 2018, up 14.2%t in the second quarter to 1,596 shooting days, finishing 16.8% above the category’s five-year average.

Quarterly decreases were also seen in Web-based TV (down 14.6% to 352 shooting days, in in the “Other” category, which consists largely of still photo shoots, student projects and music videos (down 7.9% to 3,245 shooting days).

On-location production figures are based on days of permitted production within the jurisdictions served by FilmLA. One “Shoot Day” is 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.

Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy

https://deadline.com/2018/07/on-location-filming-los-angeles-down-5-percent-second-quarter-filmla-1202428805

—

Hmmm…the report is much like an elevator. It has it’s Ups and…ah, you get the idea!

Arl the Ol’ SAG Watchdog

*Headline photo featured in article

Comments

comments

by David Robb
July 17, 2018 2:09pm

XCLUSIVE: The Anita Hill-led Commission on Eliminating Sexual Harassment and Advancing Equity in the Workplace has turned to the nonprofit Kapor Center for Social Impact to assist in raising the millions of dollars needed to fund its efforts to stamp out sexual abuse in the entertainment industry.

Founded last December in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, the commission is asking Hollywood to fund its mission over the next five years. All major networks, studios, talent agencies and guilds have been asked to contribute to cover the cost of its work. But the commission isn’t recognized by the IRS as a tax-exempt organization yet, and needed an assist while waiting for its application to be processed, which can take up to a year.

The commission is in the process of applying for 501(c)(3) status as an independent organization, but until then it’s operating under the fiscal sponsorship of the Kapor Center, an established 501(c) (3), which is offering the service to the commission and its contributors free of charge.
Kapor Center

Until the commission gets its tax-exempt status, any donor wishing to make a tax-deductible contribution to support the commission must do so by contributing to the Kapor Center and directing that their funding support the commission.

Kapor Center co-founder Freada Kapor Klein was one of the founders of the commission, along with Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, Nike Foundation founder and co-chair Maria Eitel, and entertainment attorney Nina Shaw.

Hill spoke at the Kapor Center about bias and sexual harassment in the workplace in April 2017 – six months before the Weinstein scandal made headlines. Hill, a professor at Brandeis University, gained fame in 1991 when she accused U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, her boss at the EEOC, of sexual harassment.

Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy

https://deadline.com/2018/07/hollywood-sex-harassment-commission-kapor-center-funding-help-anita-hill-1202428113/

—

Arl

The Ol’ SAG Watchdog

Headline photo featured n article

Comments

comments

Coming soon!

The following teaser from the SAG/ AFTRA Website:

July 18, 2018

Mark you calendars! Registration for the 2018-2019 Season of the New York SAG-AFTRA/WGAE Film Society will start on Wednesday, July 18. More details to follow.

—

Stay Tuned!  I know I’m excited too!!!

Arl

The Ol’ Excited SAG Watchdog

*Headline photo from the Website

** For those of you wo can’t wait for more info:  Online sales for the 2018-2019 season go on sale on Wednesday July 18. Go to https://www.sagaftra.org/…/local-prog…/new-york-film-society

Huh?  Okay, okay I’m an Ol’ Killjoy

Comments

comments