News Updates

June 26, 2019

Transgender Law Center, National LGBTQ Task Force, GLAAD Sign on as Supporters

LOS ANGELES – During a historic week in the LGBTQ rights movement, SAG-AFTRA announced that a coalition of national LGBTQ groups is backing the union in its fight for member privacy against IMDb.

Friday, June 28, marks the 50th anniversary of the riots at the Stonewall Inn in New York, a moment credited as the beginning of the modern-day LGBTQ equality movement. Now, groups including the National LGBTQ Task Force, the country’s oldest national LGBTQ advocacy group; GLAAD; the Transgender Law Center; the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund; Transcend Legal, Inc.; and Equality Federation have signed on to support SAG-AFTRA in the fight against IMDb profiting from performers’ private information.

SAG-AFTRA has been fighting for enforcement of California’s anti-age discrimination law, known as AB 1687, which requires subscription-based entertainment casting databases such as IMDbPro and IMDb.com to remove paid subscribers’ date of birth information upon request. In February 2018, a judge stopped enforcement of the law. SAG-AFTRA and its allies are currently appealing that ruling and expect an oral argument date in the Ninth Circuit by the end of the year.

This coalition of groups joining the case are gravely concerned with IMDb’s continued publication of the birth names of transgender performers and people in the entertainment industry without their consent.

“We endorse the position of SAG-AFTRA and its amici in upholding the constitutionality of AB 1687 because IMDb has exhibited a similarly defiant attitude with respect to publishing actors’ and other industry professionals’ ages and birthdates without those individuals’ consent,” the groups said in their legal filing. “As has been recently reported, plaintiff-appellee IMDb.com, Inc. has been recalcitrant when it comes to the issue of publicizing the birth names of transgender individuals in the entertainment industry without their consent… They do so despite removal requests, complaints, and even lobbying from management and advocacy groups.”

“Highlighting how IMDb is invading the privacy of transgender performers by publishing their birth names is another facet of this case that we hope will help make it clear to the appellate judges that the harm here is fundamental and compelling, and that the California law is necessary in order to remedy it,” said Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel.

Crabtree-Ireland currently serves as a Stonewall Ambassador along with SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director David White.

“The court has so far failed to understand or recognize the massive impact the publication of this personal information can have on the careers and lives of working performers,” said Crabtree-Ireland.

SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris said, “This is a case about the human rights of all performers. I want to thank these groups for signing on and showcasing how damaging the unregulated publication of performers’ personal data can be. We want to see this law enforced and are taking every step necessary to achieve that goal.”

These groups join a growing list of supporters backing SAG-AFTRA in the ongoing legal proceedings, including AARP, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, California Labor Federation, L.A. County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl and Berkeley Law Professor Catherine Fisk.

To read the letter, please click here.

https://www.sagaftra.org/files/Joinder%20Letter%20In%20Lieu%20of%20Brief%20by%20LGBTQ%20Organizations.pdf

Stay tuned!  You’ll be glad you did.

Arl

The Ol’ SAG Watchdog

*The headline photo selected by the Watchdog

By David Robb June 24, 2019 5:07pm

UPDATED with Endeavor statement: The WGA told the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday that Endeavor’s IPO registration last month inaccurately reported its client numbers, a claim Endeavor has rejected.

“In its IPO Registration Statement, Endeavor claims to represent over 6,000 clients including the ‘world’s most dynamic and engaging storytellers,’” said Laura Blum-Smith, WGA West Director of Research and Public Policy. “But as a result of Endeavor’s conflicted business practices, 1,400 writers have informed the agency that it no longer represents them, a fact that Endeavor fails adequately to disclose to potential investors. Endeavor’s reliance on clients and failure to address these conflicted practices make this offering a risky investment.”

Related Story
WME Sues WGA For ‘Unlawful Group Boycott’ In Violation of Antitrust Laws

Read the full letter here.

“Endeavor’s talent representation segment, including William Morris Endeavor, is a core component of its business,” the guild said in a statement. “Before April 13, WME represented numerous film and television writers belonging to the WGA. Since that date, however, 1,400 WGA writers have terminated their relationships with the agency. While Endeavor’s filing states that ‘the agency has received termination letters from a majority of its writer clients for the commissioning of writing representation services,’ it hasn’t disclosed the actual number of writers who have left the agency, or adjusted its reported client base to reflect this substantial loss.”

In a letter sent today to William Hinman, director of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance, the WGA states: “In the draft Form S-1 Registration Statement submitted to the SEC on February 14, 2019, Endeavor reports representing the same ‘over 6,000 clients’ reflected on its May 23 statement. But between these two dates, approximately 23% of this stated client base informed Endeavor that the agency no longer represents them for employment under WGA’s collective bargaining agreement. We believe this information is material to the risks of investing in Endeavor and must be disclosed.”

In determining that the 1,400 writer-clients who fired WME accounted for 23% of all of its clients, the guild relied on Endeavor’s rather imprecise statement that WME has “over 6,000 clients.” If the actual number of all of its clients is significantly higher than 6,000, the 23% figure cited would be significantly lower. In addition, many of the writers who terminated WME as writers are still represented by the agency in other areas, such as producing, directing and acting.

Endeavor responded later Monday by saying that “Once again, in an attempt to disrupt our business, WGA leadership is misrepresenting the facts. Endeavor has clearly stated that it has ‘more than 6,000 clients.’ This is not a static number, given the fluidity of the client business, and is still accurate today even after the departure of our former writer clients.”

On April 12, the WGA ordered all of its members to fire their agents who refuse to sign its new Agency Code of Conduct, which bans packaging fees and agency affiliations with corporately related production entities. At last count, more than 7,000 WGA members have fired their agents. Last week, the guild said it had reached an impasse in its negotiations with the Association of Talent Agents, saying it will try to reach agreements with individual agencies instead.

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https://deadline.com/2019/06/endeavor-ipo-misrepresents-client-numbers-wga-sec-1202637162/

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Take the Risk Endeavor to stay tuned!

Arl

The Ol’ SAG Watchdog

*Headline Photo selected by the Watchdog

By David Robb  June 24, 2019 9:41am

UPDATED with more detail, WME statement: WME has filed an antitrust lawsuit against the WGA East and WGA West, accusing them of a “wanton abuse of union authority in violation of antitrust law” in their ongoing battle against Hollywood’s talent agencies. The lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, accuses the two unions of engaging in an “unlawful group boycott,” as prohibited by the Sherman Antitrust Act.

“We took today’s step with careful consideration,” WME said in a statement. “The WGA negotiating committee has made it clear both through its legal action and unwillingness to negotiate that it was never interested in making a reasonable deal. We are now left to seek a legal remedy for this dispute. While we wish we were not in this position, we will not capitulate to a leadership group that limits the choices and opportunities available to our clients, and has made repeated attempts to undermine our business.”

Related Story
WGA Tells SEC That Endeavor IPO Filing Misrepresented Risk To Potential Investors

The legal wrangling comes against the backdrop of the WGA’s 10-week standoff with the Association of Talent Agents over a new franchise agreement. Those talks broke off on April 12, after which the guild ordered its members to fire all their agents who refuse to sign its new Agency Code of Conduct, which bans packaging fees and agency affiliations with corporately related production entities. At last count, the guild said that more than 7,000 of its members have terminated their agents. The guild, which last week declared the negotiations at an impasse, is also suing the Big 4 talent agencies for conflicts of interest and breach of fiduciary duty.

“WGA leadership has engaged in an unprecedented abuse of union authority that has pushed their guilds beyond the protection of the labor exemptions,” the suit states (read it here). “Their tactics are unlawful, and WGA’s outright bans on agency packaging and content affiliates do not serve any legitimate union interest.”

According to the suit, the WGA’s leadership “has orchestrated a series of anticompetitive agreements to prevent WME (and other talent agencies) from representing writers if the agencies do not stop their long-accepted, industry-standard practice of ‘packaging’ talent to studios in exchange for packaging fees, and do not stop affiliating with companies that produce or distribute content. WME has not agreed to these illegal conditions set forth in WGA’s so-called Code of Conduct and thus WGA has organized an unlawful group boycott to prevent WME from continuing to represent WGA member-writers. To date, approximately 1,300 writers (television and film) and showrunners have fired WME as their talent agency because of WGA’s boycott.”

The lawsuit states that “the group boycott, which stifles this competition, as well as competition in the market to represent writers, is a classic, per se violation of the antitrust laws.”

It also claims that the WGA “has coerced certain talent agencies to join its illegal boycott under the threat of losing their writer-representation businesses,” and “has tried, and continues to try, to coerce Hollywood studios to refuse to deal with agents who will not sign the Code of Conduct by, among other things, threatening the studios with objectively bad faith litigation.”

“To effectuate its boycott, WGA leaders have coerced their member-writers and showrunners into agreeing to refuse to deal with WME and other talent agencies who will not agree to stop packaging or affiliating with content companies by threatening these individuals with expulsion and other union discipline that would imperil their ability to work,” the suit states.

“Finally, WGA is inducing certain unlicensed managers and lawyers into joining the conspiracy by telling them that they should perform the work of boycotted talent agents even though it is illegal for them to do so. In particular, California (and New York) statutory law limits unlicensed managers or lawyers—as opposed to licensed agents—from procuring film and television employment for writers and other talent. But WGA has wrongly told unlicensed managers and lawyers that pursuant to a ‘limited delegation of WGA’s bargaining authority’ they can and should procure employment for writers.”

“WGA’s absolute bans on agency packaging and content affiliates are thus grossly over-restrictive, unnecessary to redress any legitimate union concern, and intrude upon commercial activities in markets that WGA has no authority to regulate,” the suit states. “Moreover, WGA’s actions will not only harm the economic interests of its own writer-members, including the showrunners who work as producers, but they will also harm the economic interests of talent represented by other entertainment guilds (e.g., actors and directors) who want to benefit from packaging and agency content affiliates.”

“What WGA West president David Goodman has aptly conceded to be a WGA ‘power grab’ by its leadership in order to ‘conquer’ the most successful talent agencies like WME is also a whiplash-inducing about-face of seismic proportion,” the suit says. “Up until April 12, 2019, WGA had expressly permitted packaging for more than forty years. For a generation, WGA utilized narrowly-tailored agent regulations to prevent any harm to union members from actual—not potential—conflicts of interest.

“WGA has never offered a cogent explanation for why the agency regulations permitting packaging and content affiliates that served its members so well for more than 40 years would not continue to do so now. Even so, WME tried—over-and-over in discussions with the WGA—to address any arguably bona fide WGA concern about these practices. WGA’s leadership responded—when they responded at all—with dismissiveness and derision and made no bones about their self-proclaimed objective to effectuate a “power grab” and “conquer” the major talent agencies and restrain trade in commercial markets. That is not a legitimate union interest. Indeed, being perceived as “powerful” is not a pejorative status for a talent agency— influence and clout with the studios are features and services that many writers want agents to provide.”

“Accordingly, WME has always committed—and continues to commit—to refrain from any and all behavior that would harm the interests of its clients. Indeed, WME made this commitment to WGA through the AMBA for over 40 years. But WME will not agree to WGA’s total and anticompetitive bans on agency packaging and agency-affiliate content companies because of unsupported and counter-factual allegations of harm to writers from purported conflicts of interest. The reality is that agency packaging and content affiliates provide significant benefits to writers who (used to be able to) exercise their freedom of choice to take advantage such of practices. In the words of WGA’s leadership, the boycott to enforce their unlawful bans is nothing more than a ‘power grab’ masquerading as a legitimate exercise of union authority.”

“This contention of harmful conflicts is not only false, but astounding in its implausibility after WGA expressly endorsed agency packaging for more than 40 years. From September 22, 1976 until April 12, 2019, WGA’s agent regulations were set forth in the AMBA which provided, among other things, that whenever a talent agency took a package fee, it could not additionally commission the writers who were part of the package. See AMBA, § 6(c). In other words, up until April 12, WGA did not merely fail to ban packaging as a supposedly invariable harmful conflict to writers’ interests, WGA affirmatively endorsed packaging for more than 40 years as a practice that benefitted its members by eliminating the 10% commission they would otherwise have to pay, and by facilitating the production of shows and films that might not otherwise get made.”

The suit also claims that the WGA’s leadership “has decided to misuse WGA’s power as a union to specifically target and cause injury to WME and a handful of the other most prominent talent agencies.” According to the suit, “the conduct of the WGA leadership has demonstrated that they never intended to negotiate in good faith with ATA or the talent agencies. WGA’s prohibitions on agency packaging and agency-affiliate content companies—and its group boycott to enforce them—were a fait accompli from the beginning of the negotiations because anything less than these outright bans would not have served WGA leadership’s ‘power grab’ and desire to ‘divide and conquer’ the major agencies.

“The purpose and effect of the challenged boycott is to directly impact the business market for producing and distributing TV shows and movies. Boycotting talent agencies who will not adhere to the Code of Conduct also adversely impacts the markets for the services of, e.g., directors and actors, who WGA has no authority to represent and who will no longer benefit from agency packaging or the existence of content affiliates. Indeed, WGA has affirmatively stated that its packaging ban will impact actors and directors and the businesses of the studios , as well as WGA members who work as showrunners or producers . The non-statutory labor exemption does not protect anticompetitive WGA activity that directly impacts either business markets or labor markets for the services of workers that WGA does not represent.”

The suit also claims that “There is no plausible pro-competitive justification for completely banning agency packaging and agency-affiliate content companies. Instead, WGA leadership designed these prohibitions to try to drive the top agencies out of the business of representing writers. This fact alone requires condemnation under either a quick look or full-blown rule of reason analysis.”

“The main questions for purposes of evaluating any claimed procompetitive justification are whether the challenged bans and group boycott enhance or suppress competition, and if so, whether on balance the challenged restraints are more procompetitive than anticompetitive. Here, however, the only competitive effect of the challenged restraints is to eliminate WME and other agencies who refuse to sign the Code of Conduct as competitors in the relevant markets. These restraints, on their face, thus reduce—not enhance—competition. There is also no plausible procompetitive justification for WGA’s boycott to enforce these anticompetitive rules. And even if there were, WGA could achieve any purported procompetitive objective through far less restrictive alternatives that would be virtually as effective as the absolute packaging and content affiliate bans set forth in the Code of Conduct.”

WME’s lawsuit also raises questions of law involving the WGA’s representation of non-writing producers, stating that the guild has “structured its group boycott to enforce its packaging ban in a way that requires WGA members to participate in the boycott even when they work as showrunners or producers rather than writers.”

The guild has told its members that “Some unsigned agencies have been telling clients they can still represent them as producers. This isn’t true. Because your writer and producer functions are inextricably linked, and are deemed covered writing services under the Minimum Basic Agreement, you cannot continue to be represented as a producer by an agency not signed to the Code of Conduct.”

WME’s suit, however, states that the guild “itself recognizes that it does not have the authority to do so.”

Pointing to another WGA communique, in which the guild told its members that “The guild cannot direct you to leave your agency for non-writing areas of work.”

WME’s suit says that “The anticompetitive impact of WGA’s packaging ban thus is intended to—and does—extend far beyond the labor market for writers that is WGA’s only legitimate union interest. Indeed, one need look no further than WGA’s own membership, which includes showrunners who act as producers and hire and supervise writers, and thus are non-labor parties in this capacity.”

WME is represented by attorneys Jeffrey Kessler and David Greenspan at Winston & Strawn, who have represented unions such as the NFL Players Association.

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https://deadline.com/2019/06/wme-sues-writers-guild-anitrust-hollywood-boycott-wga-1202637020/

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Stay tuned!

Arl

The Ol’ SAG Watchdog

*Headline Photo featured in Deadline article

By David Robb Deadline

June 22, 2019 7:10pm

Thomas Schlamme was re-elected president of the Directors Guild of America by acclamation today by the delegates to the guild’s biennial convention. The Emmy-winning West Wing director was first elected in 2017.

“It is my honor to once again accept the position of President of the Directors Guild of America,” he said. “It’s a privilege I don’t take lightly. We’re in a time of immense change, and the next few years will be critical for the DGA and for our industry. I am focused and ready to lead us through our next negotiations, and to ensure that the creative and economic rights of directors and their teams are protected for years to come. And I am fortunate that serving alongside me is a dedicated, experienced team of fellow officers elected to represent our members.”

Related Story
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“It is my privilege and pleasure to nominate such a highly qualified candidate for president,” added director and DGA negotiating committee co-chair Jon Avnet, who placed Schlamme’s name in nomination. “Time and time again, he’s put in the hard work of serving the DGA while maintaining his demanding day job as a director. He is a leader who not only honors our past, but fights for our membership now and into the future.”

Schlamme is currently shooting the upcoming HBO limited series The Plot Against America. His latest project, Snowfall, first premiered on FX in 2017. He’s won three DGA Awards, having been nominated eight times, and has won nine Emmy Awards.

Other officers elected include Mary Rae Thewlis, national vice president, and Betty Thomas, secretary-treasurer. Michael Apted chose not to run for re-election. Schlamme praised his long service to the guild.

“Michael’s history of guild service is immeasurable. Suffice it to say, the 21st century of this guild is because of Michael Apted, and because of his work. We all stand on his shoulders,” he said.

Also elected were first vice-president Lesli Linka Glatter; second vice-president Ron Howard; third vice-president Jon Favreau; fourth vice-president Laura Belsey; fifth vice-president Bethany Rooney; sixth vice-president Lily Olszewski; and assistant secretary-treasurer Scott Berger.

Steven Spielberg was re-elected to the national board, along with the following:

Board Members
Jon Avnet
Karen Gaviola
Julie Gelfand
Todd Holland
Nicole Kassell
Kathleen McGill
Don Mischer
Christopher Nolan
Liz Ryan
Oz Scott

Alternate Board Members
Mary Lou Belli
Maria Burton
Hanelle Culpepper
Ava DuVernay
Zetna Fuentes
Nora Gerard
Maggie Greenwald
Anthony Hemingway
Joanna Kerns
Michelle MacLaren
Michael Mann
Martha Mitchell
Jonathan Mostow
Kimberly Peirce
Matthew Penn
David O. Russell
Millicent Shelton

Associate Board Members
Valdez Flagg
Courtney Franklin
Louis Guerra
Jennie O’Keefe Armas
Joyce Thomas

Second Alternate Board Members
Lee Blaine
Mimi (Marian) Deaton
Dennis Mazzocco
Shawn Pipkin-West
Jennifer Truelove
Thomas Whelan

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https://deadline.com/2019/06/thomas-schlamme-re-elected-dga-president-1202636659/

A Simple direction stay tuned!

Arl

The Ol’ SAG Watchdog

*Headline photo featured in Mr. Robb’x article

By Dave McNary and Cynthia Littleton

June 21, 2019 2:43PM PT

The current impasse between the Writers Guild of America and the industry’s largest talent agencies will resonate in the WGA’s September elections.

Many of the key players in the agency dispute have become candidates in the contest. David A. Goodman, who has become the public voice of the guild during the bitter standoff, is running unopposed for a second two-year term as president of the WGA West.

Incumbent VP Marjorie David and board members Angelina Burnett, Nicole Yorkin and Meredith Stiehm are seeking re-election and all are also members of the negotiating committee as is David Simon, who is seeking re-election to the WGA East council. Stiehm is co-chair of the negotiating committee. She and Simon are two of the eight named plaintiffs in the guild’s suit, filed April 17 in Los Angeles, against the Big 4 talent agencies alleging breach of fiduciary duty.

There are also a pair of WGA West board candidates — Ayelet Waldman and Rasheed Newson — who were among the 20 writers who went public with their dissatisfaction with the current WGA leadership, signing a letter this week pressing guild leaders for answers to complaints and concerns about the handling of the negotiations with the Association of Talent Agents.

Related
Agents Express Hope for More Negotiations With Writers Guild
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Waldman told Variety she is a “very, very loyal member of the guild” who counted the agency situation as one of multiple reasons she considered running for a board seat.

“I think we all want to see changes in packaging and we want to see clarity around affiliated production but we also want to see a reasonable, negotiated end to this conflict. I think that’s across the board,” Waldman said. “Agents want to be representing their clients, clients want to be represented by their agents, people who don’t have agents want to get agents. Nobody wants this (impasse).”

Waldman stressed that she sees the biggest issue facing the guild as one that mirrors the national economic climate: income inequality between the haves and have nots. She sees next year’s master contract negotiations with the major studios as a chance to make more inroads for the middle-class writers who have been squeezed most by the recent seismic shifts in the scripted TV marketplace. The WGA’s master contract expires on May 1.

“I’m very focused on the middle tier of writers,” she said. “It’s as stratified as the country is right now. Just like in the country at large there is a top tier of writers making vast quantities of money and lot of people who are struggling to make their minimums to keep their health insurance. Why in this age of Peak TV the people creating TV with the exception of that very top tier are not reaping the benefits? I think that needs to be be addressed. I’m hoping those 2020 negotiations are an opportunity to do some justice in that room.”

Waldman, who is married to fellow WGA member Michael Chabon, emphasized that she sees the guild as a vital engine to Hollywood writers’ success. “I don’t believe in God but I believe in my WGA health insurance,” she quipped.

The letter by the dissident writers included a pointed reference to former WGA West president and negotiating committee co-chair Chris Keyser shopping a new series co-produced by Endeavor Content — an affiliate of WME and one of the many WGA targets in its efforts to revamp the rules on how agents represent guild members.

“Will you ask any current board or negotiating committee member who is actively in talks with a Big 4 affiliate production company — either directly or through an intermediary — to resign in order to avoid any appearance of conflict?” the letter asked.

WGA West executive director David Young responded Thursday to the letter with point-by-point answers to the questions about the guild’s over-arching goal in implementing the agency reforms. He acknowledged the uncertainty stirred by the guild’s move and urged members to stand in solidarity with the agenda set by the leadership.

“Part of the uncertainty is not knowing exactly how long it will take to get a fair deal. Often that is the toughest part. We hope writers will support the campaign until we can get that fair deal,” Young wrote. He also rebutted the criticism in the letter that WGA leadership has not been forthcoming with members.

Goodman told members this week that the WGA was suspending negotiations with the ATA in favor of holding individual talks with the nine leading agencies — none of which have responded. On April 13, the WGA required members to fire their agents if the agents had not signed a new Code of Conduct which bans agents from collecting packaging fees and owning interests in affiliate production companies.

The WGA West candidates names released Friday were only those put forward by the guild’s nominating committee. Members can become nominees via petition until July 23. Winners will be announced on Sept. 16.

https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/talent-agents-battle-writers-guild-elections-1203250382/

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Arl

The Ol’ SAG Watchdog

*Headline photo featured in the Variety article