SAG-AFTRA, AMPTP Set to Start Contract Talks on June 7

began on March 20 with several issues that needed to be addressed. At the top of the list was the issue of compensation for streaming TV shows and films and the abuse of mini-rooms in which studios require writers with a TV show pitch to assemble a writers’ room at scale pay to produce scripts before the pitch is even greenlit.More than 9,000 WGA members voted on April 17 to authorize their leaders to order a strike if a deal was not met and a drastic change was not in the future.

William Earl SAG-AFTRA’s national board has lent its support to the WGA as the latter guild buckles down for a last sprint of negotiations next week in the days leading up to the May 1 expiration of film and TV writers’ master contract with Hollywood’s major employers. “SAG-AFTRA stands strongly in support and solidarity with the members of the Writers Guild of America who are engaged in contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. It is long past time for the studios, streamers, and other employers in the entertainment industry to remove roadblocks to fair and equitable wages and working conditions, and to agree to terms that reflect the unique worth and contribution of creative talent and workers, without whom the industry would not exist,” read a resolution passed Saturday by a unanimous vote of SAG-AFTRA’s national board.

SAG-AFTRA’s National Board voted unanimously today to approve a resolution “strongly in support” of the WGA in its ongoing negotiations for a new film and TV contract. “It is long past time for the studios, streamers, and other employers in the entertainment industry to remove roadblocks to fair and equitable wages and working conditions,” the resolution states, “and to agree to terms that reflect the unique worth and contribution of creative talent and workers, without whom the industry would not exist.”

The Pop Group frontman Mark Stewart has died at the age of 62.The band confirmed that he had died today in the early hours (April 21) on their official social media accounts. No cause of death has“Mark is in Communion with Love.

Fox News and Dan Bongino have parted ways after they couldn’t agree on the terms for a new contract for the host.“Folks, regretfully, last week was my last show on Fox News on the Fox News Channel,”  the former Secret Service agent and New York City police officer said Thursday on his podcast “Unfiltered with Dan Bongino.” Bongino continued: “I want you to it’s not some big conspiracy. I promise you. There’s not there’s no acrimony.

death of his beloved wife Joan Washington almost two years ago. The 65-year-old actor, who shared a daughter with his late spouse, was devastated when the voice and dialect coach died following an eight-month battle with lung cancer. As if losing the love of his life after 35 years of marriage wasn’t hard enough, it seems it has also resulted in the loss of some friendships too.

Patrick Stewart is saying farewell to his “Star Trek: Picard” character, Jean-Luc Picard, almost four decades after he took on the role in 1987 for “Star Trek: The Next Generation”.

Pep Guardiola congratulated his Manchester City players on setting up a 'final' against Arsenal.

Donald Trump still collects a hefty retirement income from his entertainment-industry past, according to financial disclosure forms that he submitted this week to qualify for the 2024 presidential election.The former president receives between $100,000 and $1 million in yearly pension from the Screen Actor’s Guild. The details were first disclosed on the Citizens for Ethics website on Friday.

The DGA, which begins its contract negotiations on May 10, is stressing the importance of “ensuring reliable pension funding to safeguarding access to industry-leading health care.” In a video that features DGA members talking about the pension and health benefits they’ve received, the guild says that “We’re fighting for our future.”

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer SAG-AFTRA will begin negotiations on a new basic agreement on June 7, the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers announced on Thursday. The union will be the third to enter bargaining this year, after the Writers Guild of America and the Directors Guild of America. The SAG-AFTRA contract expires on June 30, leaving time for just a few weeks of talks before the deadline. “Both the AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA are approaching this process as an opportunity to engage in thoughtful and interactive conversations that result in a mutually-beneficial deal,” the union and the AMPTP said in a joint statement on Thursday.

SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have agreed to begin formal contract negotiations on June 7. The guild’s current contract expires June 30.

SAG-AFTRA will no longer be the only Hollywood union that leases building space for its headquarters, as the actors guild announced that it has closed a deal for a $46.6 million purchase of a new headquarters in North Hollywood. “After multiple sessions with my executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland and CFO Arianna Ozzanto, it was determined that SAG-AFTRA was now in a financially sound position to pursue this goal,” SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher said in a statement. “National secretary-treasurer and finance committee chair Joely Fisher next took the lead in pursuit of a worthwhile real estate investment,” Drescher continued.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer SAG-AFTRA announced Tuesday that it has bought an office building in North Hollywood for $46.6 million and plans to relocate its headquarters there in the next few years. The performers’ union has been renting its headquarters in the Museum Square building in the mid-Wilshire area. In 2015, the guild extended its lease into 2026. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the union’s executive director, said in a statement that the new building will provide more space and better facilities, and that the union will save money over the long run by owning instead of renting. The new building is at 12020 Chandler Blvd., adjacent to a stop on the Orange Line busway and a few blocks from the NoHo Arts District. The building is currently home to Pilgrim Media Group and Screen Engine/ASI.

SAG-AFTRA has bought an office building in the San Fernando Valley for $46.6 million that will serve as its new national headquarters. Located at 12020 Chandler Blvd. in North Hollywood, the property features more than 118,000 square feet of commercial office space and includes the building on 1.22 acres and a nearby 0.71-acre vacant lot.

class action lawsuit filed in December 2020 by 10 members of the actors guild, including the late former SAG president Ed Asner, who died in 2021.As part of the agreement, SAG-AFTRA will pay $15 million to older members of SAG-AFTRA who lost their coverage in the guild’s health plan due to changes made in 2020 that raised the amount of annual earnings required to qualify for the plan and removing members’ ability to count residuals towards that earnings threshold. The trustees of the health plan at the time said that such changes were necessary to keep the health plan solvent, as the plan’s funds were falling during the COVID-19 pandemic and were projected to run out by 2024.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The SAG-AFTRA Health Plan announced on Monday that it has agreed to pay $15 million to older performers who lost health coverage due to eligibility changes made in 2020. Under a settlement agreement, the health plan will also pay up to $5.6 million over the next eight years to older performers who no longer qualify for coverage. The settlement resolves a class action lawsuit filed in December 2020 by Ed Asner, a former SAG president, and nine other performers. Asner and the other plaintiffs alleged that the plan had discriminated against older members by raising the earnings floor to qualify for health benefits and excluding residuals from the earnings threshold. The plaintiffs said the change forced nearly 12,000 participants off the plan.

A lawsuit filed against the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan, which claimed that changes to eligibility for benefits “illegally discriminated” against older members, has been settled. The suit was filed in federal court in December 2020 by former SAG president Ed Asner and nine other SAG-AFTRA members. The Health Plan, which had been facing staggering deficits, said that the changes were necessary to keep it from going broke.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor The WGA and Hollywood’s major employers are set to resume contract talks on Wednesday as the sides aim to make progress in sorting through complicated compensation issues and averting a strike. Negotiators for the Writers Guild of America and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are expected to sit down again in person Wednesday morning at AMPTP headquarters in Sherman Oaks. The WGA had planned to take a two-week break after March 31 to begin the process of a strike authorization vote, with talks tabbed to resume the week of April 17. The guild’s current three-year contract expires on May 1. A rep for the AMPTP declined comment. The WGA did not immedately respond to a request for comment.

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