SAG-AFTRA Leaders Approve Sending Successor Deal to Members for Ratification

David Robb Labor EditorUPDATE: Macbeth has gotten the greenlight from SAG-AFTRA to resume production. The union says it rescinded the Do Not Work order it issued today after the producers had “come forward with a safety plan that is in compliance.”The guild has also taken Retaliator off its Do Not Work list.

David Robb Labor EditorSAG-AFTRA has told its members that they can’t work on two more films because their producers have “failed to comply with SAG-AFTRA’s required COVID-19 safety standards and protocols for a safe set.” One of the films is Macbeth, an adaptation of the Shakespeare tragedy by Toil and Trouble Productions LLC; the other is Retaliator, from a company called Retaliators LLC.“As such,” the union said in identical “Do Not Work” notices, “SAG-AFTRA members are hereby instructed to

Sam Faiers revealed her son Paul, four, went to summer camp for the first time, leaving her both emotional and proud.The 29 year old star and her boyfriend Paul Knightley have clashed on their reality series The Mummy Diaries in the past over the topic of little Paul attending nursery, before he starts school this September. As Paul went to summer camp for the very first time, an emotional Sam opened up on his milestone.

David Robb Labor EditorSAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris is asking her members to urge Congress to expand the federal COBRA healthcare subsidy for workers who lost their jobs during the pandemic and are in danger of losing their health coverage.“It is time that Congress pass the next federal relief package to protect the American worker from the economic consequences of the COVID-19 public health crisis,” she said tonight in a message to her members.

Two more stars have been added to the cast of Michael Bay‘s pandemic movie, Songbird.

The board of SAG-AFTRA’s largest local on Tuesday voted 69 percent to 31 percent against the new TV/theatrical deal approved by the national board, The Hollywood Reporter has learned, in a videoconference meeting that resulted in a symbolic show of force signaling tumultuous times ahead for entertainment’s largest union. The 29 to 13 non-binding vote by the Los Angeles board was “essentially along party lines” one board member said, speaking on condition on anonymity.

David Robb Labor EditorPatricia Richardson, president of the SAG-AFTRA Los Angeles Local, urged the guild’s members today to vote no on the union’s new film and TV contract. “The deal isn’t good enough, and now is the time to fix it,” she said during a Zoom press conference with other leaders of the opposition, which includes the local’s two vice presidents – Frances Fisher and David Jolliffe – and A.

Comcast-owned Sky and Sony Pictures Television have struck a new long-term content partnership across the U.K. and Ireland, Germany, Italy, Austria and Switzerland.

Dave McNary Film ReporterSAG-AFTRA’s Los Angeles board has voted to oppose ratification of a successor deal on its master contract for feature films and primetime television work.The move came Tuesday, two weeks after the national board of the performers union had approved sending out the contract for ratification by a vote of 67.6% to 32.4%.

David Robb Labor EditorThe board of directors SAG-AFTRA’s Los Angeles Local voted overwhelmingly Tuesday – strictly along the guild’s fractious party lines – to oppose ratification of the union’s new film and TV contract. The local is the union’s largest, representing just over 50% of the entire membership.Local board members voted 29-13 (69%-31%) to oppose ratification, almost exactly the reverse of the national board, which late last month voted 67.6%-32.4% to approve the contract.

Ted Johnson Hollywood talent agencies, law firms and production companies were among the recipients of loans under the Paycheck Protection Program, the massive program put in place by Congress to try to carry businesses and their employees through the COVID-19 crisis.Among the recipients of seven-figure loans were talent agencies Agency for the Performing Arts and The Gersh Agency,  as well as law firms including Glaser, Weil and Greenberg, Glusker, and accounting firm Green Hasson Janks.The

Dave McNary Film ReporterSAG-AFTRA has rescinded its “do not work” order for the pandemic thriller “Songbird,” produced by Michael Bay.The performers union made the announcement Friday on its web site, a day after telling its members not work on the project: “SAG-AFTRA has rescinded its Do Not Work order for the feature film ‘Songbird, produced by On a Lark Productions, LLC, and members are free to work on this production effective immediately.”SAG-AFTRA did not elaborate. “Songbird” had been

SAG-AFTRA has given a greenlight for production on 7th & Union, a LatinX drama toplined by Mexican comedy star Omar Chaparro and Edy Ganem, and to start in Los Angeles on Monday. The feature from newly launched Broken English Productions has Chaparro playing Raymundo, a Mexican ex-fighter who forms an unlikely bond with a disgruntled man (Gregg Daniel), whose life and relationship with his daughter, played by Erinn Westbrook, are unraveling.

Dave McNary Film ReporterLeaders of the Writers Guild of America have unanimously endorsed the successor deal reached with studios on its master contract, triggering a ratification vote among the 15,000 members.In an email message to members Friday morning, the WGA said, “After the negotiating committee’s unanimous recommendation of the agreement, last night both the WGAW Board and WGAE Council voted unanimously to recommend the contract.

Member voting commenced Thursday on SAG-AFTRA’s new TV/theatrical deal, the performers’ union announced, and additional details of the agreement were released in a lengthy ballot packet available online. Voting concludes July 22.

David Robb Labor EditorSAG-AFTRA today put the kibosh on Songbird, one of the first movies to shoot in Los Angeles during the pandemic, telling members not to work on the film because it “failed to complete the signatory process and is therefore not signed to any applicable SAG-AFTRA agreement.” In the past, however, many such Do Not Work orders have been resolved once producers clear up the paperwork with the union.As Deadline’s Mike Fleming reported on May 19, Songbird is a pandemic thriller

Dave McNary Film ReporterSAG-AFTRA has launched balloting for ratification of a successor deal on its master contract for feature films and primetime television work — with spirited campaigns on both sides of the issue.The performers union, which reps 160,000 members, rolled out a video Thursday of President Gabrielle Carteris urging a “Yes” vote on the new deal and posted the referendum booklet on line with ballots due back July 22.

David Robb Labor EditorSAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris is urging the members to vote yes to ratify the union’s new film and TV contract, saying in a video message to her members today that the pact “is the most lucrative deal we have ever negotiated. It’s valued at $318 million over the three year term of the contract.