Flave

http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2008/...-actors-g.html

As I watch my retirement funds dwindle away, I'm having a hard time working up any sympathy for these spoiled narcissists. Why is a deal that was good enough for the rest of the creative community not good enough for these prima donnas?

DJariya

If you visit the AMPTP's web site, they pretty much say that SAG is out of their minds to even think about a strike vote considering the poor economic conditions of this country. Also, I don't think this will pass anyways. There are alot of starving actors who work paycheck to paycheck some only as guest stars or extras and need to work. Not every actor has an income of a Kiefer Sutherland or William Petersen and can afford to not work for several months to a year.

Matthew Ackerly

Looks like it may be closer to a reality then people think:


"The Screen Actors Guild announced early Saturday that it would seek a strike authorization from its membership.

SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have been operating without a contract since July 1.

The announcement comes just days after the Nov. 5 first anniversary of the launch of the Writers Guild of America Strike -- a strike from which the TV industry continues to reel.

From Variety:

"We remain committed to avoiding a strike but now more than ever we cannot allow our employers to experiment with our careers," the guild said. "The WGA has already learned that the new media terms they agreed to with the AMPTP are not being honored. We cannot allow our employers to undermine the futures of our members and their families."

stingermck

If I went on strike at my job, id be fired and quickly replaced. Must be nice to have that flexibility

It will be interesting to see if this plays out.

Shannon Nutt

Far be it from me to defend celebrities, but the salaries of the stars are miniscule compared to the amounts the studios/networks make off of their movies/shows/images.

Plus the vast majority of SAG members are actors who don't make much more than you or I.

Goat3001

The networks can't afford another strike... can they?

This would be terrible. If this happens again CBS should move to an all Survivor format just to keep me entertained.

DVD Josh

The actors are insane if they think the public will put up with this shit again, especially considering the economic state. If they strike, they might as well start looking for another line of work.

riley_dude

The repercussions are still being felt from the last one.

Doughboy

I hope they do strike. I had so much more free time on my hands last year when there were no new episodes of TV shows to worry about.

Also, some of these actors need a serious reality check. The economy is in shambles. People are losing their jobs, their savings, and their homes. The auto union is about to get 25-50 billion bucks from taxpayers. Secret ballots are about to eliminated for workers. And SAG actually thinks we give a crap about their members being underpaid?!

Timber

Maybe I'll get another Big Brother winter edition.

RoboDad

I have to say that this argument just sounds like a lot of spin. Of course the studios/production companies are going to make more than the actors they employ. They put up the money and all of the other resources required to make the picture. They take all of the risk. An actor is only one cog in the machine of film production. A highly visible cog, perhaps, but a cog, nonetheless.

spainlinx0

I'm not going to say whether they should or shouldn't strike. If they feel they can get a better deal, so be it. They might have a tougher time than the writers because of the economy and because the rich actor is more ingrained in the nation's psyche than the rich writer though.

DJariya

I saw an interview with Alan Rosenberg, the President of SAG, and he says this fight is mainly for the middle to lower class actors who need to survive off these residuals.

Personally, the timing for a strike vote is horrendous but I don't think they will pull the trigger. It's most likely a scare tactic for the AMPTP.

However, I have read that the AMPTP hasn't paid the writers yet from the deal they signed.

resinrats

Of course another side effect of a strike would be actors being put out of work because the shows they are on get cancelled. Take for example Bionic Woman & to some extent, fanboy favorite Journeyman. It seemed to be going OK when the last strike hit, they ran out of episodes to air and it went on hiatus. Somewhere in there, the network decided to cancel the series instead of making new episodes. So all those writers/actors were out of a job. Sure they might have won the strike deal but now they are jobless when they might have still had paying jobs had the strike not happened. Big name actors will most likely go on to new projects with no troubles. Bob, recurring extra # 1 doesn't have that option.

spainlinx0

I don't think Journeyman was a strike victim. It was a low viewership victim wasn't it?

Arthur Dent

So true.

Original Desmond

Another strike would piss me off to the extent that i'd fly to hollywood and start punching out some actors

Zen Peckinpah

I took a side with the writers. That was a plausible cause. I will not support these shenanigans. I hope the strike gets ignored by all the big players.

Josh-da-man

If they fuck up another season of Lost...

sjrab16

I am already down to about 5 shows I watch, so with another strike I will probably be able to get rid of cable soon. Who can strike next, maybe I will be able to get rid of my netflix with the next strike

JuryDuty

According to this article, programs like 24 will have their season completed by Christmas, so it won't be affected. Other shows like Lost should be 75% done and just in post production.