Apathetic actors kinda take on the AMPTP

The entire industry is anxious about a potential SAG strike. That is, the entire industry except almost every actor I talk to. I am consistently surprised by how little my fellow actors know about the current state of negotiations between the Screen Actor's Guild (SAG) and the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Perhaps it's because there's very little difference between a strike and no strike for most actors - less than 5% of SAG members are employed on sets at any given time. Still it's very difficult for SAG to exert leverage in negotiations with the AMPTP when so many of its members are ignorant and apathetic to what is going on.

To bring everyone up to speed:
Every three years SAG (and just about every other creative union WGA, DGA, AFTRA, etc.) negotiates a new general contract with the AMPTP which ensures a specific base level of pay and other financial, medical, and pension benefits to performers.

SAG has a number of points it is trying to negotiate, but the most significant come in the form of jurisdiction over and residuals in "New Media" or as SAG President Alan Rosenberg recently coined it, "Now Media". The reason for this is simple - the internet is the next big distribution platform, SAG missed the boat on DVDs and now wants to ensure that its members will be fairly compensated for the use of their image in the form of new media residuals. Residuals are payments to actors for the rebroadcast of tv shows and films - they are vitally important to the livelihood of the average working actor at the Co-Star/Guest-Star level.

The current contract between SAG and the AMPTP expired on July 1st. At that time the AMPTP issued SAG its "Best, Last, and Final Offer". The contract proposed by the AMPTP essentially follows the template established by the DGA 6-months ago. Both the WGA and now AFTRA have ratified similar contracts. This contract would essentially lock SAG out of future made-for-internet productions (SAG jurisdiction would start at $15k min productions) and prevent actors from receiving significant residuals for the ongoing use of their image.

SAG has said that they don't want to strike, although many suspect they take this position because they aren't certain they can get the 75% of the membership to vote 'Yes' on a strike authorization ballot. Regardless of whether SAG is striking, film production has essentially shut down because insurance companies aren't willing to issue completion bonds until SAG and the AMPTP have a signed contract.

There has been a lot of other drama and hullabaloo surrounding these negotiations (search: AFTRA vs SAG) but what is clear is this: if SAG is not successful in negotiating a better contract than the AMPTPs most recent offer, it is unlikely SAG members will ever see internet residuals on the scale they are used to in traditional media. That is to say: in the long run it will be just that much harder to make a living as a film/television actor.

For ongoing coverage of the SAG/AMPTP negotiations I can't recommend Nikki Finke's "Deadline Hollywood Daily" enough.