December 16, 2007

Dear Writers Guild of America Members,

I am writing to you on behalf of 120,000 proud members of Screen Actors Guild who stand with you in solidarity as your strike continues. We believe that now more than ever, we must remain strong and even more committed to achieving our common objectives. We are proud to walk shoulder-to-shoulder with you and SAG will be there for as long as it takes.

Your fight is our fight. Our National Executive Director Doug Allen and I are working around the clock with Patric Verrone and David Young to coordinate our strike support efforts. I'm sure you have seen some of the thousands of Screen Actors Guild members who've been walking the picket lines in Los Angeles, New York and around the country for the last six weeks.

The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) issued the following statement regarding the Golden Globe Awards today. So despite rumors to the contrary, it certainly does look like the Globes will be held behind a picket line.
Personally, I am still voting for the black tie pickets, and coverage on the Internet of anyone who choses to join us. Of course, since the Internet is so new-fangled and

The following letter was sent today from some of the most powerful publicity firms in entertainment to Jeff Zucker of NBC. Thank you, everyone, for supporting us in our struggle to get a fair deal.

Dear Jeff,

We represent a majority of the actors, writers and directors nominated for a 2008 Golden Globe Award, as well as many of those invited to appear as presenters on the January 13, 2008

Jeff Berman also spoke to SAG President Alan Rosenberg at Friday's BAND AID concert to benefit the Industry Support Fund:

Of note: Rosenberg reads a letter from Academy Award nominee Viggo Mortensen stating that he will not cross any picket line at the Oscars.

I miss the Golden Globes. The fans miss seeing their favorite stars win awards for their favorite movies and tv shows. The Writers' Guild Awards have also been downgraded to a news event. All the writers who were nominated deserve their moment in the spotlight. And the Academy Awards... That's threatened too. Added to all the economic difficulties created by the strike, why not just let the

To My Fellow Members,

This afternoon, the Directors Guild announced that it would commence formal negotiations with the AMPTP tomorrow. In a joint press release with the Screen Actors Guild, the Writers Guilds, West and East, wished the DGA well and offered our hope that they achieve a fair deal that incorporates principles that will benefits all creative artists. We further stated that, while

This letter was just sent out to SAG members by Doug Allen (Executive Director and Chief Negotiator) and Allen Rosenberg (President). Emphases in red are from us at UH -- LK.

Dear SAG Member:

Everyone hopes the WGA strike will end with a fair deal for the writers. There has been much speculation about the impact on the WGA strike of the tentative agreement between the Directors Guild of America

The WGA just announced a new picket event, Bring an Actor Friend to the Line Day, for Tuesday, December 11. I like this event idea. SAG and the WGA have been partners in this from the beginning, and actors have been joining our picket lines every day of the strike. But the focus of this day is a little bit different.

An analysis by United Hollywood's Jeffrey Berman. -JA.

Two significant developments happened near the end of last week: The AMPTP agreed to come back to the negotiating table, and dozens of actors received letters of suspension due to force majeure, including the casts of 30 Rock, The Office and Rules of Engagement.

These two events couldn’t be more contradictory.

Force majeure literally means "greater force." It’s a clause in a contract that covers natural disasters or other "Acts of God.” Force majeure excuses a party from liability if some unforeseen event prevents it from performing its obligations under the contract.

LOS ANGELES – The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) have issued the following statement regarding Contract 2007 negotiations:

“The Writers Guild has reached a binding independent agreement today with Worldwide Pants that will allow Late Night with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson to return to the air with their full

Here's the press release that just went out:

THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY AND THE WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA ANNOUNCE INDEPENDENT AGREEMENT

NEW YORK, NY and LOS ANGELES, CA – (January 11, 2008) – The Weinstein Company (TWC) and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) announced today that they have signed a comprehensive independent agreement. While the details are not being disclosed, the deal addresses the

Three of the original Munchkins from THE WIZARD OF OZ will be joining striking writers on the picket line Friday morning at NBC Studios in Burbank. Among them will be Jerry Maren, the original Lollipop Kid who uttered the famous line, "We represent the Lollipop Guild."

Unfortunately for Jerry and his co-stars, the Lollipop Guild didn't have any better luck than other Hollywood guilds of the era in getting the actors or its screenwriter any residuals for their creation which has earned an untold fortune in the years since.

This was sent to WGA members today, explaining some of the reasoning behind the Worldwide Pants deal.

To Our Fellow Members,

We are writing to let you know that have reached a contract with David Letterman's Worldwide Pants production company that puts his show and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson back on the air with Guild writers. This agreement is a positive step forward in our effort

This was sent to membership Friday night, asking for patience as the WGA assesses the deal and moves foward with the AMPTP:

To Our Fellow Members,

As you know, the Directors Guild announced yesterday that it has reached a tentative agreement with the AMPTP. We are waiting for the full terms of the deal to be made available so that we can carefully analyze and evaluate the language and numbers.

BALTIMORE:
Photo from Associated Press: Actors Sonja Sohn (left) and Jeffrey Pratt Gordon (center) from the TV show "The Wire" joined striking screenwriter Rafael Alvarez at a Writers Guild protest yesterday in Baltimore.

WGAe employee Karen Young sent us links to articles from the Washington Times and the Baltimore Sun about the picket in Baltimore - attended by members from many different

This was sent today to WGA members from Presidents Verrone and Winship. Emphasis is mine -- because I think it's incredibly important. --LK

To Our Fellow Members,

As Negotiating Committee Chair John Bowman wrote you last night, we are continuing to negotiate the terms of a tentative agreement with the AMPTP. We anticipate that we will be able to present the terms of that agreement to you in

The following two WGA press releases were sent to media today to announce that Lionsgate and Marvel Studios have both signed interim agreements with the Writers Guild.

LIONSGATE SIGNS INTERIM AGREEMENT WITH WRITERS GUILD

LOS ANGELES – Leading independent filmed entertainment studio Lionsgate is the latest company to sign an interim agreement with the Writers Guild of America. The company is one

Today, an actor in one of my all-time favorite comedies died. Harvey Korman, who made his name on "The Carol Burnett Show" in the 1960s and 1970s, passed away in Los Angeles at the age of 81, after suffering from an aneurysm many months ago.

But he will be fondly remembered for his tremendous role as the evil Hedley Lamarr in the classic Mel Brooks comedy, "Blazing Saddles." It is one of the best comedy films of all time (in my humble opinion). Whenever anyone called him "Hedy Lamarr," he'd get indignant and exclaim, "No, that's Hedley!!" (The actress Hedy Lamarr actually sued Mel Brooks over the reference, and it was later settled out of court.)

One of my favorite Hedley lines from the film:
"You will be risking your lives, whilst I will be risking an almost-certain Academy Award nomination for the Best Supporting Actor. "

(We want to welcome SAG Member Justine Bateman as a regular contributor to United Hollywood. We hope to continue opening the site up to more voices from SAG and other unions. Justine reminds us that this fight belongs to all of us. We're all on the same page.)

Attention all SAG Actors:

I believe it's appropriate at this time to call all actors into action in support of the Writer's Guild on strike.
I know many of us have been walking the picket lines and attending the rallies, but I want to challenge ALL SAG members to see if they can commit an HOUR-A-DAY to walking the picket lines.
The AMPTP has been jerking the Writer's Guild around.
1. They offered nothing but insulting Roll-Backs to the WGA in the negotiations that caused the strike.

(The following is an excerpt from Michael Russnow's Huffington Post piece. For the full article click here.)

I like George Clooney and I like Tom Hanks. Who doesn't? From their screen personas to their amiable chats with David Letterman. They seem like nice guys and appear committed to good works and deeds, from Clooney's work on behalf of Sudanese refugees to Hanks' paying homage to our military veterans.

However, I'm concerned about their outspoken efforts to head off a SAG strike. Not because it would obviously be preferable to avoid a work stoppage so soon after the three and a half-month WGA industrial action, but because what they appear to be doing works against the very potential for which the Screen Actors Guild was originally created.

It's all well and good to make statements of a general kind regarding the need for the conflicting parties (the AMPTP and SAG) to be bargaining at the negotiating table, but the methods these well-intentioned actors have employed seem to be of a hurrying design that, by their very nature, take the air out of the balloon of solidarity and play right into the hands of the AMPTP.

The strike is over. The WGA contract has been ratified. SAG and AFTRA are now center stage and there is still a lot of work to do before the town gets back to normal. At this moment it's useful to look back at our own history. There are lessons to be learned about how the process can move forward even against what seems like overwhelming odds.

There are many who labored behind the scenes to support the writers' strike. At United Hollywood we worked with people who put their energy on the line but wanted to stay off the media's radar. Not content to just talk a good game, these are members and supporters who knew that if they wanted to make a difference, they had to work at it.

One group in particular came of age during the early part of the strike: the writer-directors. Nicknamed the WD-40, forty writer-directors met to search for ways they could help facilitate the negotiation.

From the beginning of the strike, most journalists accepted the AMPTP's lead and described the DGA and WGA as antagonistic to one another. Nicholas Counter was frequently quoted in the trades as preferring the DGA as a negotiating partner. The writer-directors objected to that characterization and felt that the AMPTP was doing what it always did in positioning the Guilds against one another to diminish each union's power.

The following letter was sent out earlier today by the WGA east and west. We'd have brought it to you sooner, but SOMEONE called us a "spam blog." Nice timing, huh? Anyway. -JA

To Our Fellow Members,

For our first joint communication of 2008, we are pleased to report very good news. This morning, United Artists signed an independent agreement. This company, now co-owned by Paula Wagner and

We're working on analysis now, as is the WGA and pretty much everyone else in town. Here's the DGA's statement:

DGA AND AMPTP REACH TENTATIVE AGREEMENT
ON TERMS OF NEW CONTRACT

DGA Gains Solid Wage Increases with No Rollbacks Plus Precedent-Setting Jurisdiction Over New-Media and a Doubling of EST Residuals Rate

LOS ANGELES – The Directors Guild of America (DGA) announced today that it has

col-lu-sion [kuh-loo-zhuhn]

secret agreement or cooperation between two or more parties for a fraudulent, illegal, or deceitful purpose

The New York Times reported that David Letterman is pursuing an interim agreement with the WGA that would allow his late-night talk show back on the air, even if the strike is still ongoing. As the Times article linked above states, "that could potentially put Mr. Letterman at an enormous advantage over most of his late-night colleagues."

(News Release from the Writers Guild of America)

Hundreds of Screen Actors Guild Members Join Picket Lines Outside Universal Studios

on Day Nine of WGA Strike

Strike TV is an Internet fundraiser. It's an online "channel" featuring original video shows created by working professionals in the TV and Film Industry. These shows are self-funded and owned by their creators. Funds raised by ad revenue will go toward the Writers Guild Foundation Industry Support Fund, assisting union directors, actors and below the line members who are affected by the strike.

Writers Guild Members answer the the three most common questions from the picket lines.

It's Thanksgiving week, and in the spirit of that we hope all our readers will take some time to help those in need to whatever extent they can.

The excellent LiveJournal community wga_supporters recently ran this note from David Rambo of CSI: