SAG set to strike
I know it’s been quite a while since I posted anything here — I haven’t been to the theater much lately either — but I felt this was worth posting.
As some of you know, I wrote a screenplay with my filmmaking partner, and we had planned to shoot the film in the Shenandoah Valley this winter (2009), provided we were fully capitalized. Months before the crisis on Wall Street, we caught wind that an actor’s strike might kick in this winter. If the Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG) and studio CEOs (AMPTP) were to clash over new contracts, it would potentially ruin our film. So, we decided not to move forward with that project at this time.
This morning, I feel our decision was a wise one after reading this:
SAG leadership has begun preparations for a strike-authorization vote after two days of meetings with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers failed to break the 5-month-old deadlock on a new TV/theatrical contract […] “Make no mistake about this: If SAG members authorize a strike, then a strike is all but guaranteed because SAG has shown no willingness to compromise on its unrealistic demands,” [the AMPTP] told its members.