Yesterday was the deadline for AFTRA to accept their deal and they did.
After a bitter feud with sister union SAG over its primetime/TV contract, AFTRA’s membership on Tuesday approved the union’s new deal with the studios .
Slightly more than 62% of the voting members said yes to the pact.
“Today’s vote reflects the ability of AFTRA members to recognize a solid contract when they see it,” AFTRA president Roberta Reardon said late Tuesday. “We were faced with an unprecedented situation of another union mounting a well-funded and ferocious attack on our contract-ratification process. In the face of that kind of attack, I think the percentage that ratified this contract is really good, and I’m thrilled.”
SAG, whose leadership had contended that a separate deal with AFTRA would dilute its clout at the bargaining table, asserted that the referendum was skewed by nonactor members of the union.
“Clearly, many Screen Actors Guild members responded to our education and outreach campaign and voted against the inadequate AFTRA agreement,” SAG president Alan Rosenberg said. “We knew AFTRA would appeal to its many AFTRA-only members, who are news people, sportscasters and DJs, to pass the tentative agreement covering acting jobs. In its materials, AFTRA focused that appeal on the importance of actor members’ increased contributions to help fund its broadcast members’ pension and health benefits.”
Hollywood Reporter
SAG is set to make a decision on the contract proposed to them tomorrow.
Hollywood Reporter reports that AMPTP and AFTRA have reached a decision. Now all we need to prevent another Tinsletown strike is for SAG is continue talks and reach a deal. I don’t think people will be as forgiving a second strike around.
So what if there may be an actor’s strike in a few weeks, that is not stopping anyone from securing work. Condense list below:
Richard Dreyfuss is on his way to the White House via Oliver Stone.
Daniel Day-Lewis goes Musical. No not High School Musical.
Highlander is being remade to present time…somewhat.
Dreamworks Americanizes Japanese film Yomigaeri
Jake Gyllenhaal is the Prince of Persia.
Both sides have decided to continue talks today and take the talks on a day to day basis until Tuesday, excluding Sunday. In other words, they will come together today, Saturday, and Monday. Time is running out as June 30th is approaching. Read more about it here.
However, actors/actresses are finding work. Mel Gibson is set to star in Edge of Darkness which would mark his return to the big screen. Also Renee Zwellger is set to produce the Lifetime movie Living Proof set to air on the network in October.
Lastly, Film excs. have let SAG know how they feel.
Could there be two Hollywood strikes in one year? Hopefully not. No one could afford that, but things might be headed that way. SAG and AFTRA contracts a up at the start of the summer leaving them to neogitate with AMPTP. Problem is SAG and AFTRA usually go into it together. Well not this time. AFTRA decided to go at it alone. The Screen Actors Guild will begin talks April 15th to be followed by AFTRA two weeks later. If things are not resolved by June 30th, actors could go on strike. This has been known for awhile so movies in production as I type are hoping to wrap filming before the contract end date while praying that a deal is reached before then. You thought the Writer’s Strike was something, imagine if all the actors walk off sets…
Read more about the talks at the links below
Variety
The Hollywood Reporter
Ridley Scott and Leonardo DiCaprio will reteam for a dark thriller titled “The Low Dweller” that Ryan Kavanaugh’s Relativity Media has bought after a heated bidding war.
Scott and DiCaprio will produce the film, with DiCaprio attached to star and Scott eyeing to direct. The project has echoes of “The History of Violence” and “No Country for Old Men,” is a spec from first-time writer Brad Ingelsby, a twentysomething working as an insurance salesman in Pennsylvania.
Ingelsby had been working on the script in his spare time and has yet to step foot in Hollywood. But he has hit the spec jackpot, with the project selling for $650,000 against $1.1 million.
Read the rest here.
Hollywood Reporter
DiCaprio, Warner Bros. in for live-action ‘Akira’
By Borys Kit
Feb 21, 2008
“Akira”
UPDATED 3:38 p.m. PT Feb. 20
Anime classic “Akira” is getting the live-action big screen treatment courtesy of Leonardo DiCaprio and Warner Bros.
Ruairi Robinson has been hired to direct what would ideally be a two-part epic. Gary Whitta is writing the adaptation, which DiCaprio will produce via his Appian Way shingle. Andrew Lazar is also producing via his Mad Chance shingle. Jennifer Davisson, who heads up Appian, will also be involved in some producorial capacity.
“Akira” originated in 1988 as a manga and then as an animated film co-written and directed by Katsuhiro Otomo. The story was set in a neon-lit futuristic post-nuclear war “New Tokyo” in 2019 where a teen biker gang member is subjected to a government experiment which unleashes his latent powers. The gang’s leader must find a way to stop the ensuing swathe of destruction.
With its mature themes and cutting-edge animation, “Akira” was a milestone movie in anime and even animation circles, and led the way for anime making inroads into Western pop culture in the 1990s.
“Akira” has long been in development at the company, with producers Jon Peters and Basil Iwanyk involved at various times, as well as directors Stephen Norrington and Pitof. The rights lapsed but Warner managed to re-scoop them again for Robinson, who came to the studio with a vision of a two-part adaptation.
The new story moves the action to “New Manhattan,” a city rebuilt by Japanese money.
The studio is eyeing a summer 2009 release for the first movie.
Greg Silverman is overseeing for Warners.
Whitta, repped by UTA and Circle of Confusion, wrote “The Book of Eli,” which the Hughes Brothers are directing for Warners and Silver Pictures.
“Akira” would mark the feature directorial debut for Robinson who was nominated for a best animated short Oscar in 2001 for a sci-fi comedy called “Fifty Percent Grey.” He also wrote and directed a sci-fi short titled “The Silent City.” Robinson is repped by CAA and 3 Arts Entertainment.
Hollywood Reporter
Hollywood Reporter
The WGA said Monday that it has agreed to an interim agreement with the producers of the Grammy Awards telecast. The move was widely expected after the guild said last week it would not picket the ceremony.
“Professional musicians face many of the same issues that we do concerning fair compensation for the use of their work in new media,” WGA West president Patric Verrone said Monday. “In the interest of advancing our goal of achieving a fair contract, the WGAW board felt that this decision should be made on behalf our brothers and sisters in the American Federation of Musicians and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.”
Read the rest of the article here
