Studios turn down SAG

You remember SAG - the actors' union whose leadership decided that matching earlier contract deals worked out by writers, directors and another actors union wasn't good enough for them. So now, with the Screen Actors Guild having been without a contract for three months - and one in Hollywood paying much attention - that same leadership is asking the studios and networks to resume negotiations by focusing on just three issues (the original list of demands was much longer). "If we can reach agreement on three threshold issues, we can finish these negotiations," wrote SAG President Alan Rosenberg and Executive Director Doug Allen. You can almost hear the studio heads chuckling. Nick Counter, president of the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers, said thanks but no thanks. From Variety:

The timing of the open letter urging the majors to resume talks, some observers noted, is likely motivated in part by the pending shakeup in the SAG national board as a result of the election earlier this month. The letter may be an effort to demonstrate that SAG leaders have gone to great lengths to restart contract talks. Rosenberg and Allen are likely to face more pressure to make a deal with the majors from the newly constituted SAG board, which now includes rivals to the Rosenberg-led Membership First group that has advocated the guild’s hard line in contract talks. SAG’s Hollywood board will hold its first meeting since the election on Oct. 6, when the new Hollywood members, aligned under the Unite for Strength faction, will assume their seats. SAG’s 71-member national board is set to meet on Oct. 18.