Screen Actors Guild challenges rival union's pact

By Leslie Simmons

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The Screen Actors Guild on Wednesday continued its campaign against a rival actors' union's tentative contract with Hollywood producers.

At a Town Hall meeting in Hollywood, SAG aimed to educate its members about the new primetime/TV deal that the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) has asked its members to ratify.

The meeting followed SAG's 28th day of negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers.

A fact sheet was handed out to members that tells of "some problems with AFTRA's tentative deal."

The rundown focused on issues involving new media, including allegations that AFTRA gave up "significant jurisdiction" and residuals in new media and is not protecting actors over the use of their clips in new media.

"AFTRA's tentative deal does not secure adequate residuals for television shows that stream over the Internet on an advertiser-supported platform," SAG said. "This is a huge problem for SAG members because the new-media platform could cannibalize some existing residuals models for both motion pictures and television when product moves to the Internet."

AFTRA, which brokered a tentative deal with the AMPTP on May 28, has defended its contract. Its national board voted Friday to send the new deal to its members for ratification. The results of that member vote are expected by July 9.

AFTRA refuted SAG's claims, saying their agreement "confirms the union's jurisdiction over programs made directly for new media and establishes a payment structure for the use of traditional programs reused in new media, building upon the patters of the DGA and WGA deals."