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American Morning
Showbiz Today Reports: Negotiations Over New Contract Under Way Between Actors and Producers
Aired May 15, 2001 - 10:41 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: First it was the Hollywood writers who threatened to strike. Now the actors' contract is ready to expire.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: For more on these stories, let's go straight to Michael Okwu, standing by in New York.
He's got "Showbiz Today Reports" for you -- Michael.
MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks guys, and good morning.
Now that Hollywood writers have reached a contract settlement, the curtain is rising for the next act of Hollywood's ongoing labor drama. The actors' contract expires in six weeks, and negotiators for the producers and the Screen Actors Guild begin talks today.
CNN's Lauren Hunter sets the scene.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAUREN HUNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Hollywood's ongoing storyline about labor negotiations, the actors' lines seem well rehearsed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We believe there is a deal to be made.
HUNTER: Following months of speculation, and two weeks after writers and producers reached their contract agreement, the mood is optimistic as talks between producers and members of Hollywood's two acting unions, the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, begin Tuesday.
BRIAN WALTON, SAG CHIEF NEGOTIATOR: Use the Writers Guild agreement and our arguments, and combine them into a stepping stone, into a deal that meets the unique needs of actors, and we will see a deal on or before June 30.
HUNTER: That's when the current three-year contract for about 135,000 actors expires.
Despite some high-profile and high-income members, about 70 percent of working actors earn less than $7,500 per year. It's those members the unions say they want to protect. JOHN CONNOLLY, SAG/AFTRA NEGOTIATOR: They're working people who have families, responsibilities, mortgages, and car payments, just like other people in the United States.
HUNTER: Actors are bringing about three dozen proposals to the bargaining table, including increases in initial compensation and residuals for guest stars on TV shows, and higher payouts for cable TV and video distribution.
The possibility of a work stoppage isn't part of the message.
WALTON: What this negotiation is about is problem solving.
TOM HANKS, ACTOR: We deserve what's right, and we deserve what's fair.
Actors are still recovering from last summer's strike against advertisers. That lasted six months and is estimated to have cost the southern Californian economy $125 million in lost production.
The last TV and theatrical strike was in 1980. It lasted just over three months and pushed back the start of the fall TV season.
For their part, movie studios and TV networks say they face the same conditions that determine their bargaining positions with writers: a weak economy; a dwindling audience; and high production costs, which push work overseas.
PETER BART, EDITOR, "DAILY VARIETY": They argue loud and clear that the profit margins in TV and film have become wafer thin, and therefore, they don't want to redefine the cut that actors or writers get.
HUNTER: Six weeks remain until the actors' contract expires, and both sides say they're hopeful an agreement will be reached. It's ample time to write a happy Hollywood ending.
Lauren Hunter, CNN Entertainment News, Hollywood.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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