SAG-AFTRA kicked off its National Convention 2023 this week under the banner “Future Forward Union Power,” and they closed up shop pretty quickly in the same vein.
Just over after the gathering began, SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher hit the pause button as it was announced Saturday afternoon that shuttered negotiations with the studios and streamers would re-start on Oct. 24. “While it’s disappointing to have to adjourn the convention early, the Negotiating Committee must immediately get back to the hard work of preparing to secure a fair contract,” Drescher said.
Initially set to run from Oct. 20 – 24, the 2023 convention will start up again once new dates are decided upon by the Guild’s National Board. SAG-AFTRA has been on strike 100 days as of today, with the first set of renewed talks running from Oct. 2 – 11 before the AMPTP walked away and “suspended” deliberations.
Drescher, who opened the event by inviting first responders, active...
Just over after the gathering began, SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher hit the pause button as it was announced Saturday afternoon that shuttered negotiations with the studios and streamers would re-start on Oct. 24. “While it’s disappointing to have to adjourn the convention early, the Negotiating Committee must immediately get back to the hard work of preparing to secure a fair contract,” Drescher said.
Initially set to run from Oct. 20 – 24, the 2023 convention will start up again once new dates are decided upon by the Guild’s National Board. SAG-AFTRA has been on strike 100 days as of today, with the first set of renewed talks running from Oct. 2 – 11 before the AMPTP walked away and “suspended” deliberations.
Drescher, who opened the event by inviting first responders, active...
- 10/22/2023
- by Armando Tinoco and Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Dues payable by SAG-AFTRA’s high-earning members will be going up over the next two years, per a resolution passed at the union’s recently-concluded 5th biennial convention. The dues hike will be achieved by increasing the maximum earnings on which members pay their percentage of work dues.
The dues cap on work earnings, which has not been raised since the merger of SAG and AFTRA in 2012, is currently set at $500,000, but will be going up to $750,000 in May of 2022, and to $1 million in May of 2023.
The resolution passed at the convention states:
Whereas, member dues are the main means by which SAG-AFTRA is able to fund its work on behalf of members, and
Whereas, those resources underpin all essential SAG-AFTRA initiatives, including contract negotiations and enforcement, safety protocols and rules, diversity, equity, and inclusion, residuals processing, and countless other activities protecting our members; and
Whereas, it is essential...
The dues cap on work earnings, which has not been raised since the merger of SAG and AFTRA in 2012, is currently set at $500,000, but will be going up to $750,000 in May of 2022, and to $1 million in May of 2023.
The resolution passed at the convention states:
Whereas, member dues are the main means by which SAG-AFTRA is able to fund its work on behalf of members, and
Whereas, those resources underpin all essential SAG-AFTRA initiatives, including contract negotiations and enforcement, safety protocols and rules, diversity, equity, and inclusion, residuals processing, and countless other activities protecting our members; and
Whereas, it is essential...
- 10/20/2021
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
Ben Whitehair, a staunch supporter of SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher, has been elected executive vice president of the union at its fifth biennial convention. He succeeds Rebecca Damon in the post, which is the union’s second-highest elected position.
Whitehair, whose credits include Better Call Saul and Z Nation, was one of the leaders of the union’s “Unite for Strength” ruling party that helped get Drescher elected president.
Drescher supporters from Unite for Strength and its Usan and UnionStrong affiliates swept the seven other vice presidential elections, assuring that the ruling party will remain in power for another two years, even though in the national elections last August, members voted for a split ticket, electing Drescher president, and Joely Fisher, a leader of the MembershipFirst opposition party, as national secretary-treasurer.
In today’s VP races, Michelle Hurd was elected to represent Los Angeles; Ezra Knight was elected to represent...
Whitehair, whose credits include Better Call Saul and Z Nation, was one of the leaders of the union’s “Unite for Strength” ruling party that helped get Drescher elected president.
Drescher supporters from Unite for Strength and its Usan and UnionStrong affiliates swept the seven other vice presidential elections, assuring that the ruling party will remain in power for another two years, even though in the national elections last August, members voted for a split ticket, electing Drescher president, and Joely Fisher, a leader of the MembershipFirst opposition party, as national secretary-treasurer.
In today’s VP races, Michelle Hurd was elected to represent Los Angeles; Ezra Knight was elected to represent...
- 10/16/2021
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
It was a clean sweep today for supporters of SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris at the union’s biennial convention, where delegates elected eight of her allies to serve as the union’s national vice presidents. All eight are listed as supporters of hers on her Unite for Strength slate’s website.
As reported here earlier, Rebecca Damon, one of Carteris’ staunchest allies, was re-elected executive vice president – the 160,000-member union’s second-highest elected office. Seven other Carteris supporters were elected to the national vice presidencies, including:
• Clyde Kusatsu, National Vice President, Los Angeles
• Liz Zazzi, National Vice President, New York
• Michele Proude, National Vice President, Mid-Sized Locals
• Suzanne Burkhead, National Vice President, Small Locals
• William Charlton, National Vice President, Actors/Performers
• Bob Butler, National Vice President, Broadcasters
• Dan Navarro, National Vice President, Recording Artists/Singers
Quite a ruckus was raised during Charlton’s nomination, when Peter Antico, a...
As reported here earlier, Rebecca Damon, one of Carteris’ staunchest allies, was re-elected executive vice president – the 160,000-member union’s second-highest elected office. Seven other Carteris supporters were elected to the national vice presidencies, including:
• Clyde Kusatsu, National Vice President, Los Angeles
• Liz Zazzi, National Vice President, New York
• Michele Proude, National Vice President, Mid-Sized Locals
• Suzanne Burkhead, National Vice President, Small Locals
• William Charlton, National Vice President, Actors/Performers
• Bob Butler, National Vice President, Broadcasters
• Dan Navarro, National Vice President, Recording Artists/Singers
Quite a ruckus was raised during Charlton’s nomination, when Peter Antico, a...
- 10/12/2019
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
SAG-AFTRA convention delegates have narrowly re-elected Rebecca Damon to a two-year term as executive vice president of the performers union over David Jolliffe.
The margin was five votes in an election that took place Friday on the second day of the biennial SAG-aftra National Convention at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. The four-day event is closed to the news media.
The exec VP slot is the second-highest elected post in SAG-aftra and shall act in the place of the president if the president is absent. Damon’s re-election is a victory for the Carteris supporters, who operate the Unite for Strength and United Screen Actors Nationwide slates.
Damon has been in the exec VP post since April, 2016, succeeding Gabrielle Carteris in the slot. Carteris became president after Ken Howard died, serving the final 16 months of his term and was re-elected in 2017 over Esai Morales and...
The margin was five votes in an election that took place Friday on the second day of the biennial SAG-aftra National Convention at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. The four-day event is closed to the news media.
The exec VP slot is the second-highest elected post in SAG-aftra and shall act in the place of the president if the president is absent. Damon’s re-election is a victory for the Carteris supporters, who operate the Unite for Strength and United Screen Actors Nationwide slates.
Damon has been in the exec VP post since April, 2016, succeeding Gabrielle Carteris in the slot. Carteris became president after Ken Howard died, serving the final 16 months of his term and was re-elected in 2017 over Esai Morales and...
- 10/12/2019
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris and seven of her supporters are threatening to file a lawsuit against their opponents over recent allegations of misconduct by Carteris.
United Screen Actors Nationwide, which endorses Carteris, issued the threat Thursday against presidential challenger Matthew Modine and 19 of his allies running on the Membership First slate, including Ed Asner, Diane Ladd, Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Martin Sheen.
Pamela Jeffrey of the New York firm of Levy Ratner wrote a cease-and-desist letter in response to a July 29 threat from attorney Robert Allen to file a lawsuit on behalf of unnamed members if Carteris was not removed from the ballot. Allen accused Carteris of allegedly using insider information to take credit for SAG-aftra’s new deal with Netflix and alleged that she has been using union resources to promote her candidacy via official SAG-aftra videos.
Jeffrey called the allegations baseless and accused the 20 members — many...
United Screen Actors Nationwide, which endorses Carteris, issued the threat Thursday against presidential challenger Matthew Modine and 19 of his allies running on the Membership First slate, including Ed Asner, Diane Ladd, Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Martin Sheen.
Pamela Jeffrey of the New York firm of Levy Ratner wrote a cease-and-desist letter in response to a July 29 threat from attorney Robert Allen to file a lawsuit on behalf of unnamed members if Carteris was not removed from the ballot. Allen accused Carteris of allegedly using insider information to take credit for SAG-aftra’s new deal with Netflix and alleged that she has been using union resources to promote her candidacy via official SAG-aftra videos.
Jeffrey called the allegations baseless and accused the 20 members — many...
- 8/1/2019
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris and members of her slate are fighting back against Matthew Modine and his slate’s threat of a “frivolous” lawsuit over her alleged use of guild resources, including “insider and highly confidential information,” to advance her candidacy — a claim she vehemently denies. Modine’s team even demanded that Carteris be removed from the ballot in the upcoming election.
In a letter to Modine and his team, Pamela Jeffrey, an attorney representing Carteris and her slate, wrote:
“Our clients demand that you immediately cease and desist from using costly litigation at the expense of SAG-aftra and its members as a tool to advance your own personal political agenda,” wrote “If you do not publicly retract or disavow in writing the threat of a frivolous and unwarranted lawsuit and other demands, my clients have informed me that they will consider other appropriate action to protect the...
In a letter to Modine and his team, Pamela Jeffrey, an attorney representing Carteris and her slate, wrote:
“Our clients demand that you immediately cease and desist from using costly litigation at the expense of SAG-aftra and its members as a tool to advance your own personal political agenda,” wrote “If you do not publicly retract or disavow in writing the threat of a frivolous and unwarranted lawsuit and other demands, my clients have informed me that they will consider other appropriate action to protect the...
- 8/1/2019
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
Gabrielle Carteris is seeking re-election as president of SAG-aftra, a post she’s held since 2016. She’ll be running at the top the union’s majority party, Unite for Strength.
Matthew Modine, running at the top of the union’s opposition party, Membership First, was the first to announce that he will challenge her for the presidency. Ballots will be mailed to members on July 29 and tabulated August 28.
“While our employers are consolidating and attempting to squeeze our earnings,” Carteris said, “we have proven that a united front is our best weapon in fighting for fair wages, safety on sets and protection of all our members — especially those who are most vulnerable. As SAG-AFTRA President, I’ve seen firsthand the power of our members. With fierce determination we won the Interactive strike, revolutionized the Commercials contract, and transformed High Budget Streaming residuals. We’ve set the stage for...
Matthew Modine, running at the top of the union’s opposition party, Membership First, was the first to announce that he will challenge her for the presidency. Ballots will be mailed to members on July 29 and tabulated August 28.
“While our employers are consolidating and attempting to squeeze our earnings,” Carteris said, “we have proven that a united front is our best weapon in fighting for fair wages, safety on sets and protection of all our members — especially those who are most vulnerable. As SAG-AFTRA President, I’ve seen firsthand the power of our members. With fierce determination we won the Interactive strike, revolutionized the Commercials contract, and transformed High Budget Streaming residuals. We’ve set the stage for...
- 5/16/2019
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
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