Industry News
Los Angeles (January 15, 2009) -- Screen Actors Guild today released the following message for distributors and Screen Actors Guild signatories in response to press reports that studio-affiliated distributors have raised concerns about their potential obligations as distributors of motion pictures produced under Guaranteed Completion Contracts in the event of a SAG work stoppage.
SAG’s message to distributors was mailed today from the office of SAG NED and Chief Negotiator Doug Allen. The message follows:
“January 15, 2009
Read MoreMovielink got $150 million from studios to build a download service that was supposed to transform digital delivery. Now Blockbuster, the vidtail chain that picked it up at a fire-sale price little more than a year ago, has abandoned the technology all together.
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The Motion Picture & Television Fund -- a charity started by Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and other Hollywood luminaries to care for entertainers who fell on hard times -- said Wednesday that it was closing a hospital and nursing home by year's end.
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Media people are hoping that the big story of 2008 does not also become the big story in 2009.
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Regional film production dipped to its lowest level in 15 years by the end of 2008, with blame laid not on the economy or labor uncertainty but on the loss of projects to other locations.
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DVD really started to show its age in 2008.
According to the Digital Entertainment Group, DVD sales slumped 9% last year, bringing overall homevideo spending down 5.5% to $22.4 billion. The DVD decline is greater than recent industry forecasts: Late-year tallies by vid analysts showed sales of the older disc format lagging 5% to 7%.
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Time Warner Inc. said it will report a loss for 2008 after recording a non-cash impairment charge of about $25 billion before taxes in the fourth quarter.
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The U.S. economy may be in the worst shape since the Great Depression, but some exhibitors at the 2009 Intl. Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas still have something to celebrate -- cautiously.
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SAN FRANCISCO — In moves that will help shape the online future of the music business, Apple said Tuesday that it would remove anticopying restrictions on all of the songs in its popular iTunes Store and allow record companies to set a range of prices for them
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In a surprise move, Lionsgate Entertainment Corp. agreed Monday to buy TV Guide Network and TVGuide.com for $255 million, torpedoing a deal announced just over two weeks ago with media entrepreneur Allen Shapiro and a private equity unit of JPMorgan Chase & Co.
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There is no Hollywood ending in sight in 2009 for the entertainment industry, which along with the rest of the nation is experiencing its worst economic slump in decades.
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Movie shoots on the streets of Los Angeles may have hit a contemporary low last year. A closely watched count of film permits for outdoor shoots in the Los Angeles area shows that feature film shooting days totaled just 1,181 in the third quarter of 2008, down 38 percent from the year before, according to FilmLA, the nonprofit organization that coordinates permits for location shooting in the area.
Read MoreWith a big assist from Silicon Valley technology, a movie superstar like Angelina Jolie could keep starring as Lara Croft in "Tomb Raider" sequels — forever.
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In just a year, Hulu has morphed into what is arguably the most successful television network--online.
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Video ad spending goes up. Yes, Web video ad spending will be up in 2009. Perhaps not as high as the 45% currently predicted by eMarketer (and already revised down from a higher initial number), but spending will grow from this year's rather meager base of $587 million.
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In a year where just about every indicator seemed to point downward, Variety has found another one: Awards.
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As if to certify that time-shifted TV viewing had attained techno-cultural significance, it's now the subject of a year-end top 10 list, as the Nielsen Co. has issued a ranking of the programs that saw the biggest increases in DVR use in 2008.
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TV networks have long hoped digital dollars would help offset declines in traditional ad spending, but now even online video is showing some signs of faltering amid the recession.
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Pop culture is finally hitting the eject button on the VHS tape, the once-ubiquitous home-video format that will finish this month as a creaky ghost of Christmas past.
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Yahoo! Tech (Associated Press)
NEW YORK - Americans may be cutting back on holiday shopping, but they are still buying video games — to the tune of nearly $3 billion in November, according to data from market researcher NPD Group.
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NEW YORK -- DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeff Katzenberg on Thursday touted his company's lack of exposure to the global recession and outlined its film slate through 2012, including latest installments of the "Madagascar" and "Kung Fu Panda" franchises.
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NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Ad buyers say they're interested in putting their clients in a new prime-time talk/variety show featuring Jay Leno on NBC next fall, as they cast about for new ways to use broadcast TV to reach millions of consumers while ratings continue to fall.
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NEW YORK -- A leading network TV researcher painted a bleak picture for the 2008-09 season, financially and in the ratings. But he said that things would improve by the end of next year.
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Studio cost-cutting is affecting the producer ranks.
In its ongoing effort to trim overhead, Paramount has declined to renew a number of production deals. Included in the group are Kevin Misher and his Misher Films banner, Stacey Sher and Michael Shamberg and their Double Feature Films and Scott Aversano.
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WASHINGTON -- Skittish employers slashed 533,000 jobs in November, the most in 34 years, catapulting the unemployment rate to 6.7 percent, dramatic proof the country is careening deeper into recession.
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Viacom said Wednesday that it is slashing 850 jobs -- or 7% of its total workforce -- in an ominous sign that massive cost cuts are in the works around the entertainment industry as it braces for a long and brutal recession.
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More than a dozen layoffs hit the editorial staff of the Hollywood Reporter on Thursday.
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Coalition, which released its ninth annual network diversity report cards. The group - made up of the National Latino Media Council, the Asian Pacific American Media Coalition and the American Indians In Film and TV - noted that the improvements came...
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Hollywood Reporter
Mar. 5, 2008
Independent producers can breathe a little easier -- but the Hollywood studios may be holding their breath.
SAG said Tuesday that it will offer guaranteed-completion contracts to indie companies that have projects in production past the June 30 actors contract expiration date.
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Los Angeles Times
Mar. 5, 2008
The union representing Hollywood's actors, seeking to address the disruption in the independent film business caused by fears over a possible strike, said that certain productions would be allowed to continue shooting in the event of a walkout.
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Variety
Mar. 4, 2008
The Screen Actors Guild has completed the launch of its year-old iActor online casting directory, which includes nearly 24,000 member resumes.
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Los Angeles Times
Jan. 30, 2008
The Screen Actors Guild is preparing for a fight in contract talks. But in strike-weary Hollywood, it won't be easy.
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Variety
Jan. 28, 2008
The WGA strike has not yet run out of steam -- even at the 13-week mark.
Despite rumors that the work stoppage may be ending soon, about 1,000 members and supporters -- many from SAG -- showed up outside Fox Studios on Monday for a Unity Day rally and picket to highlight the support between the guilds.
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Back Stage
Friday, January 11
The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists has joined the Screen Actors Guild in pledging to assist its members affected by the sudden shuttering of major entertainment-industry payroll company Axium International.
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Variety
Friday, January 11, 2008
Harvey can get back to work.
Following the lead of Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner's United Artists, the Weinstein Co. said Thursday that it will sign an interim work agreement with the WGA that will allow the indie film company to resume development of its latest slate of productions.
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Hollywood Reporter
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
NEW YORK -- A dramatically scaled-down Golden Globes might do more than just put a somber face on the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn.'s winter rite: It could set the tone for an upcoming skirmish over the Oscars while also dinging the films that benefit from the Globes.
Read MoreLos Angeles Times - December 25, 2007
A recent Los Angeles Times op-ed piece underestimated striking writers.
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Los Angeles Times - December 24, 2007
A response to a recent opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times about why unions remain relevant.
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Variety - December 21, 2007
Variety columnist Peter Bart explores what "us versus them" means in light of the strike.
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Additional Resources Will Strengthen Overall Financial Health, Fund Key Initiatives and Boost Bargaining Clout for 2008 Negotiations
