First the writers' strike shut down Hollywood. Now the actors are threatening to do the same. For the sake of our viewing pleasure, let's hope actors and producers can come to terms before the June 30 contract deadline. Seriously, these labor disputes are wearing thin, don't you think? Let's all just stipulate that actors, writers and other artists should share in profits from digital distribution and DVD sales. And to speed up the process, can't the actors just accept similar “new media” profits negotiated by the directors and writers and avoid a major work stoppage altogether? Just when you think it's safe to look forward to a fall TV season that might actually start on time and gallop full-force into the following spring, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and its sister union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), are rattling their swords at producers - and each other. On the eve of joint negotiations, which have been the practice for 27 years, SAG and AFTRA split up March 29 and decided to wrestle separately with studios and networks. This is not a good sign. AFTRA, representing more than 70,000 TV actors, announcers, reality hosts and some news folks, wants to make a deal quickly with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers. The group feels it has more at stake if TV production stops than film actors have if movie production stops. SAG, meanwhile, represents more than 120,000 film and TV performers - including about 44,000 AFTRA members who hold overlapping membership. As they did during the writers' strike, stars George Clooney and Tom Hanks are urging an early settlement. SAG members have been louder about wanting more than the writers' guild settled for, and they've also hinted that they're more willing to strike than AFTRA. But as if to tick off its eager-to-settle sister union, SAG announced last week that it would begin contract negotiations with producers April 15. Of course, that doesn't mean SAG will reach a settlement sooner. AFTRA had hoped to begin talks with producers the first week of April, but now their talks with producers are set to begin April 28. The two unions pack less punch negotiating separately, and if AFTRA signs an early deal with producers that SAG feels does not go far enough, a strike on June 30 becomes more likely. And given the overlap in membership and the inherent empathy between the two (regardless of the separate negotiations), a strike by either guild would force everyone to hit the picket lines. This break between SAG and AFTRA smells dangerous. Don't these people remember the three-month writers' strike that put so many, including strike-sympathetic actors, out of work? If progress isn't made, we're facing the prospect of new scripts with no actors to perform them. The result could be even more reality shows during the summer and the demise of comedies and dramas as we know them in the fall. The public will have little sympathy or patience for multimillion-dollar actors marching on a picket line. Sure, there are workaday actors who don't make a fortune. In fact, many are out of work and struggling. But the ones we'll see on the news will be the stars of “Desperate Housewives” and “CSI” - the ones who make more money per episode than most of us will make in a decade. A few weeks ago, trade papers and industry experts felt confident that Hollywood was in no mood for another labor strike. But with bad feelings brewing between the two actors' unions, the skies are darkening. Granted, it's a long time between April and the end of June. Anything can happen. But if actors go on strike, even for a few weeks in July, the TV season will take a big hit. Production schedules, disrupted for three months in the winter, are still struggling to regain their footing. When the networks announce their fall schedules in May, new and returning series should be ready to churn out September episodes right away. Shutting down production at the beginning of this process could delay the fall season for months, especially because the Olympics and political conventions in August and the Major League Baseball playoffs in September and October already threaten to disrupt fall viewing patterns. When SAG and AFTRA walked out on strike in July 1980, the issues were simpler. The unions demanded an increase in minimum salaries and won a 32.25 percent raise. They also got a 4.5 percent share of profits for movies made for pay TV - which at that time was basically just HBO. The strike ended Oct. 25, 1980, with a crippled TV season and a boycotted Emmy Awards ceremony. (Central Texan Powers Boothe was the only one of 52 nominated actors to attend, and he won best actor for his title role in “Guyana Tragedy: The Jim Jones Story.”) Despite all the bluster, it's hard to imagine that either SAG or AFTRA will actually pull out the big guns and shoot themselves in the feet. Hollywood and fans alike are sick of strikes. __
