Here is a Principal Actors take on the contract: The SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical Contract Revealed Made for Basic Cable: For the past 30 years we have helped producers grow “this infant,” Basic Cable, our reward has been one small increase in the Basic Cable residuals formula in 2006 – EIGHT years ago. Since then, Basic Cable has exploded, with shows ratings rivaling those on the Networks. We were promised increased bargaining power by the leadership of our new “strength through merger, SAG-AFTRA One Union.” What we got was exactly what we had. NO increase in the residuals formula, despite the exploding growth of Basic Cable. Our residual is still the paltry 17% of scale for the 1st rerun - down to 1.5% of scale for the 12th and any additional reruns. This is then compounded by the fact that the producers now will not be paying a fixed residual when a cable show moves over to another cable outlet. That residual will now be a percentage based residual that can pay very much LESS than the fixed residual we had in the past . New Media: The residuals formula in New Media is also lacking. There is NO RESIDUAL in the first year of use in New Media. (That’s not a typo, read that again, so it sinks in.) First year, NO RESIDUAL. The second year is 30% of your compensation – Up to the Network ceilings. (That is $258 for a scale principal day player for the entire second year.) And that residual is compromised even further, because there’s an additional 35% discount if the show you’re doing doesn’t meet very high budget levels and subscribers. (Most shows will NOT meet those levels. So most shows will only pay 65% of that already anemic residual.) And that 30% residual only gets smaller as the years go on. All the way down to just a few percentage points. Pension and Health allocation: The Union is quick to celebrate how the new Contract is now ONE unified contract. But what they fail to tell us is that we’re still going to work on either a Screen Actors Guild contract or an AFTRA contract. Because there are still two different PLANS. SAG’s Pension & Health Plan and AFTRA’s Health & Retirement Plan. That means that our earnings will still be split. But now the split is memorialized in the Contract. We members have NO SAY in where our Pension and Health dollars will go, despite our past history in with the Plan we are most vested in. This means that a member who had never worked under an AFTRA contract in the past and now finds themselves on a Cable show could actually be starting from nothing in AFTRAs H & R Plan. It also means their Health Premiums could be much greater than their Screen Actors Guild brothers and sisters if and when they qualify. And that is a big if, given the potential for split earnings now codified in this contract. All one-hour Network shows will be SAG. All one-hour cable shows (along with all of CWs shows) will be AFTRA. Since half our work is cable, it now seems assured, that if you’re in the one-hour scripted dramatic programming business, you’ve just had your earnings split in half. (This really holds true for Stunt Performers.) The same if you mainly do half hour multi-camera. Because all Network half hours will be AFTRA. While all Cable half hours will be SAG. Further Expansion of the NY Studio Zone: The historical 8 mile studio zone in NY was expanded in the last negotiation to 25 miles. In this negotiation it has now ballooned to 30 miles. This means principal performers can now see up to 2 hours of unpaid travel to and from work.
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 21:24:34 +0000
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