The Screen Actors Guild and the big studios continue their cat fight over contract deals through letters and statements.

The Screen Actors Guild sent out a memo yesterday outlining exactly why they rejected the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers' final contract offer, citing stinginess in pay and union jurisdiction for online productions.

Doug Allen, the guild's executive director, wrote in a letter to S.A.G. members that the offer would allow nonunion actors into "almost all new media productions for the foreseeable future," according to the Associated Press. He also claimed the offer left out residual fees paid to actors for content that is made specifically for the internet.  read more »

The Screen Actors Guild is none too happy with union brethren the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. AFTRA members accepted a three-year contract with Hollywood studios, while S.A.G. is still holding out for a better deal. Not only did the union snub S.A.G.'s demands, they also talked some trash.

The Associated Press tells us that Federation President Roberta Reardon is accusing S.A.G. of unleashing an "unprecedented disinformation campaign" that put the deal in jeopardy.

S.A.G. leaders "must be held accountable for this ridiculous waste of members' dues money, including my own, in attacking another union's contract," Ms. Reardon told reporters Tuesday.  read more »

Variety reports that Hollywood is still on hold until the Screen Actors Guild and the studios make their decisions.

Meanwhile the magazine reports on an ad aimed at guild members published by S.A.G. in today's Daily Variety: "Our industry does have a clear choice: a fair labor agreement for middle-class actors and their families ... or more management grandstanding. Support your Screen Actors Guild's national negotiating committee as it works every day for a fair deal as soon as possible for actors. Let's keep talking."

Spokesman Jesse Hiestand of The Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers, which used the "clear choice" headline in a recent ad of its own, responded to the ad thusly, speaking to the Variety reporter: "Now, even after 42 days of formal AMPTP-SAG negotiations, SAG's Hollywood leadership remains incapable of closing the deal.  read more »

Hollywood is preparing for impending doom! The Screen Actors Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers' contract expires on Monday. Studios are packing up their projects and tv shows are scrambling to finish shoots. Although there is no indication that a strike will definitely happen, everyone is bracing for the worst. “I don’t think the writers’ strike was good for anybody,” said Teri Weinberg, an executive vice president at NBC Entertainment who oversees current programming and development.

The New York Times reports:  read more »

MONDAY

Things aren't looking good in Hollywood. A week from today, on June 30, the Screen Actors Guild's contract will expire. And as Variety reported on Friday, it seems increasingly unlikely that a deal with producers will be struck by then. Anyway, time for S.A.G. to celebrate! The labor union turns 75 this year, and Turner Classic Movies will salute its birth with a marathon of classic films from the 30's and 40's—starting at 8 p.m. with the 1932 comedy, Movie Crazy, in which "a stage struck young actor accidentally receives somebody else's invitation to test in Hollywood." From there it moves to 1933's The Kennel Murder Case, a suspense flick about a murder tied to a Long Island dog show (9:45 p.  read more »

Los Angeles “will continue to be preoccupied with the threat of Hollywood shutting down,” according to The New York Times’ Michael Cieply, who brings us an update today on the labor negotiations currently under way between producers and actors’ unions.

Yesterday, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists struck a three-year deal with production companies over reusing performers’ images on the Web. But The Times reports that the more powerful Screen Actors Guild “would not simply accept the same terms as other unions.”  read more »

The Screen Actors Guild's New York board is urging S.A.G.'s leadership to begin bargaining by March 31, well before the June 30 expiration of the SAG-AFTRA TV/theatrical contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers. S.A.G says it will be ready to open contract talks with the studios in the spring, but that's not good enough for the New York board, according to the Hollywood Reporter. "I see absolutely no value to the members in delaying these talks any longer," said Sam Freed, the guild's New York president. "We are dealing with serious issues. We should already be at the bargaining table." Alec Baldwin weighs in after the jump!  read more »

Screen Actors Guild leaders remain mum about when they plan on gathering at the negotiation table with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers to replace a contract that's set to expire June 30. But spats with sister performers union American Federation of Television and Radio Artists make the prospect of informal talks with studio chiefs much more likely, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Informal meetings with studio fat cats led to resolutions for the WGA and DGA contract deals. "We're always open to having discussions," SAG president Alan Rosenberg said yesterday.  read more »

The Coen brothers’ No Country For Old Men won the top prize at the 14th annual Screen Actors Guild awards show, while The Sopranos cleaned up in the television categories. With this year's Golden Globes reduced to a press conference and the fate of next month's Oscars uncertain, the ordinarily downplayed Screen Actors Guild Awards made big headlines thanks to the WGA’s promise that it would not picket the show, a sign of solidarity with actors who have been supportive of the writers’ ongoing push to be compensated for new media content. AP has the complete list of awards after the jump.  read more »

According to Variety, the latest front in Hollywood's labor war is over hair, makeup and limos. Insiders told the trade paper that ABC and ABC Studios will not pick up the tab for its talent attending the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Jan. 27, set to air on TNT and TBS. In less contentious times, it's industry tradition that networks and studios split the costs of getting talent ready for the red carpet at awards shows.  read more »