SAG-AFTRA
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“How Many Times Do I Have To Get Lucky To Survive?” Strike: A Special Episode of Back To One
On this special episode, I visit the picket line at each of the four SAG/AFTRA strike sites in New York City, in one continuous, unbroken audio “take.” Actors Michael Gaston, Clarissa Thibeaux, and others talk to me about what’s at stake, and en route to each location I share my own thoughts on the issues at hand, make some predictions, voice concerns, and offer up my total and complete solidarity to the cause, all supported by the loud and never-ending symphony of the New York City streets! Get ready for the strangest, but definitely most sonic-rich, episode of this podcast […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Aug 8, 2023 -
SAG-AFTRA Votes to Strike, Shutting Down Film and Television Production
SAG-AFTRA is joining WGA on the Hollywood picket lines. Following the collapse Wednesday of its negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the union voted to strike, effective tonight at 12:01 AM. It’s the union’s first motion picture and television strike since 1980 and the first time since 1960 that both the actors’s and writers’ unions have concurrently struck. “We had no choice,” said SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher at a live-streamed news conference this afternoon. “We are the victims here. We are being victimized by a very greedy entity.” She continued, “I cannot believe it, quite […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jul 13, 2023 -
Advance Team
“I suppose you want to talk about her process,” says producer Dan Janvey when I tell him I’d like to learn about the producing team’s work with Chloé Zhao on Nomadland. Well, yes, I say—but not because I and Filmmaker readers aren’t familiar with it. After all, Filmmaker has covered Zhao’s work since 2013, when she appeared on our 25 New Faces list before the production of her debut feature, Songs My Brothers Taught Me. We spoke with her for a feature interview about that film and for her follow-up, The Rider, our spring 2018 cover feature, watching her develop […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 10, 2021 -
Senator Adam Schiff Discusses Unemployment Provisions and Worker Protections for Entertainment Industry
In a virtual town hall today organized by IATSE and SAG-AFTRA, Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) addressed questions from union members regarding federal government support for entertainment industry workers during the novel coronavirus shutdowns. SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris and IATSE International President Matt Loeb led the hour-long conversation and touched on several topics of interest to Filmmaker readers. Unemployment benefits for gig workers. The first question asked came from a SAG member who complained that her state unemployment benefits were not calculated based on a combination of her previous year’s W2 salaried income and her 1099 independent contractor income. Schiff stated […]
by Scott Macaulay on May 12, 2020 -
Producers, Rework Your Budgets: SAG-AFTRA Ups Low-Budget Contracts 25%
For low-budget filmmakers, the cost of hiring SAG actors has just gotten higher. Yesterday, as reported by Deadline, the SAG-AFTRA national board of directors approved a new contract paying actors working under three low-budget agreements a 25% raise. The ultra-low-budget agreement, for films under $200,000 dollars, such as Dan Mirvish’s Between Us (pictured above), now requires producers to pay actors $125 a day, up from $100. The modified low-budget agreement now has a daily minimum of $335 and weekly rate of $1,166 (up from $268 and $933, respectively). And the low-budget contract, covering films less than $2.5 million sees rates […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 11, 2015
