In case you missed it in the Call Sheet

A MESSAGE FROM THE 1ST VICE PRESIDENT

By Anne-Marie Johnson

I hope your holidays were filled with happiness, and I’m wishing all of us good health and employment in 2010.

With regard to employment, many challenges are facing us. Most importantly, our mandated early negotiations with our employers start this October. The changing landscape of the entertainment industry has impacted all of SAG’s members, and it is becoming more difficult for most of us to make a decent living, let alone qualify for health care.

The ever-changing landscape was made even more apparent during my visit to the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. I was there representing Screen Actors Guild, and what I saw and heard made it even clearer that the warm and fuzzy days of traditional broadcasting and distribution will soon be a distant memory. From IPTV to 3D televisions, all changes and innovations had to do with the delivery of content. Our content. It was all very intriguing, but none of these technical bells and whistles mean a thing for actors if we are not treated like true “partners” with our employers.

In a blog posted on January 8, columnist and screenwriter Robert J. Elisberg recounts a conversation he had with a representative from mSpot Mobile Movies, a company which provides for the streaming of rented movies directly to personal mobile devices. No downloading necessary. What I found most eye-opening about this blog was the response from the mSpot Mobile Movies representative when told that the AMPTP (our employers) stated during negotiations with the WGA that industry companies needed years to study the Internet and that there wasn’t any money in New Media yet. The mSpot rep responded, “No money? Then maybe they’ll give us back everything we pay them! Because we (mSpot Mobile) pay them (studios/companies) a lot.” Interesting.

Although much can be said about the current drama facing NBC Universal and the “late night wars,” what is most important is, hopefully, the eventual return of scripted entertainment. Placing The Jay Leno Show in primetime theoretically eliminated five hours of scripted television. Hours that could have been filled with dramatic programming, employing SAG members. My selfish wish is that those five hours of primetime television return to a more traditional format, creating more opportunities for actors. Had NBC Universal’s experiment been a success, it was feared that other networks would follow suit, eliminating more hours of scripted primetime programming. But it appears, as of the writing of this letter, that hopefully 2010 will be a better season for our members, the industry and viewers with regard to scripted pilots and/or series orders.