Portfolio.com writers take aim at the movie business' leading moneymen, peek behind box-office sensations and throw themselves onto the gears of the Hollywood Dream Factory. ...
Hollywood's High Noon showdown over actors' pay is shaping up as a battle between " You can't handle the truth " hard-liners versus " Houston, we have a problem " negotiators. At stake is a potential Screen Actors Guild strike that could cripple movie-making in the U.S. and lead to a nasty schism between SAG and another actors' union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. In one corner are the hardliners, backed most notably by Jack Nicholson. They are convinced that feisty (some would say grandiose) SAG leader Alan Rosenberg and his colleague Doug Allen are right to reject the deal that Aftra recently struck with producers. This faction is not afraid to say that, in truth, a strike may be needed to get the actors what they deserve. In the other corner are the negotiators, publicly endorsed by Tom Hanks. They contend that what Aftra achieved in bargaining with the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers is as good as it's going to get. Tinkering with the deal -- and endangering the industry's production slate -- could send the industry spinning dangerously into the void, they believe. The debate will reach a turning point next week, when Aftra members vote on July 8 on the proposed agreement their negotiators struck with the producers group. Only a simple majority is needed, but a more resounding show of support would do much to shut down efforts by the SAG leadership to scuttle the agreement. An unexp ...
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Hollywood's High Noon showdown over actors' pay is shaping up as a battle between " You can't handle the truth " hard-liners versus " Houston, we have a problem " negotiators. At stake is a potential Screen Actors Guild strike that could cripple movie-making in the U.S. and lead to a nasty schism between SAG and another actors' union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. In one corner are the hardliners, backed most notably by Jack Nicholson. They are convinced that feisty (some would say grandiose) SAG leader Alan Rosenberg and his colleague Doug Allen are right to reject the deal that Aftra recently struck with producers. This faction is not afraid to say that, in truth, a strike may be needed to get the actors what they deserve. In the other corner are the negotiators, publicly endorsed by Tom Hanks. They contend that what Aftra achieved in bargaining with the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers is as good as it's going to get. Tinkering with the deal -- and endangering the industry's production slate -- could send the industry spinning dangerously into the void, they believe. The debate will reach a turning point next week, when Aftra members vote on July 8 on the proposed agreement their negotiators struck with the producers group. Only a simple majority is needed, but a more resounding show of support would do much to shut down efforts by the SAG leadership to scuttle the agreement. An unexp ...