Stars Collide in Hollywood Union Showdown

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 unexpected, outright rejection of the compromise by Aftra members, or even a narrower-than-expected vote in favor, could give Rosenberg the confidence and the clout to dare call for a strike authorization vote by SAG members, according to Jonathan Handel, an entertainment lawyer who writes about such things.

In an increasingly quixotic effort to undercut ratification of Aftra's deal, Rosenberg has been vigorously lobbying the 44,000 actors who belong to both SAG and Aftra. His chances of success seem slim, since more than 90 percent of voters ratified an early agreement that Aftra struck with daytime TV producers.

(In practical terms, a strike authorization by SAG would take a month to implement. That's one reason why Hollywood is reacting to the threat without much visible stress -- so far.)

One thing that's reduced the pressure on the producers, Handel notes, is the lack of any deadline comparable to the Writers Guild's threat to dismember the Academy Awards ceremony earlier this year. "There's no similar knock-out blow for SAG to strike," says Handel, discounting the much lower-rated Emmy Awards show in September as a factor.

The leading-man wars kicked off about a week ago when Hanks and more than 100 other SAG members, including Kevin Spacey and Sally Field, publicly endorsed Aftra's proposed contract and urged their fellow actors to vote in favor of it.

A few days later, Nicholson and 66 other actors, including Ben Stiller, Sandra Oh, Martin Sheen, and Viggo Mortenson, went on the record in support of SAG's position that the deal was weak and should be rejected.

(Perhaps the competing sides could set up Field's Norma Rae versus Nicholson's Jimmy Hoffa in a sort of cinematic unionist bakeoff.)

Meanwhile, yet another A-list star, George Clooney, declared his neutrality in the fracas.

In full-page ads published in the trade publications Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, the SAG supporters said: "We believe that there are issues that are at the heart of every actor's career that remain unresolved by Aftra."

They cited minimum pay, contributions to pension and health plans, and a better share of residual income from DVD sales and new media.

"We believe Aftra should go back to the bargaining table, with SAG, and fight for a better contract," concluded the statement, also signed by Holly Hunter, William Petersen, and Rainn Wilson.

Meanwhile, Hanks and his cohort warned their colleagues to think hard about the potential consequences of urging Aftra members to reject the proposal on the table. "Either our employers will lock us out, or SAG will strike," they said in one email to actors. "There really is no alternative if the Aftra deal is defeated."

The presence of A-list actors in the ongoing debate serves as a reminder of the recent class wars in the union. SAG's power to handcuff Hollywood comes not from most of its 120,000 members, who generally work very few hours annually, but from the top tier of stars. They can put fannies in seats and therefore help get bigger-money features and TV shows funded.

Some SAG members have proposed that members be required to work a certain number of hours each year before they earn the right to vote on contracts, a move supported by some members of the business community.

"The people who make a decent living is a very small percentage," says Jack Kyser of the Los Angeles Economic Development Commission. "Much of the rank and file members are -- what could you say? -- sort of dilettantes who get a part from time to time."

But that proposal stalled.

Kyser says Los Angeles is still recovering from a $2.5 billion hit that his commission estimates it took during the 100-day writers' strike that ended in February.

The commission is scheduled to release its next annual regional economic forecast on July 16, along with a study of the foreign money that's now beefing up Hollywood's costlier productions.

Kyser said feature filmmaking is a far better indicator of the industry's health than TV production is. A standard $70 million feature caries a complement of 928 jobs, he points out, and throws off $199 million in economic output.

"The internal politics of SAG are very, very poisonous right now," says Kyser, pointing to divisions between the East and West Coast branches.

He added that if Rosenberg and Allen extend their fight without adequate rank and file support, it "could lead to efforts for an internal coup."

Based on the softness of the SAG leadership's support, says Kyser, he foresees that "The Aftra membership will approve the deal, SAG will have to go along, and we can all get on with our lives."