The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Alliance of
Motion Picture and Television Producers announced today (Wednesday) that they
had reached a tentative agreement on a new contract. The producers reportedly
gave in to �AFTRA's demand that they seek permission from actors before a clip
of their performance on a television show be shown on a website. Earlier, the
Los Angeles Times reported that the agreement would also double the pay
actors receive from movies and TV shows sold online and give AFTRA jurisdiction
over all shows created for websites costing more than $15,000 per minute. The
agreement was announced shortly before the AMPTP resumed negotiations with the
Screen Actors Guild, which has jurisdiction over most dramatic series and
sitcoms presented on network television. Analysts predicted that SAG would not
accept a carbon copy of the AFTRA agreement. In a message to guild members, SAG
president Alan Rosenberg complained Tuesday that AFTRA had excluded SAG
observers from attending negotiating sessions with the AMPTP for the past week.
While stating earlier that the union and the producers were close to a deal
when the AMPTP broke off the talks early this month, Rosenberg indicated
Tuesday that the union's demands remain what they were at that time and
suggested that they had not been accepted.
28/05/2008
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