SAG Actor

Vote Yes on Merger!

2012-01-29T20:56:00.000-08:00

"Start spreading the news..."

It is time to merge, for the good of all talent.

The industry has changed.

Unions are under attack.

There is stregth is in solidarity.

SAG and AFTRA's boards in separate votes this weekend voted to send the merger plan for a new union, SAG-AFTRA to the memberships of each union. If you are a member, please vote "yes" for merger. If you are a member of both unions, vote in each union reforrendums.

It may not be perfect, and there are cost to it, but far less than what will, not may, happen if merger does not occur.

-Art Lynch

SAG National Board

Writing as a proud member of the Screen Actors Guild

Acting Classes Forming

2012-01-29T19:52:00.000-08:00

Acting classes now forming through the Boulder City Park and Recreation Department. All ages.

Also, join us at Casting Call Entertainment...specialized courses for beginners to advanced plus the opportunity to gain on-camera experience.

Contact me.

Art Lynch
Createcom@gmail.com

AFTRA Says Yes to Merger, Yes to Minority Report

2012-01-29T08:06:00.000-08:00

From SAGWATCH.net

The vote in AFTRA’s National Board was even more overwhelming than in the SAG room, with approximately 94% in favor, 6% against. Again, there was nothing in the debate that was a big surprise.

Ballots will go out at the end of February, with the count at the end of March.

Official announcement:

AFTRA National Board of Directors Approves Merger Package with SAG
LOS ANGELES and NEW YORK (Jan. 28, 2012) – The National Board of Directors of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, AFL-CIO – a national union of more than 70,000 actors, broadcasters, singers, dancers, recording artist and other performers who work across the spectrum of media industries including television, radio, cable, sound recordings and digital media – today voted overwhelmingly to approve and recommend to the AFTRA member ship a plan to merge with Screen Actors Guild.
The National Board met in a regularly scheduled meeting via videoconference in New York and Los Angeles to vote on the merger package put forward by the AFTRA and SAG Group for One Union (G1), which includes a Merger Agreement, Constitution and Dues Structure.

The vote was 94%-6% in favor.

The AFTRA National Board’s resolution will provide for the referendum material to be mailed to AFTRA members on or about Feb. 27, 2012, with a ballot return and tabulation deadline of March 30, 2012.

This time frame was created to avoid interfering with the ratification period for AFTRA members to vote on the tentative agreement for the AFTRA Network Television Code (“Front of the Book”) – the union’s largest contract that covers programming in all television day parts (except for scripted primetime programs on the major networks and the CW, which are covered under the AFTRA Exhibit A contract) and programming produced for digital media.

The AFTRA National Board unanimously voted to recommend the terms of the 2011-2014 Network Television Code agreement to AFTRA members for ratification. Ballots on the Network Television Code will go out on Monday, Jan. 30 with a return date of Feb. 22.

The Merger package outlines the merger plan, dues and finance structure, membership requirements and other basic attributes of the successor union, including the proposed name for the new union, which is SAG-AFTRA.

“I applaud the AFTRA National Board for their overwhelming approval of this historic merger package. The partnership we formed on the G1 was one of collegiality and consensus that went into laying the foundation for a new union. This plan embodies the thoughtful work and valuable perspectives from large and small markets across the nation of many working actors, broadcast professionals, recording artists and other performers who all worked together in solidarity through the G1,” said AFTRA National President Roberta Reardon. “I thank the G1 for their good work, and the National Boards for their approval and we will now present this plan to the members of AFTRA and SAG for their review and approval.

“We now have the opportunity to finally stand united through one union to secure more union work and better benefits for our members, and for the generations of entertainment and media professionals who follow us,” she added.

On Friday, the SAG National Board of Directors overwhelmingly approved the same merger package with a vote of 87.1% – 12.9%. With AFTRA’s vote, a referendum will be sent out for a vote by members of both unions.

In voting for the package, AFTRA National Board members passed a resolution that read, in part:

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the National Board, in accordance with its authority under AFTRA’s Constitution, approves the merger documents and the merger of AFTRA and SAG into SAG-AFTRA, a unified, powerful union committed to organizing all work in our jurisdictions, negotiating the best wages, working conditions and health and pension benefits, preserving and expanding our members’ work opportunities, vigorously enforcing our contracts and protecting our members against the unauthorized use of their work; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Article XX of AFTRA’s Constitution is interpreted so as not to apply to a transaction, such as this merger, in which all of AFTRA’s rights, liabilities, contracts and collective bargaining agreements will be assumed, without impairment or interruption, by a successor union; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that AFTRA’s staff is directed to commence a vigorous campaign to educate our members about the benefits this merger in order to secure a resounding “yes” vote in the upcoming membership referendum; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the National Board expresses its deepest gratitude to and commends the members of AFTRA’s New Union Committee and AFTRA’s staff for their herculean efforts and extraordinary work in completing the merger documents and concluding the merger negotiations.

The G1 began meeting in June of 2011 and held a total of five rounds of meetings to create the successor union merger package. The meetings followed an historic Listening Tour conducted by AFTRA National President Roberta Reardon and SAG National President Ken Howard. The G1 voted to approve the merger package on Jan. 16.
The Network Television Code contract generates more than $250 million a year in member earnings and covers a variety of media and entertainment professionals, including sportscasters, broadcasters, actors, singers and talk show hosts. Current programs covered by this contract include: “Good Morning America,” “The View,” “The Voice,” The Young and the Restless,” “Saturday Night Live,” “Nightline,” “Dancing with the Stars,” and “Late Night with David Letterman.”

Statement from Ken Howard on the AFTRA vote:

“This is a terrific outcome and I offer my sincere thanks and congratulations to AFTRA’s National Board and National President Roberta Reardon. Professional performers are now an important step closer to the strongest union representation possible. Just as our boards have, I believe our members will decisively approve this merger and that SAG-AFTRA will be a leader in shaping the entertainment and media industries.”

Mirroring the vote yesterday in the SAG Board the AFTRA Board decided to include a minority report in the material to be sent out to members, even though the vote against was well below the number that would have made a minority report a requirement.

The Wrap. Variety. The Hollywood Reporter.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

2012-01-29T07:14:00.000-08:00

Judy Bayley Theater (UNLV)
8 pm Nevada Conservatory Theater: The Seagull $10- $30

The Box Office
2 pm Born & Raised/RagTag: Art $15

Las Vegas Little Theater
2 pm Sylvia $21- $24

Las Vegas Little Theater (Black Box)
2 pm Measure For Pleasure $10/$15

Onyx Theater
8 pm LVTAPS Live: Celebrating One Year of LVTAP-iness
FREE

Summerlin Library
1 pm Broadway Bound: The Wizard of Oz

Source: http://www.porcelainbomb.com

Mark Your Calender to Meet the Assassins

2012-01-28T23:10:00.000-08:00

Assassins: The Musical

Friday, February 10 at 8:00pm at Onyx Theatre

Assassins is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by John Weidman, based on an idea by Charles Gilbert, Jr. It uses the premise of a murderous carnival game to produce a revue-style portrayal of men and women who attempted (successfully or otherwise) to assassinate Presidents of the United States. The music varies to reflect the popular music of the eras depicted.
The musical first opened Off-Broadway in 1990, and the 2004 Broadway production won five Tony Awards. (Source: Wikipedia)

SAG Awards Sunday Night on TNT (local party for SAG members at Tommy Rockers starting at 5)

2012-01-28T21:16:00.000-08:00

I was serving as an alterate to Diane Thorn on the National Board of SAG when the awards were established and as a newly minted board member for the first awards show. Since then I have served with pride on the National Honors and Tributes Committee. The SAG Awards raise awareness of unionism in or craft and serve as the primary fundraiser for the Screen Actors Guild Foundation, which provides services from scholarships to emergency aid, Conversations to LifeRaft, vocational training to medical referral, encouraging diversity to funding studies of ageism and racism within or industry, and above all providing members services which are outside of the role of the union itself. I stronlgy encourage supporting the foundation by viewing the SAG Awards, and making a voluntary contribution on-line or in your next dues mailing.

-Art Lynch

SAG National Board

Writing as a member of SAG

Why the SAG Awards are Unique

Lauded by critics for its style, simplicity and genuine warmth, the Screen Actors Guild Awards®, which made its debut in 1995, has become one of the industry’s most prized honors. The only televised awards shows to exclusively honor performers, it presents thirteen awards for acting in film and television in a fast moving two hour show which airs live on TNT and TBS. The awards focus on both individual performances as well as on the work of the entire ensemble of a drama series and comedy series, and the cast of a motion picture. These honors are fundamental to the spirit of the Screen Actors Guild Awards because they recognize what all actors know – that acting is a collaborative art.

In that same spirit, the SAG Awards® also commends the outstanding performances by film and television stunt ensembles. These accolades are announced from the SAG Awards red carpet during TNT and TBS’ pre-show webcasts.

Other highlights of the Screen Actors Guild Awards include the Life Achievement Award, presented to an established performer for fostering the highest ideals of the acting profession and tributes to the varied talents within the Guild’s membership. SAG’s 47th Life Achievement Award was presented to Ernest Borgnine.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards are also unique in the size of its voting body. Two randomly selected panels of 2,100 SAG members each from across the United States choose the nominees for television and motion pictures. The final ballot then goes out to the full guild membership -- approximately 100,000 members -- who select the outstanding performances of the year.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards is the only national network television show to acknowledge the work of union members. Screen Actors Guild is affiliated with the AFL-CIO through the Associated Actors and Artistes of America (the Four A's).

The Screen Actors Guild Awards also benefits the Screen Actors Guild Foundation, which provides a meaningful way for SAG members to contribute to the literacy of children in their communities through BookPALS (Performing Artists for Literacy in Schools), its online component, Storyline and the We The Children family-heritage book-writing project. SAG Foundation programs provide emergency relief to members in economic distress, video and audio preservation of the creative legacy of SAG members, scholarships for performers and their children and emergency funds for members with catastrophic illnesses.

PEOPLE magazine and the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) will host the Screen Actors Guild Post-Awards Gala for the 16th consecutive year. This exclusive event honors the philanthropic causes and good works of the members of the Screen Actors Guild. The gala, benefiting the Screen Actors Guild Foundation, will immediately follow the SAG Awards on the backlot of the Shrine Exposition Center.

SAG Awards Facts

The 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. Nominations will be announced Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011. For our other key dates, please see our full calendar.

The 18^th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be produced by Jeff Margolis Productions in association with Screen Actors Guild Awards®, LLC. Jeff Margolis is the executive producer and director. Kathy Connell is the producer. JoBeth Williams, Daryl Anderson, Scott Bakula, Shelley Fabares and Paul Napier are producers for SAG. Gloria Fujita O’Brien and Mick McCullough are supervising producers. Benn Fleishman is executive in charge of production. Rosalind Jarrett is executive in charge of publicity. Jon Brockett is awards coordinating producer.

Screen Actors Guild is the nation’s largest labor union representing working actors. Established in 1933, SAG has a rich history in the American labor movement, from standing up to studios to break long-term engagement contracts in the 1940s to fighting for artists’ rights amid the digital revolution sweeping the entertainment industry in the 21st century. With 20 branches nationwide, SAG represents more than 120,000 actors who work in film and digital theatrical motion pictures and television programs, commercials, video games, industrials, Internet and all new media formats. The Guild exists to enhance actors’ working conditions, compensation and benefits and to be a powerful, unified voice on behalf of artists’ rights. Headquartered in Los Angeles, SAG is a proud affiliate of the AFL-CIO.

TNT, one of cable's top-rated networks, is television's destination for drama. Seen in 100.5 million households, the network is home to such original series as "The Closer," starring Kyra Sedgwick; “Rizzoli & Isles,” starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander; "Leverage," starring Timothy Hutton; “”Hawthorne,” with Jada Pinkett Smith; “Memphis Beat,” with Jason Lee; “Men of a Certain Age,” with Ray Romano, Andre Braugher and Scott Bakula; and “Southland,” from Emmy®-winning producer John Wells (“ER”); as well as the upcoming “Falling Skies,” starring Noah Wylie, and “Franklin & Bash,” with Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Breckin Meyer. TNT also presents such powerful dramas as "Bones," “Supernatural,” “Las Vegas,” "Law & Order," “CSI: NY” "Cold Case" and, starting in late 2011, "The Mentalist"; broadcast premiere movies; compelling primetime specials, such as the “Screen Actors Guild Awards®”; and championship sports coverage, including NASCAR, the NBA and the NCAA men’s basketball tournament TNT is available in high-definition.

TBS, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., is television's top-rated comedy network and is available in 100.8 million households. It serves as home to such original comedy series as "Glory Daze," "Are We There Yet?” and Tyler Perry's “House of Payne" and “Meet the Browns;” the late-night series “CONAN” starring Conan O’Brien, and “Lopez Tonight,” starring George Lopez; hot contemporary comedies like "Family Guy” and "The Office;" " specials like "Funniest Commercials of the Year"; special events, including star-studded comedy festivals in Chicago; blockbuster movies; hosted movie showcases and championship sports.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.

AFTRA Board votes 97% to 6 % for Merger with SAG: Merger Ballots for Both Unons go out February 27th

2012-01-28T20:55:00.000-08:00

AFTRA board agrees to tie the knot with SAG

The long-sought marriage of Hollywood's two actors unions cleared another hurdle Saturday when the board of American Federation of Television and Radio Artists endorsed a plan to merge with the larger Screen Actors Guild.

As expected, the AFTRA board approved a recently-negotiated merger plan by 94% to 6%, echoing a similar endorsement on Friday by SAG's national board.

The plan would create the largest entertainment union in Hollywood, combining the diverse memberships and cultures of two very different organizations that have talked about joining forces for decades.

SAG has 125,000 members who are actors, extras and stunt performers. AFTRA's 70,000 members include actors, as well as singers, dancers, broadcast journalists and talk show hosts. The unions already have 40,000 members in common and are eager to consolidate to strengthen their negotiating clout.

With the approval of the their respective boards, the merger document -- which includes a merger agreement, a proposed constitution and dues plan -- will now go before members in a referendum vote to be held in coming weeks. The proposed new union is to be called SAG-AFTRA and probably will be touted Sunday night at the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards. SAG's leadership has made merging with AFTRA a top priority.

RELATED:
SAG board votes to approve merger plan
SAG-AFTRA merger means some dues will rise, others fall
SAG, AFTRA craft merger plan

-- Richard Verrier

Twitter: @latcompanytown

Facebook: L.A. Times Entertainment

More in: aftra, Labor, merger, Screen Actors Guild

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/

Needed Two Cowboys by Julie Goldman & Associates

2012-01-28T20:03:00.000-08:00

Hi Guys!

I am in search for a “Cowboy” type of guy.

Please submit to ONE of the links below……………..

Cowboy – I OWN a horse & an experienced rider

Cowboy – I am an experienced rider but DO NOT own a horse

Thanks a Bunch!!

Julie Goldman
Goldman & Associates

Why I voted for Merger and why it is best for all of us as members of SAG

2012-01-28T17:31:00.000-08:00

The following is a statement made by Art Lynch as a private citizen and member of the Screen Actors Guild. It is not an official union report as a board member.

An historic day in Hollywood as the Screen Actors Guild National Board voted overwhelmingly to recommend to the membership a merger with sister union AFTRA. The vote in the SAG boardroom was 87.1 to 12.9% in favor of merging SAG and AFTRA.

It is the third such effort in my time on the board, and the 18th or 19th in the history of the Guild. The first attempt at merger occurred less than five years after the Guild founding in 1933. A merger attempt in 2003 failed by a small number of votes. Today, AFTRA is expected to approve the merger plan and send it to their membership for ratification.

SAG and AFTRA members will receive ballots and material concerning the new unions constitution and bylaws on or near February 27th, due back by March 30th.

Upfront, there will be a dues increase for members of only one union, however both unions predict that individual union dues for each union will up by as much or more should the merger vote fail. This along with an increased initiation fee are needed to a financially sound union, and coninue to improve services for the members.

Nevada will retain our "local" and representation on the national board.

The new union will be in a stronger position to take on right-to-work, runaway production, advance in new technologies and be flexible enough to adapt to local and regional needs.

It's a new decade.

A great deal has changed in nine years.

Management is, with a few small exceptions, consolidated under seven companies world wide. They employ broadcasters, recording and touring artists, actors and all areas of the performance arts. New Media, the Internet and digital media has rapidly taken the place of the use of and projection of film. VHS, Laser Disc and soon DVD's are all but dinosaurs, extinct. By combining our two unions, we will be in a position to negotiate and have an impact on most of the holdings of the companies.

The cost of administering the contracts has grown almost exponentially as the qualified non-union talent pool, FiCore dues paying non-members and talent working "off the card" grow in numbers.

Pressure to make concessions, work at scale and do more for less has been strong on all labor fronts coast to coast.

Unions, union security and collective bargaining rights are under attack in states coast to coast, with Indiana expected to join the roles of "right-to-work" anti-union states within the next two weeks.

Both AFTRA and SAG have had to make cuts ranging from staff, physical offices, reduction of locals or branches, and cut back on glossy magazines and other print based communication with their membership. The two unhave begun to compete against each other to earn the revenue and opportunity for their membership. Television is increasing under AFTRA contracts instead of SAG. The only way to end the comptition is to join the two unions and benefit from the strengths each has to offer.

As the media industry changes and consolidates, union talent has been on the compromise or be out of a job. Computers are "supplementing" background performers and we have already begun to see the use of computer generated, or even resurrected, syn-thespians. New technologies are accelerating, potentially leaving talent behind.

A merged union will be the largest Hollywood based trade union and one of the larger unions in the country. SAG-AFTRA will include stars and celbrities, working actors, broadcasters and performers of evey time in the already merged entertainment and information industry. We will remain the most recognized and highest profile union in the world.

And we will have the support of other AFL-CIO unions.

Wages, working conditions, work opportunities will improve over the next several contract cycles.

And Nevada is in a strong position in the new union. I have built strong realationships with board members, branch presidents and staff. While there will be many changes, not all of which i agree with, we are in a position to continue to have a boots on the ground executive, potentially an office and to be a key part of organizing awards shows, reality programming, commercials, industrial and educational film and video, and of course film and televison from network to webcasting.

I believe that the time has come and we need to come together as one union.

Vote yes to the birth of a stronger union for the 21st century.

There will be growing pains, and thing stake time. But if we do not merge the pain will be how to keep each union afloat and healthy under strong anti-union pressure and a rapidly evolving marketplace.

Help us build support for the new SAG-AFTRA union, and to turn out a strong "yes" vote.

Thank you;

Art Lynch

Shotgun Live In Las Vegas Feb. 3 - 4, Free Live Theatre!

2012-01-28T15:46:00.000-08:00

Shotgun is a thought-provoking play set in post-Katrina New Orleans. In the words of The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, "playwright John Biguenet exposes with power and grace the wounds that remain and examines how they might best be healed."

The play follows a white man and his teenage son who rent half of a shotgun duplex from an African-American woman, whose father has lost his home in the Lower Ninth Ward and moved in with her. The two families find that more than just a wall runs between them. Shotgun explores whether this divide, like the city's levees, can be breached.

"Shotgun is not just play about an African American family sharing a roof with a white family. One of the lovely things about Shotgun is that it is less of a play about race and completely a play about people. At its core, Shotgun is about people and the similarities they share as human beings despite their differences."

Directed by Anthony R. Smith II and produced by A Source Of Joy Theatricals as the kick off to the 2012 Broadway In The Hood Season. Shotgun will play for 2 performances only February 3 & 4 at the West Las Vegas Theatre. All performances are free and open to the public!

Category:

Entertainment

SAG BOARD SAYS YES TO MERGER, AND TO MINORITY REPORT

2012-01-28T15:26:00.000-08:00

From SAGWATCH.net... under Merger/New Union, SAG Politics, SAG-AFTRA.

The Wrap. Variety. The Hollywood Reporter, which correctly states that even though the vote against the referendum is less than the 25% that would trigger the right to include a minority statement, the board decided to give opponents the right to include one. Jonathan Handel’s post also notes that there’s been a so far anonymous threat of a lawsuit to try to block merger.

There was nothing new or surprising in the debate over whether to send the merger plan to a vote by the membership, and the outcome of the vote was every bit as predictable, given the overwhelming majority of Unite for Strength and USAN. The only thing that was a little surprising was the decision by the leadership to allow an opposition statement in the referendum package, something that isn’t required, because the “no” vote in the board didn’t hit 25%.

There are two major reasons for including the statement, one said, one largely unsaid. Said: not only is it “fair,” including the statement takes away the claim that anti-merger members are somehow being suppressed in getting their message out. Unsaid: the leadership views the reasons for merger to be so overwhelming that the anti forces will look like always-out-of-step crackpots.

The above is from SAGWATCH.net. I as a board member do not approve of anyone who believes in what they stand up for to be a "crackpot," nor is it my opinion that the majority of the board feels that way. Despite being involved in the process I remain unable to report first hand due to the need for board security and under Federal labor law. I am presenting, as I always do, media reporting.

New Mexico Casting Directors

2012-01-28T13:36:00.000-08:00

Film incentives keep New Mexico hopping and casting directors seeking fresh talent...why not take advantage of the opportunity...

505 Studio Works, LLC

Jo Edna Boldin
P.O. Box 419
Arroyo Hondo , NM 87513
Primary: 505-776-8062
E-mail: jeb@castingcoach.net
Fax: 866-659-7064

Kathryn Brink Casting

Kathryn Brink
721 Solano Dr NE
Albuquerque, NM 87110
Primary: 505-266-6211
E-mail: kathyrnbrink@aol.com
Fax: 505-266-6211

Marty Keener Cherrix

2501 W.Zia Rd. # 2 208
Santa Fe, NM 87505
Primary: 505-474-0119
E-mail: cherrixcasting@aol.com

New Mexico Talent Casting

David Cordova
1505 Kachina Ridge Drive
Santa Fe, NM 87507
Primary: 505-469-8520
E-mail: aspenleaf@cybermesa.com
Website: www.newmexicofilmtalent.com

Elizabeth Gabel

304 Washington SE
Albuquerque, NM 87108
Primary: 505-798-0546
E-mail: egabel@msn.com
Alternate: 505-821-2425

Anastarzi Casting

Darlene Hansen
1008 Washington SE
Albuquerque, NM 87108
Primary: 505-268-0530
E-mail: vivhansen@msn.com
Cellular: 505-514-5149

Carmen & Associates

Carmen Martinez
4740 Spanish Sun NE
Albuquerque, NM 87110
Primary: 505-256-3639
E-mail: carmenabq@yahoo.com
Fax: 505-256-3639

Angelique Midthunder

15 Crazy Rabbit Ct.
Santa Fe, NM 87508
Primary: 505-424-9001
E-mail: info@midthunder.com
Fax: 505-424-9001
Website: www.midthunder.com

Shari Rhodes Casting

Shari Rhodes
609 Parkland Circle SE
Albuquerque, NM 87108
Primary: 505-795-1192
E-mail: shari@sharirhodes.com
Website: www.Sharirhodescasting.com

FilmSavage.com

Gwyn Savage
4421 McLeod NE
Albuquerque, NM 87109
Primary: (505) 331-0177
E-mail: gwyn@filmsavage.com
Website: www.filmsavage.com

Scott Rogers You Tube Lessons for Auditioning

2012-01-28T13:19:00.000-08:00

Uploaded by ScottRogersStudios on Nov 26, 2011

Professional Acting Coach Scott Rogers gives basic auditioning tips to a SAG Conservatory Class. 2011
For private coaching via Skype call (808) 596-8300 or visit:
http://scottrogersstudios.com/skype-scott.html

Merger Vote nears. Time to make a decision on joing SAG or AFTRA

2012-01-28T09:17:00.000-08:00

Those who are SAG Eligible or who would like to use the AFTRA open door window to become qualified union professionals should do so as soon as possible, as the door closes and initiation fees may go up should rr when the merger ballots pass.

Contact Nevada SAG Executive Director Steve Clinton and find out how to join our family.

Be aware that once you join either union, you will not longer to able to do non-union on camera acting work (and in most cases non-union background performer work).

You are committing to your craft as a profession.

If you feel ready, take advantage of the probable merger and save by joining today.

Join us today...

(This is a private message from Art Lynch and not an official SAG or AFTRA staement).

Beverly Hills and Las Vegas Management seeking clients

2012-01-28T08:14:00.000-08:00

Casting Call Entertainment

Sharry Flaherty Management is seeking new talent to represent, must be able to travel to LA, to submit mail in your current head shot and resume to my Vegas office here at Casting Call Entertainment. Have an amazing day!!!

ARIZONA CASTING DIRECTORS

2012-01-28T06:24:00.000-08:00

(Members of Screen Actors Guild are welcome to send pictures and resumes to the below listed casting directors. As a courtesy, please do not drop by or place phone calls.)

PHOENIX

GOOD FAITH CASTINGFaith Hibbs-Clark, CSA 4700 N. Central Ave. Ste. 208 Phoenix, AZ 85012

PRODUCER'S NETWORKGay Gilbert, 16601 N. 90th Street, Ste. 102 Scottsdale, AZ 85260

WYATT WILLIAMS CASTINGDarlene Wyatt, CSA 631 N. 1st Avenue, #106 Phoenix, AZ 85003

TUCSON

CONKLIN CASTINGCatherine Conklin, 6741 N. Placita Apajo, Tucson, AZ 85750-1290

Shakespeare in Las Vegas

2012-01-28T00:33:00.000-08:00

Las Vegas Shakespeare Company

Las Vegas Shakespeare Company’s Mission is to make high-quality live Shakespeare theatre available to every resident of the Las Vegas valley and to offer educational outreach for young people and adults through workshops and in schools.

Events, Saturday, January 28, 2012

2012-01-28T00:12:00.000-08:00

Judy Bayley Theater (UNLV)
8 pm Nevada Conservatory Theater: The Seagull $10- $30

The Beauty Bar
10:30 pm Freakshow Wrestling $10

Boomer's Bar
9 pm Live Burlesque in Las Vegas , Cha Cha Velour

The Box Office
8 pm Born & Raised/RagTag: Art $15

Clark County Library
2 pm Las Vegas Shining Stars: High School Musical $12

Freedom Hall (Sun City Anthem)
7 pm Showgirl Follies: Life in Feathers and Rhinestones $18/$15

Las Vegas Little Theater
8 pm Sylvia $21- $24

Las Vegas Little Theater (Black Box)
8 pm Measure For Pleasure $10/$15
Onyx Theater
8 pm Evil Dead the Musical $20/$30

Starbright Theater
7 pm Rich Natole: Comic Impressionist $15/$18

Summerlin Library
1 pm, 7 pm Broadway Bound: The Wizard of Oz

Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Las Vegas
7:30 pm Roy Zimmerman: Live From the Starving Ear $12/$15

Source: http://www.porcelainbomb.com

Screen Actors Guild votes to approve merger plan

2012-01-27T23:59:00.000-08:00

From the LA Times Company Town Blog. Click here for entertainment and industry news.

The Screen Actors Guild national board of directors voted overwhelmingly to approve a plan to merge with its sister union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

The board voted 87% to 13% in favor of a historic merger agreement with AFTRA that includes a proposed constitution and dues payment plan for what would be the largest labor group in Hollywood.

SAG represents about 125,000 actors; AFTRA has 70,000 members, including actors, broadcasters, disc jockeys, singers and dancers. At least 40,000 people are members of both unions. The union is to be called SAG-AFTRA.

AFTRA's board is expected to approve the merger package this weekend, clearing the way for a referendum to be held by members of both unions in the coming weeks. The merger would take effect only if at least 60% of those who vote approve the marriage.

A previous attempt at merging the unions narrowly failed in 2003, partly out of fears that SAG would lose its autonomy. But support for the idea has grown considerably since then. Leaders of both unions want to join forces to end years of bickering and present a more unified voice in contract negotiations with employers.

Under the plan, national officers, including the president and secretary-treasurer, would be elected directly by members. However, some other positions, including that of an executive vice president, would be elected by delegates at a convention held every two years, a nod to AFTRA's tradition of using conventions and delegates. SAG elects its officers directly by a vote of members. Dues will increase for some members and drop for others.

--Richard Verrier

Photo: Screen Actors Guild President Ken Howard. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

Twitter: @latcompanytown

Facebook: L.A. Times Entertainment

Merger moves one step closer...the decision is the memberships

2012-01-27T20:54:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Screen Actors Guild National Board of Directors Approves Merger Package with AFTRA

LOS ANGELES (January 27, 2012) – The Screen Actors Guild National Board of Directors today voted overwhelmingly to approve and recommend a plan to merge with AFTRA. The board met in a regularly scheduled plenary meeting in the James Cagney Board Room at the Guild’s Los Angeles headquarters and voted after reviewing a merger package put forward by the SAG and AFTRA Group for One Union (G1) that includes a Merger Agreement and Constitution.

Collectively, these documents outline the plan of merger, dues and finance structure, membership requirements, and other basic attributes of the successor union. The same merger package must now be approved by AFTRA’s National Board of Directors which is scheduled to meet on Jan. 28, to review and vote on the package. Should the AFTRA board approve the merger package as well, a referendum will be sent out for a vote by members of both unions in the coming weeks.

The proposed name for the new union is SAG-AFTRA.

The resolution read:

“It was moved and seconded that the National Board of Directors, on the recommendation of the Merger Task Force, approves the proposed Merger Agreement between Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and further approves the proposed SAG-AFTRA Constitution. The National Board directs that the proposed Constitution and Merger Agreement be submitted for membership approval by mailed ballot referendum, in cooperation with AFTRA. The referendum materials and ballot shall be mailed on or about February 27, 2012, with a ballot return and tabulation deadline of March 30, 2012.”

Approved: 87.1% - 12.9%

The G1 held five rounds of meetings to create the successor union merger package. The meetings, which began in June of 2011, followed an historic Listening Tour conducted by SAG National President Ken Howard and AFTRA National President Roberta Reardon. The G1 finished its work January 16 with a vote approving the merger package debated and approved today by the SAG National Board.

Follow SAG Communications on Twitter (twitter.com/sagnews) and Facebook (facebook.com/screenactorsguild)

About SAG
Screen Actors Guild is the nation’s largest labor union representing working actors. Established in 1933, SAG has a rich history in the American labor movement, from standing up to studios to break long-term engagement contracts in the 1940s to fighting for artists’ rights amid the digital revolution sweeping the entertainment industry in the 21st century. With 20 Branches nationwide, SAG represents more than 125,000 actors who work in film and digital motion pictures and television programs, commercials, video games, corporate/educational, Internet and all new media formats. The Guild exists to enhance actors’ working conditions, compensation and benefits and to be a powerful, unified voice on behalf of artists’ rights. SAG is a proud affiliate of the AFL-CIO. Headquartered in Los Angeles, you can visit SAG online at SAG.org.

The Screen Actors Guild

2012-01-27T20:51:00.000-08:00


Founded	1933
Members	139,200
Country	United States
Affiliation	AAAA (AFL-CIO)
Key people	Ken Howard, President David White, National Executive Director Amy Aquino, Secretary-Treasurer Anne-Marie Johnson, 1st Vice President Mike Hodge, 2nd Vice President David Hartley Margolin, 3rd Vice President
Office location	Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Website	www.sag.org

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide. According to SAG's Mission Statement, the Guild seeks to: negotiate and enforce collective bargaining agreements that establish equitable levels of compensation, benefits, and working conditions for its performers; collect compensation for exploitation of recorded performances by its members, and provide protection against unauthorized use of those performances; and preserve and expand work opportunities for its members.^[1]

The Guild was founded in 1933 in an effort to eliminate exploitation of actors in Hollywood who were being forced into oppressive multi-year contracts with the major movie studios that did not include restrictions on work hours or minimum rest periods, and often had clauses that automatically renewed at the studios' discretion. These contracts were notorious for allowing the studios to dictate the public and private lives of the performers who signed them, and most did not have provisions to allow the performer to end the deal.^{[citation needed]}

The Screen Actors Guild is associated with the Associated Actors and Artistes of America (AAAA), which is the primary association of performer's unions in the United States. The AAAA is affiliated with the AFL-CIO. SAG claims exclusive jurisdiction over motion picture performances, and shares jurisdiction of radio, television, Internet, and other new media with its sister union AFTRA, with which it shares 44,000 dual members.^[2]

In addition to its main offices in Hollywood, SAG also maintains local branches in several major US cities, including: Phoenix, Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Nashville, Atlanta, Miami, Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Detroit, Denver, Salt Lake City, San Diego, Seattle, Portland, Nevada, Honolulu, and San Francisco.

Since 1995, the guild has annually awarded the Screen Actors Guild Awards, which are considered an indicator of success at the Academy Awards.

Above From Wikipedia

A Truly Democratic Union

2012-01-27T20:35:00.000-08:00

By Art Lynch (c 1998)

Actors are a unique mix of artist, craftsperson and employee. They view their needs as unique. Actors move between jobs and employers, resembling casual labor or self employed consultants, yet fight to remain classified as employees working for a single monolithic entertainment and information industry. Performers shoulder the individual economic burden of their own training, wardrobe, and an almost constant search for work. They face an increasingly competitive work force. At the same time, they rely on their unions to negotiate and enforce contracts, protecting performers' wages and working conditions within the entire entertainment and information industry.

The Screen Actors Guild was formed in an age when things were different. A few major studios with a handful of powerful owners functioned as factories, producing entertainment and information for a world wide public. SAG was formed under pressure of large pay cuts for all actors and performers. Even though this occurred at the height of the Great Depression, from a labor perspective it also occurred simultaneously to large expenditures by management on the new technology of "talkies" and on the purchase of and building of large ornate movie palaces for the theatrical exhibition of management controlled films. The 1930s and 1940s saw record growth and profits for motion picture studios and broadcast companies. Over the decades that followed, the Guild adapted to changes in economics, politics and technology. These changes reflect Prindle's evaluation of SAG as a "truly democratic union." (1988)

The democratic nature of governance, geographic concentration of membership and flexibility of structure allow for rapid adaptation to changes in the industry and in society, although with all change there is resistance, and not all change may be to the benefit of the membership, the community or the industry.

     The Screen Actors Guild represents a membership which may not be steadily employed (an estimated 90% of serious full time actors are out of work at any given time, with as high as 80% of the SAG membership not employed in the field their union represents), may or may not be serious about their trade, and which outside of the craft remains a part of the myth of Hollywood. Most of society fails to understand what it is to be an actor, beyond the performances they witness. Today 85% of union actors make under $2,000 a year at their craft, with fewer than four percent living their upper middle class to wealthy lifestyles solely on their income from acting. (Prindle, 1988, see also http://www.sag.org). Published reports vary, however most agree that as many as six out of ten members of the Screen Actors Guild go without any acting related income in any given year.

     The Guild has been called the one truly democratic union in the United States because it functions with freely elected officers who, even at the level of the national president,
are not paid or compensated for the time they invest. It is a union made up of actors working for actors, who in turn hire paid staff to carry on the day to day functions of the Guild, including legal counsel and financial consulting. While this may sound altruistic, it is also true as a long list of presidents, officers and board members have had to put their careers on hold, spend time away from family and jeopardize their own relationship with agents, casting directors and management in the interest of what is good for the membership of the Guild (Prindle, 1988).

   Screen Actors Guild Nevada Branch Treasurer Vickie Sutton summarized her view of why the Screen Actors Guild is unique:

This union is unlike any other union. Our union is so different. It’s about a dream, working in that dream, pursuing that dream. Members are much closer to their union and what it represents. The membership is so diverse, yet under one banner, able to vote on all contracts and be a part of every aspect of the union. I take great pride in my union (personal communication, March 2000).

Membership in the Guild differs from most other unions. In addition to full time actors, dancers, singers and other performers, SAG membership includes others who do not earn their living within the industry, yet are as proud of their union and their union card as any Hollywood star. The vast majority of SAG's membership are not ‘actors’ in the true sense. The Guild has among its members people who may have looked right for a part and were in only one movie for a few lines, actors and extras who work on movie sets more for the enjoyment than the paycheck, those who are more management in their political leanings than pro-labor, and many who never took their jobs on a movie set seriously. There too are the producer or director's friends, under the obvious influence of management, who were given a part or given a letter of intent to allow them to join the Guild. While representing professional performers, the majority of voting members of the Screen Actors Guild are not themselves full working professionals within the industry or the craft (Back Stage West, 1994).

     SAG is a national union, with a structure that centers on elected officers and a national board of directors. Local branches assist in providing services to local members and recommending any local contracts or variations from national contracts to the national board. All funds are distributed through the national office, with general budgets and appropriate specific requests administered by the elected treasurer and voted on by the National Board of Directors (SAG, Constitution and Bylaws, 1996-2000).

A Sister Union: AFTRA
     As briefly mentioned in the review of the Guild’s history, a second union formed to provide work place protection for radio broadcasters and radio actors, later expanding to include a new electronic media, television. The American Federation of Radio Artists was formed in 1937. To reflect the inclusion of television, in 1946 it was re-named The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). This historic expansion into new media, while SAG remained a “film industry union”, set a precedence, which occasionally produces conflicts between the two usually cooperative unions. SAG remains a performers union, primarily representing actors on film, television and in commercial or industrial presentations.

While AFTRA began as a performers union, it now represents a widening range of professional crafts within the broader scope of the communications and entertainment communities. AFTRA represents newscasters, sportscasters, disc jockeys, talk hosts, announcers, on camera actors, video background performers, voice artists, dancers, singers, musicians, recording artists, music video talent, interactive technology performers, a small segment of television and radio producers, a small segment of electronic technicians and professionals in specific writing fields. While SAG’s membership moves rapidly from production to production and employer to employer, a politically powerful segment of AFTRA’s membership hold regular ongoing jobs, most notably the on air broadcast talent who work fixed hours five or six days a week for a specific employer. AFTRA also represents another segment of the entertainment industry whose lifestyle and motivation is surprisingly similar to those of a Screen Actors Guild actor: recording artists. So, in effect there may be more in common between the unions than detractors admit (Harvey, 1996; and S. Scott personal communication, January, 1998).

    There are real issues to address if the two unions are to co-exist into the future. Will they cooperate or will there be a jurisdictional turf war? AFTRA activists point out, with some degree of accuracy, that by rights of the original intent of the two unions, AFTRA should have jurisdiction over all video and most certainly have jurisdiction over the new digital interactive media. A mutual agreement exists that provides case by case individual decisions on jurisdiction, sometimes decided by which union the producer / employer prefers to reach an agreement with. As an example, television situation comedies, which are produced on videotape and not film, are produced under Screen Actors Guild jurisdiction. Soap Operas, even if they are shot on film, fall under AFTRA contractual jurisdiction. Both unions agree that this scenario could one day pit the unions against each other on a grand scale (SAG Board Room, personal communications, 1995-2000).

    A major structural difference lies in the democratic concept of open membership, by which entry level membership may be purchased without meeting any work or professional credentials. AFTRA’s board and conventions have consistently refused to revoke open membership. It is referred to as an “open door” policy. (Harvey, 1996) To the actors in SAG, this means that anyone can claim to be an actor, simply by joining AFTRA. This process continues today despite pleas from the Screen Actors Guild and Equity. It can be argued that AFTRA’s open door policy may make the broadcaster union flexible enough to adapt and survive changes (SAG Minutes, personal communication, 1998, and SAG Board Room, personal communications, 1995-2000).

     AFTRA is structured as both a local and national union. AFTRA locals have widely divergent responsibilities, jurisdictions, dues and sometimes structures. They generate and manage their own treasuries while contributing to the national fund. National officers and a national board of directors are responsible for negotiating and enforcing national contracts while an independent union congress of members at large, including proxy voting, holds the power to override the board and create national policy, including the nomination of a slate of national officers. Like SAG, AFTRA elected officials are volunteers, without a salary or benefit package (Harvey, 1996).

     While a percentage of AFTRA members have consistent single employer incomes, most do not. SAG and AFTRA have sometimes conflicting responsibilities in representing on camera talent in television commercials, on television programs, in industrials, on interactive entertainment and in most every category of voice over. When the two unions formed, AFTRA’s work by its nature included the broadcast and recorded voice, while SAG’s workers were employed in projects recorded on film. As audio recordings began to be used in film production and, with the advent of video, film began to be broadcast on television, both unions had legitimate arguments for claiming representation of workers who traditionally fell clearly under the other union. Cooperation between AFTRA and SAG is common, however there remains the potential, and indeed in some cases the reality of producers playing the two unions against each other or seeking out the contract which is the least expensive or least restrictive for their project (R. Masur, personal communication, 1996).

      An example of how the interest of the two unions may sometimes be in conflict came in early 1997, after both union boards had voted with a strong majority in favor of moving forward on merger. Concerns on the unilateral front of the two unions were raised over the World Intellectual Property Organization Treaty (WIPO) and its 1997 ratification by the US Senate. AFTRA and its national board strongly supported the ratification of the WIPO treaty, while SAG National President Richard Masur (of Los Angeles) vowed that his Guild “would actively oppose it” (Robb, February 4, 1997, p. 1). AFTRA National President Shelby Scott (who lives in Baltimore) fired off a letter to Masur saying that SAG’s opposition to the treaty “causes those of us who spent the past five years conceptualizing and constructing a new merged union to question whether the new union really is capable of understanding and addressing the needs of its diverse but contemporary constituencies” (Robb, February 4, 1997, p. 1). The WIPO treaty was drafted to protect the work of recording artists, including for the first time, protection
of their intellectual property rights from misappropriation of their work in cyberspace.

    In addressing his membership, Masur wrote that “our sister union, AFTRA, seems to have made some headway in securing treaty inclusion of some protections for sound recording artists...however, the lack of any protections for audiovisual performers places us in a position where we have no choice but to vigorously oppose...ratification of this treaty. And we will oppose it until such time as it includes real protections for audiovisual performers” (Robb, February 4, 1997, p.1).

    Cooperation between the unions under Masur was never in dispute, in part because of his historic pro-merger stance and his friendship with AFTRA President Shelby Scott. Both were strong hands-on chairs, exercising parliamentary control under Roberts Rules of Order and interpreting those rules to gain the benefit for their presidential agendas. Both had been reelected by large majority mandates of their national memberships.

SAG Board of Directors Approves Merger Package with AFTRA

2012-01-27T19:42:00.000-08:00

AFTRA's Board of Directors to vote on the plan on tomorrow Jan. 28 and then members of both unions would vote on proposal.

FROM The Hollywood Reporter. Click here to read this and other labor news.

The Screen Actors Guild Board of Directors announced today that it had approved a plan to merge with AFTRA.

Read the press release from SAG detailing the merger plan below:

"The Screen Actors Guild National Board of Directors today voted overwhelmingly to approve and recommend a plan to merge with AFTRA. The board met in a regularly scheduled plenary meeting in the James Cagney Board Room at the Guild’s Los Angeles headquarters and voted after reviewing a merger package put forward by the SAG and AFTRA Group for One Union (G1) that includes a Merger Agreement and Constitution.

Collectively, these documents outline the plan of merger, dues and finance structure, membership requirements, and other basic attributes of the successor union. The same merger package must now be approved by AFTRA’s National Board of Directors which is scheduled to meet on Jan. 28, to review and vote on the package. Should the AFTRA board approve the merger package as well, a referendum will be sent out for a vote by members of both unions in the coming weeks.

The proposed name for the new union is SAG-AFTRA.

The resolution read:

“It was moved and seconded that the National Board of Directors, on the recommendation of the Merger Task Force, approves the proposed Merger Agreement between Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and further approves the proposed SAG-AFTRA Constitution. The National Board directs that the proposed Constitution and Merger Agreement be submitted for membership approval by mailed ballot referendum, in cooperation with AFTRA. The referendum materials and ballot shall be mailed on or about February 27, 2012, with a ballot return and tabulation deadline of March 30, 2012.”

Approved: 87.1% - 12.9%

The G1 held five rounds of meetings to create the successor union merger package. The meetings, which began in June of 2011, followed a historic Listening Tour conducted by SAG National President Ken Howard and AFTRA National President Roberta Reardon. The G1 finished its work January 16 with a vote approving the merger package debated and approved today by the SAG National Board."

FROM The Hollywood Reporter. Click here to read this and other labor news.

SAG board approves AFTRA merger

2012-01-27T19:30:00.000-08:00

AFTRA board to meet Saturday; approval would trigger Feb. 27 vote by members

By Dave McNary

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118049411

The pending marriage between the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists has moved a step closer.

SAG's national board has approved a merger proposal with 87% of the panel OKing the plan, SAG announced Friday night. The proposal goes to AFTRA's board, which meets Saturday and if AFTRA leaders approve, it would trigger a vote by SAG and AFTRA members starting Feb. 27 with tabulation on March 30.
Merger opponents on the SAG board were unable to meet the 25% threshold that would have required that a minority report be issued in the balloting material.
Should the AFTRA national board approve, the proposal will be sent to 120,000 SAG members and 70,000 AFTRA members, who include actors, broadcasters, DJs, singers and dancers. To pass, the referendum would need a 60% approval margin from both orgs among votes cast.
The new union will be called SAG-AFTRA, should members approve the merger vote.
SAG members defeated merger proposals in 1999 and 2003 while AFTRA members supported both. In 2003, the merged union would have been called the Alliance of Intl. Media Artists, which may have been a factor in the defeat.
Key details of the proposal will undoubtedly be touted by SAG persident Ken Howard during Sunday's SAG Awards ceremony at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The SAG prexy traditionally gives an on-air speech during the kudocast.
Howard and AFTRA president Roberta Reardon have made the merger of the two unions their signature issue and received strong support from members in recent elections.
The merger proposal was hammered out at a nine-day meeting earlier this month by the AFTRA and SAG Group for One Union to work out details such as a name, governance, financing, membership requirements and dues. That group had met five times since June.
SAG's elected leadership has been dominated in recent years by those in favor of a merger, who contend that a combined union would be more powerful and remove jurisdictional overlaps. Opponents within SAG, whose influence has waned in recent years, contend that SAG should remain for actors only and assert that the new union will face problems in attempting to combine the health and retirement plans.

SAG and AFTRA share jurisdiction on primetime TV. After years of bitter disputes, AFTRA split from SAG on joint bargaining in 2008 and negotiated a separate deal a full year before SAG reached an accord -- leading to producers opting to sign with AFTRA for nearly all new shows.

Howard contends that members of SAG and AFTRA want to combine unions to then resolve the dilemma of seeing pension and health contributions go into separate SAG and AFTRA plans, which are operated by joint industry-union boards. Howard was handily re-elected to a second two-year term in September.

Should the proposed SAG-AFTRA merger pass, annual elections will be a thing of the past with the contests taking place every two years instead. The plan is aimed at combining SAG's annual direct voting structure for some offices with other slots filled using AFTRA's national convention structure, held every two years with delegates elected at the local level.

From Variety. Click here for news from Variety.com.

2012-01-27T17:08:00.000-08:00

Anthony Del Valle | THEATER REVIEW

Reality shines through foolishness in 'Measure'

By ANTHONY DEL VALLELAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

Last Weekend to see "Sylvia" at LVLT. It would be a 'dog gone' shame if you missed it.

2012-01-27T12:19:00.000-08:00

"(Gillen) Brey gives the material a whimsical touch; it's a warm
story, and Brey provides the lightness it needs.”– Anthony Del Valle, Las Vegas Review Journal, 1/18/2012
Click here for the complete review.

SYLVIA by A. R. GurneyPerforming on our Mainstage, January 13 - 29, 2012(Thu/Fri/Sat at 8pm, 2nd Sat & Sundays at 2pm)

To order tickets online, click
on the image above!

Greg and Kate have moved to Manhattan after 22 years of child-raising in the suburbs. Greg's career as a financial trader is winding down, while Kate's career, as a public-school English teacher, is beginning to offer her more opportunities. Greg brings home a dog he found in the park - or that has found him - bearing only the name "Sylvia" on her name tag. A street-smart mixture of Lab and Poodle, Sylvia becomes a major bone of contention between husband and wife in this heart-warming romantic comedy.

Directed by Gillen Brey

Single Ticket Prices: Adult $24; Seniors/Students $21CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS FOR SYLVIA!

CLICK HERE FOR A YOUTUBE PREVIEW OF SYLVIA!

OR, Call 702.362.7996, or visit us during Box Office
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MONDAY: 4PM to 8PM

WEDNESDAY & FRIDAY: 10AM TO 1PM

SATURDAY: 9AM TO 12PM

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Portland SAG Branch Active Member Charles W Bernard RIP

2012-01-27T10:39:00.000-08:00

It is with great sadness that I report the passing of Charles W. Bernard, a long-time member of both AFTRA and SAG. Charles was a passionate unionist whose contributions included long service as a Local Board/Council member of his unions.

After military service, Charles began his career as a broadcaster and, if I'm not mistaken, was one of those whose first card read "AFRA." In later years, he branched into film and television acting and commercial/industrial work.

As we undertake our work this weekend, I would be obliged if Charles was remembered for his work in our industry and, especially, his service to his unions. Merger was a dream he held dear. A finer man you'd have been hard pressed to find.

http://obits.oregonlive.com/obituaries/oregon/obituary.aspx?n=charles-w-bernard&pid=155634420

In solidarity,

--

Chrisse Roccaro

Actor, Singer, Teacher
www.roccaro.info

Hollywood piracy defeat should force rethink of SAG/AFTRA merger

2012-01-27T10:26:00.000-08:00

by Stephen Diamond

http://stephen-diamond.com/

The stunning defeat of Hollywood in the recent battle over anti-piracy legislation is slowly beginning to register with the entertainment industry. Despite being this country’s most important export industry, Hollywood was unable to carry the day for legislation that protects an important cash cow for the US economy.

What happened here and why is it important for the unions in the entertainment industry, particularly SAG?

The key is that Silicon Valley and the telecom world are destroying the old vertical business structures of Hollywood. After decades in which aggregation was the key to success, now disaggregation is the key. There are now dozens of ways to produce and distribute entertainment content. Big capital now flows through hedge funds and venture funds to create these pipelines.

And these disaggregated players are now a political force as well despite the anarchy of their business model. The blackouts by Wikipedia and Google were only the most visible tip of the iceberg. It is not an accident that Obama has visited the Valley a half dozen times in the last couple of years, including stops at Facebook and private dinners with big tech players.

Meanwhile SAG and AFTRA leaders argue that the key is merger – in other words, aggregation in a world of disaggregation. One of the major arguments that merger zealots make is that a new merged union of journalists, musicians and actors will be better situated to deal with, wait for it, large media conglomerates like Fox and NBC Universal. But these are the same groups that just got beat, badly, by a wide ranging network of small and big, private and public, for profit and non profit, technology companies.

And in that victory Silicon Valley won the hearts and minds of millions of consumers who buy into the – inaccurate but persuasive – story that the Valley brings people more choice and cheaper alternatives for entertainment content.

An analysis by Reuters on the debacle for Hollywood contained the following quite revealing assessment of the clumsy bureaucratic response by the congloms:

Some Hollywood executives acknowledge their own flat-footedness in trying to marshal public opinion as opposition mounted. While technology companies brandished the power of the Internet, Hollywood relied on old-media weapons such as television commercials and a billboard in New York’s Times Square. It proved to be too little, too late.

One entertainment-company lawyer complained that opposing arguments were often inaccurate but spread like wildfire anyway on the Internet, leaving supporters scrambling to correct the information without the benefit of a strong online network.

“We do some of that (online) stuff, but it has to go through a committee of 14 people,” he said. “The other side doesn’t have conference calls. They just put stuff out there.”

A merger of SAG and AFTRA, in other words, is a solution to last decade’s war not a credible response to the battles that actors (and journalists and musicians) will face for the next generation.
Some time ago, I proposed an alternative to the merger of SAG and AFTRA. Now it seems prescient and so I put it on the table again. Instead of merger, instead of the time consuming, overwhelmingly complex and expensive process of forcing under one roof very different cultural and political organizations, the entertainment and media industry unions need to form a strategic leadership council.
This council would be formed by rank and file elected representatives who base themselves in both New York and Hollywood with a small professional staff that has as its purpose the generation of concrete ideas for improving the bargaining power of the industry workforce. It would include IATSE, the IBT and CWA as well as the guilds. It should have a seat at the table of the AFL-CIO executive council as well.

Such a council would only be as strong as its ability to develop new ideas for horizontal action across the guilds and crafts as opposed to bureaucratic, staff dominated vertical efforts. This horizontal approach could include coordinated bargaining, attempts to build direct relationships outside of collective bargaining with Silicon Valley, efforts to make a public argument about labor’s role in the industry that is not controlled by the AMPTP.

Over time, as success builds trust and confidence, new organizational structures could emerge. But there is no magic in mergers and SAG is now on a path for a bloody internal fight that will only harden factional lines. Even if merger gets past the 60% hurdle those hardened battle lines will be brought into AFTRA. Those journalists and musicians not familiar with SAG culture will be alienated. A weak and ineffectual union is a distinct possibility.

A council approach, on the other hand, is democratic, transparent, controlled by rank and file members and allows a great deal of flexibility and creativity to take hold. When you go up against Silicon Valley that is a very powerful weapon.

by Stephen Diamond http://stephen-diamond.com/

Hollywood regroups after losing battle over anti-piracy bills – latimes.com

Measure for Pleasure continues this weekend and next at LVLV

2012-01-27T10:12:00.000-08:00

For mature audiences only. Not suitable for children!

(Prepare to be titillated by this YOUTUBE preview!)

Measure for Pleasure

by David Grimm

Performing in the Fischer Black Box, Jan 20 - Feb 5, 2012

(Thu/Fri/Sat at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm)

To order tickets online, click
on the image above!

Will Blunt is in love with Molly, a young transvestite prostitute. But when Blunt rescues him from a life on the streets, he doesn’t count on Molly falling in love with Dashwood, the handsome womanizing rake. Restoration comedy meets modern sex farce in this romantic adventure, exploring the elusive nature of happiness and featuring mistaken identities, duels and double-dealings, gay marriage and the obligatory sex cave.

Directed by Mario Mendez

Single Ticket Prices:
Adults $15; Seniors/Students $14LVLT Subscribers $13

OR, Call 702.362.7996, or visit us during Box Office
hours at 3920 Schiff Drive, LV, NV

BOX OFFICE HOURS

MONDAY: 4PM to 8PM

WEDNESDAY: 10AM TO 1PM

FRIDAY: 10AM TO 1PM

SATURDAY: 9AM TO 12PM

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2012-01-27T09:29:00.000-08:00

Screen Actors Guild

The 18th Annual SAG Awards will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS this Sunday, January 29 at 8 p.m. (ET)/5 p.m. (PT). Be sure to watch!

Behind-the-Scenes at the 18th Annual SAG Awards® with Wendi McLendon-Covey (Bridesmaids)

www.youtube.com

SAG Awards Scorecard and Special issue SAG Actor Magazine

2012-01-27T09:17:00.001-08:00

Screen Actors Guild

Are you ready for Sunday? Flip to page 13 and download your own follow-at-home scorecard!

SAG - SAG Special Issue 2012

digital.copcomm.com

Will HBO's Luck Win? Who Owns the Golden Globest TV Rights? Super Hype!

2012-01-27T07:39:00.000-08:00

From the LA Times Company Town blog, click here for the latest industry news.

The Skinny: I have to report the box-office results this Sunday, so I'm lacking my usual Friday enthusiasm. Headlines today include previews of the weekend box office, NBC's Super Bowl hype machine, and the latest from the legal battle between the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. and Dick Clark Productions over the TV rights to Golden Globe Awards.

The Daily Dose: Even though the results of a trial over who controls the television rights to the Golden Globes could potentially see the awards show's relationship with NBC go up in smoke, that didn't stop the network's sitcom "30 Rock" from taking a shot at the credibility of the event. It was one of the few funny moments in an otherwise so-so episode.

Going grey. Liam Neeson, who has emerged as a formidable middle-aged action star over the last few years, is expected to take the top spot at the box office this weekend, with his latest movie, "The Grey," projected to take in as much as $14 million. The other major releases this weekend are the Katherine Heigl comedy "One for the Money" and the thriller "Man on a Ledge." Neither are expected to top the $10-million mark. Looks like I'll be a man on a couch this weekend. Box-office previews from the Los Angeles Times and Hollywood Reporter.

The art of the deal. The courtroom battle between Golden Globes owner the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. and producer Dick Clark Productions over who controls the television rights to the event turned into a lesson on the fine art of negotiation. Recaps from the Los Angeles Times and Variety.

Overkill? NBC, which has the rights to next weekend's Super Bowl match-up between the New York Giants and New England Patriots, is going to saturate its channels with hype for the big game. Of course, the Super Bowl is the one thing that doesn't require hype, so this is really about promoting NBC and its various properties more than it is about plugging the game. Heck, even the Weather Channel, which NBC owns a chunk of, is getting into the act despite the fact that the game is being played indoors. An look at all NBC has in store from Entertainment Weekly.

Win, place or show? On Sunday, HBO premieres its latest drama, "Luck," an inside look at horse racing whose stars include Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte. The slow, sometimes plodding nature of the storytelling has led to mixed reviews. USA Today looks at whether HBO will get lucky with "Luck" or if it will be a scratch.

Inside the Los Angeles Times: Geoff Boucher on Liam Neeson's hot streak.

-- Joe Flint

Follow me on Twitter. It will be the bright spot of your day. Twitter.com/JBFlint
Photo: Liam Neeson in "The Grey." Credit: Kimberley French / Associated Press

Twitter: @latcompanytown

Facebook: L.A. Times Entertainment

Fern Champion Seminar Tomorrow

2012-01-27T07:27:00.000-08:00

LA Casting Director Fern Champion to be at Casting Call Entertainment to do a great workshop this Saturday, check out her IMDb page here http://www.imdb.com/ /name/nm0150703/

For more information please contact Gary or Sharry at 702-369-0400. Thanks and hope to see you there.

Fern Champion

www.imdb.com

Remember that casting directors are not hiring and are offering only their perspective, view or opinion at seminars they teach. See California required legal disclaimer for details.

Nevada SAG Franchised Agencies

2012-01-27T07:18:00.000-08:00

From the Screen Actors Guild Press Library:

Because of the inherent complexities of agency relations today, Screen Actors Guild has received numerous requests from members in the Las Vegas area to clarify the status of SAG agency franchises, and Union members’ obligations thereunder.
Pursuant to SAG’s Rules and Regulations, Guild members in the Las Vegas market who wish the protection of Screen Actors Guild in their relationships with their agents are required to choose from the SAG franchised agencies in the market. Except under very limited circumstances, choosing to be represented by non-franchised agencies is a violation of SAG Rules and Regulations and may subject the member to potential disciplinary action from the Guild. This precaution is necessary in order to ensure that our members’ rights are fully protected in any and all of their dealings with their primary representatives. Please note that franchises are not assignable, and never follow an agent when (s)he moves from one agency to another. Franchises are also not assignable when one franchised agency is sold to another company. If you have any questions about the franchised status of anyone offering to represent you, we strongly urge you to contact the Guild (see below) to obtain the necessary information regarding your representative’s standing with the Union.
Moreover, please note that SAG franchised agencies cannot offer you an agency contract that has not been approved by the Guild. Franchised agencies (as well as the SAG members that they represent) are protected by, and are bound to, the terms and conditions of Rule 16(g), a/k/a the SAG Agency Regulations. Agencies in the Las Vegas market that are not franchised are outside SAG’s jurisdiction; Guild members should be careful not to place themselves in violation of SAG rules by working with such entities.
Baskow and Associates
Baskow, J & Associates
Full Service (All Ages)
2948 E. Russell Rd.
Las Vegas, NV 89120
(702) 733-7818
Best Models and Talent
Best Agency
Full Service (All Ages)
5565 South Decatur Blvd.
Las Vegas, NV 89118
(702) 889-2900
eNVy
Best Agency
Full Service (All Ages)
5565 South Decatur Blvd.
Las Vegas, NV 89118
(702) 889-2900
Lenz Agency
Lenz Agency
Full Service (All Ages)
1591 East Desert Inn Road
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 733-6888
Remington Agency
Remington Agency
Full Service (All Ages)
(702) 547-3620

Should you have any agency-related questions, please do not hesitate to contact SAG’s National Agency Department in Los Angeles at (323) 549-6745, or Nevada Executive Director Steve Clinton at (702) 737-8818 or 800-SAG-0767, x7.

Agency Links, address, contact information

Events Friday January 27, 2012

2012-01-27T07:10:00.000-08:00

Judy Bayley Theater (UNLV)
8 pm Nevada Conservatory Theater: The Seagull $10- $30

The Box Office
8 pm Born & Raised/RagTag: Art $15

Freedom Hall (Sun City Anthem)
7 pm Showgirl Follies: Life in Feathers and Rhinestones $18/$15

Las Vegas Little Theater
8 pm Sylvia $21- $24

Las Vegas Little Theater (Black Box)
8 pm Measure For Pleasure $10/$15
Onyx Theater
8 pm Evil Dead the Musical $20/$30
Summerlin Library
7 pm Broadway Bound: The Wizard of Oz

Now is the time to join the Screen Actors Guild

2012-01-27T06:30:00.000-08:00

"SAG Eligible" is non-union and, to be honest, a scab.

If you are eligible for membership in the Screen Actors Guild now is the time to join, whether or not a merger with AFTRA is on the horizon.

It is time to say you are a professional, join the family and benefit from all the Guild has to offer.

Trust me.

Contact Nevada SAG Executive Steve Clinton by clicking here.

2012-01-27T06:22:00.000-08:00

A PARTIAL LITERATURE LIST FOR ACTORS

BOOKS ON CAMERA / STAGE ACTING TECHNIQUES, YOUR CAREER &

THE BUSINESS, AND RELATED TOPICS

Primary

AUDITION, Michael Shurtleft, Pub. 1978

Basics of auditioning for theater, contains many good techniques for study

YOUR FILM ACTING CAREER, M.K. Lewis & Rosemary Lewis, Pub. 1983

Basics of the industry

HOW TO ACT AND EAT AT THE SAME TIME: THE BUSINESS OF LANDING

A PROFESSIONAL ACTING JOB Tom Logan, Pub. 1982

The basics of photos, resumes, getting the audition, landing the part

THE STANISLAVSKI SYSTEM, THE PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF AN

ACTOR, Sonia Moore, Pub. 1960. Guide to one acting system.

Click "read more" below to see the remaining lists. Also, please submit your own recommendations to nevadasag@me.com.

Directories

THE LOS ANGELES AGENT BOOK, K. Callan, Pub.1995 (5^th ed.)

Tips on agents, interviews and a list of select agencies, their agents and clients.

CASTING BY…A DIRECTORY OF THE CASTING SOCIETY OF AMERICA,

ITS MEMBERS AND THEIR CREDITS, 1998. Breakdown Services. An expanded list of CSA casting directors, their credits, contact address and phone numbers.

Lists are also available from Billboard Publishing (Hollywood Reporter/

Back Stage West), the Breakdown Services (The Link), the Screen Actors Guild,

The Directors Guild of America, the Writers Guild West and other sources.

The Trade Publications

HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, a daily professional newspaper in magazine format, published five days a week. Also available is the International Edition, printed weekly, which includes projects in development and production. Special magazine issues are also printed.

DAILY VARIETY, the dominant daily professional newspaper in magazine format, also with a weekly production directory issue and special magazine issues.

BACKSTAGE WEST/ DRAMALOGUE, a weekly tabloid newspaper for actors, which includes limited casting notices, interviews with casting directors, agents, actors and other useful information and directories.
CALL SHEET / BACKSTAGE, a directory of various industry sources and activitis

LOS ANGELES TIMES, the newspaper of record for Los Angeles and Southern California, which is the primary “industry town” in the United States. CALANDAR and BUSINESS sections are most useful. Daily is best, but the Sunday edition can provide valuable industry information.

Las Vegas Publications

CITY LIFE, a Las Vegas alternative weekly free tabloid that provides occasional casting notices, creative community news and directories.

LAS VEGAS WEEKLY, formerly IN MUSIC, is also a Las Vegas based alternative weekly, providing detailed events lists, including occasional audition notices.

NEON, Friday arts and entertainment insert in the Las Vegas Review Journal.

CASTINGCALLENTERTAINMENT.COM /CASTING CALL / DIRT ALERT, a publication distributed primarily back stage at Las Vegas Showrooms and rehearsal halls containing interviews, classfied and audition notices for portions of the industry.

LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL, the daily newspaper in Las Vegas. Pay attention to ABOUT TOWN, SHOOTING STAR columns and NEON sections for occasional industry and audition news.

LAS VEGAS SUN, the afternoon daily newspaper, usually containing larger arts content than the other daily newspaper.

Acting Systems or Guides

ACTING AND THEATRE, Cheryl Evans, Lucy Smith, Pub. 1992

ACTING FOR THE CAMERA, Tony Barr, Eric Stephan Kline, Pub. May 1997

ACTING GAMES: IMPROVISATIONS AND EXERCISES, Marshall Cassady,

Theodore O. Zapel, Pub. Sept. 1993

ACTING IS EVERYTHING: AN ACTOR’S GUIDEBOOK FOR A SUCCESSFUL

CAREER IN LOS ANGELES, Judy Kerr, Pub. Oct. 1996

ACTING IN FILM: AN ACTOR’S TAKE ON MOVIEMAKING, Michael Caine, Pub.

March 1997

ACTING IN TELEVISION COMMERCIALS FOR FUN AND PROFIT, Squire Fidell,

Barry Geller, Pub. March 1995

ACTING PROFESSIONALLY: RAW FACTS ABOUT CAREERS IN ACTING,

Robert Cohen, Pub. July 1997

ACTING: THE FIRST SIX LESSONS, Richard Boleslavksy, Pub. June 1972

ACTING A TO Z: THE YOUNG PERSON’S GUIDE TO A STAGE OR SCREEN

CAREER, Kathyrn Mayfield, Pub. Oct. 1998

ACTING: IMAGING AND THE UNCONSCIOUS, Eric Morris, Pub. July 1998

ACTING IN COMMERCIALS: A GUIDE TO AUDITIONING AND PERFORMING

ON CAMERA

ACTING AS A BUSINESS: STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS, Brian O”Neil, Pub. March

1993

ACTING NATURAL: MONOLOGUES, DIALOGS AND PLAYLETS FOR TEENS,

Peg Kehret, Arthur L. Zapel, Pub. Aug. 1992

ACTING IS BELIEVING: A BASIC METHOD, Charles J. McGaw, Larry D. Clark,

Pub. April 1998

ACTING NOW: CONVERSATIONS ON CRAFT AND CAREER, Edward Vilga,

Pub. July 1997

ACTING IN INDUSTRIALS: THE BUSINESS OF ACTING FOR BUSINESS,

William Paul Steele, Pub. June 1994

ACTING FOR FILMS AND TV, Leslie Abbott, Pub. June 1993

ACTING IN PRIME TIME: A GUIDE TO BREAKING INTO SHOW BUSINESS AS A

MATURE ACTOR, Terry Chayefksy, Pub. Jan. 1997

ACTING AND PERFORMING, Hayes Gordon, Pub. Jan. 1993

ACTING CAREERS, Dick Moore, Pub. October 1998

ACTING IN THE CINEMA, James Naremore, Pub. Nov. 1990

ACTING, Jac Greenspon, Pub. March 1996

ACTING, THE CREATIVE PROCESS, Hardie Albright, Pub. March 1991

ACTING=LIFE; AN ACTOR’S LIFE LESSONS, Michael Kearns, Pub. June 1996

ACTING AS READING: THE PLACE OF THE READING PROCESS IN THE

ACTOR’S WORK, David Cole, Pub. Nov. 1992

ACTING PRIMER: A COURSE IN MAKING CHOICES, Lynda Belt, Pub. June 1993

THE AUDITION BOOK, Winning Strategies for Breaking into Theater, Film

and Television, Ed Hooks, Back Stage, 1996.

A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK FOR THE ACTOR, Bruder, Cohn, Olnek, Pollack,

Previto, Zigler, Mamet, Vintage Books, 1986. Basics of auditioning for theater.

Industry Basics

FRAME-BY-FRAME: A HANDBOOK FOR CREATIVE FILMMAKING,

Eric Sherman, Pub. 1987. Basic terms and techniques of the industry.

HOW TO SELL YOUR SCREENPLAY: THE REAL RULES OF

FILM AND TELEVISION, Carl Sautter, 1988. Understanding the production

forms and how they effect actors, writers and directors.

TELEVISION WRITING: FROM CONCEPT TO CONTRACT, Richard A. Blum,

Pub. 1984. Understanding the script and how to interpret it from both sides

of the camera.

Alec Baldwin SAG Foundation Ambassador

2012-01-27T06:18:00.000-08:00

Screen Actors Guild Foundation

Alec Baldwin Named SAG Foundation Ambassador

www.hollywoodreporter.com

In the new position, the "30 Rock" actor will raise awareness about the foundation's philanthropic efforts.

Acting Class becomes Marketing Class tonight at Casting Call

2012-01-27T04:35:00.000-08:00

Because of my duties on the National Board of the Screen Actors Guild I will not be teaching at Casting Call on Friday night nor on the air on KNPR on Sunday. Sharry Flaherty is presenting a special marketing and the industry seminar Friday from 6 to 8 on Friday.

I will return to both slots next weekend.

Be sure and tell your friends about this blog, and if you have items to contribute, feel free to do so.

-Art Lynch
Createcom@gamil.com

SAG Awards Voting Ends at Noon

2012-01-27T04:31:00.000-08:00

Voting for the SAG Awards ends at noon today.

Watch the SAG Awards on Sunday for President Howards speech, steller awards and a celebration of your union.

TNT and TBS to both broadcast SAG Awards Sunday Night

2012-01-27T04:20:00.000-08:00

Screen Actors Guild

The 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, at 8 p.m. (ET)/5 p.m. (PT). Be sure to watch!

18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® Preview

www.youtube.com

Give to the Las Vegas Little Theatre

2012-01-27T00:20:00.000-08:00

Click on the image to donate online at www.lvlt.org!

Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh challenges YOU to invest in your community's theatre!

Tony will match all funds raised by June 1st, 2012, up to $15,000!

Have you been entertained and inspired by the theatre? Do you want to play a part in ensuring that opportunities to be entertained, educated and enriched continue?
Deliver a little happiness and support Las Vegas community theatre... and invest in the arts in Las Vegas. Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh will match all donations made to Las Vegas Little Theatre by June 1, 2012, dollar-for-dollar up to $15,000!

Help us meet the challenge! Make your donation*,
however small, to Las Vegas Little Theatre online!

Or, if you prefer, you can mail your donation to us
at 3920 Schiff Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89103
or call us during Box Office hours at 702.362.7996.

(*All donations are tax-deductible!)

BOX OFFICE HOURS:
MONDAY: 4PM to 8PM
WEDNESDAY & FRIDAY: 10AM to 1PM
SATURDAY: 9AM to 12PM
(Excludes Holidays)

Star of the Artist Retires, Wagging his tail in farewell

2012-01-26T22:20:00.001-08:00

Los Angeles Times Entertainment

Uggie the dog is ready to hang up the acting collar.

'The Artist's' Uggie to retire at 10; that's 50-plus in dog years

latimesblogs.latimes.com

Uggie the dog, the canine scene stealer of "The Artist" will retire after the Oscars. Uggie had a huge 2011, with major starring roles in "Water for Elephants" and "The Artist."

SAG-AFTRA Merger Means Tougher Admissions, Potentially Costlier Membership

2012-01-26T22:13:00.000-08:00

Chris Godley

From the Hollywood Reporter. Click here for other entertainment news and views.

The changes in entrance rules and initiation fees will be of great interest to current and prospective members of both unions and close off a key route to a SAG card.

AFTRA’s open door policy – which allows anyone to join the union online by paying the initiation fee – will end if SAG and AFTRA merge, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. In its place will be new SAG-AFTRA rules that primarily mirror SAG’s existing ones – a set of requirements that have made a meme out of “How do I get my SAG card?”

Key SAG Rule to Survive Merger

SAG Merger Skeptics Retain Law Firm

In addition, the price is changing: at $3,000, the new initiation fee is higher than SAG’s $2,277 or AFTRA’s $1,600, but less than the two combined.

That translates to a 23% savings for actors who would otherwise join both unions – as many do, since the overwhelming majority of new scripted television series have gone AFTRA since 2009, while movies remain a SAG-only business.

There’s good news for existing members who aren’t dual cardholders: according to a source, those who paid only one union’s initiation fee won’t have to pay the difference between that amount and the higher SAG-AFTRA fee. They’ll be grandfathered at the lower fee.

Those who are dual cardholders and previously paid initial fees that amounted to more than $3,000 – such as $2,277 plus $1,600, i.e., $3,877) – might wonder whether the new union will refund the difference. That’s unknown, although one would assume it’s unlikely.

Initiation fees aren’t the only cost associated with union membership: there are also annual dues. As THR previously reported, those will decrease for some members and increase for others under a merged union.

The new entrance rules will allow someone to join if they score a job as a principal under a SAG-AFTRA contract; work for 3 days as a background performer (i.e., extra) in a SAG-AFTRA background role; are a member of a sister union for at least a year and have worked as a principal performer; or are an employee at a company that the union board has targeted for organizing, such as new cable networks or small broadcast stations.

The first three methods are essentially the same as under existing SAG rules, while the fourth is new. The tighter requirements mark a new development for DJs, announcers, newspersons and sportscasters, although the fourth option is obviously intended to soften the change, at least for those groups. It’s not known how they’ll react, although THR is told that G1 members from those constituencies agreed to the change.

The difficulty of qualifying under the guild’s rules have helped make SAG membership aspirational and contributed to the value of the organization’s “brand name.”

For actors, the tighter rules and increased dues mark a change from AFTRA’s current approach. The changes would take effect upon ratification of the merger proposal, which wouldn’t happen until around mid-March at the earliest, given typical SAG and AFTRA referendum timetables.

However, AFTRA’s board could decide at its meeting this weekend to tighten entrance procedures in order to forestall a “land rush” of new members during the weeks that the proposal will be out for balloting – or even under legal challenge. Whether it will take such action is unknown, although a flood of new membership applications in the next few days could precipitate such action.

Nonetheless, aspiring actors who jump at the chance to join AFTRA now – in order to be grandfathered in at the lower initiation fee and essentially non-existent entrance requirements – may be making a mistake. That’s because union membership may cut them off from non-union work too early in their careers – i.e., at a time when the more competitive union jobs are out of their reach. For that reason, advice columns and books often counsel new actors to be cautious about joining SAG or AFTRA early on – even if they’ve qualified for the coveted SAG card.

The new membership rules are technical enough to warrant explanation:

1. Hired for a SAG (or, post-merger, SAG-AFTRA) principal role. This is the classic way for someone to get admitted to a union, and would be unchanged under SAG-AFTRA: the non-union actor get hired for a union job. This isn’t easy, because existing SAG members are theoretically first in line.
As soon as the actor books the job, he or she becomes “SAG Eligible.” Thirty days later, the actor becomes “SAG Must Join,” and can no longer work SAG jobs without joining the union. The union enforces this rule by requiring producers to verify the actor’s status by contacting the union, a procedure oddly called “Station 12.” There don’t seem to be any Stations 1 through 11.

SAG’s Global Rule 1 t is a rule that will largely survive the transition to SAG-AFTRA, at least for actors. Another wrinkle: in “right to work” states – primarily conservative “red states” – people can’t be required to join.

2. Three days as a background performer in a SAG (or, post-merger, SAG-AFTRA) background role. In a SAG covered movie or a SAG (or AFTRA) covered TV show, a certain number of background positions are generally subject to union minimums and conditions; the remainder are not. A non-union actor who scores one of the SAG-covered positions gets a voucher attesting to that fact. Three vouchers and the performer can (and must) join the guild.

Critics say the so-called three voucher system is open to abuse, since assistant directors in practice have wide latitude in determining who gets the valuable union chits. Some want to loosen the rule, while many SAG background performers want the requirements tightened further. Although the system will survive the transition to SAG-AFTRA, there is apparently some board sentiment for later changing it.

3. Sister union membership. A performer who is a member of a performers union that’s part of the Associated Actors and Artistes of America – the archaic “Artistes” is not a typo – for at least a year and has had at least one principal role (e.g., not a background role, or extra) is eligible to join any other Four A’s union. Among those unions are SAG, AFTRA and Actor’s Equity. That reciprocity has made AFTRA’s open membership policy a route to SAG membership. If SAG and AFTRA merge, that relatively easy route disappears, although it will remain for members of Equity (which is not an open door union) or the several smaller, more specialized components of the Four A’s.

4. Employees of targeted employers. This one is new: if the SAG-AFTRA board decides to campaign for an employer to go union, it can decide to offer the employees union membership. This is apparently intended to address concerns of DJs, announcers, newspersons and sportscasters, who have operated to date under AFTRA’s open door membership policy and loosely-interpreted “No Contract, No Work” rule rather than SAG’s tighter membership requirements and stringent Global Rule 1.

Some technical details of interest in the regions outside of major production centers: Under current SAG and AFTRA rules, lower initiation fees are available to actors who join in some smaller markets. It’s not known whether this will be the case in the new union.

Also, under current SAG rules, such members who later work in higher-fee areas such as New York or Los Angeles may have to pay the difference between the discounted fee and the higher fee, such as $2,277. With the higher fee increasing the $3,000 in the new union (assuming merger passes), that might mean that current members who paid a discounted local fee would end up making up a larger difference than anticipated. This is unknown at this time.

Some of these details may become clear when the merger proposal is released next week, but perhaps not all of them, in light of the fact that a source told THR earlier in the week that some matters will be left to the discretion of the new union’s board.

Email: jhandel@att.net
Twitter: @jhandel

From the Hollywood Reporter. Click here for other entertainment news and views.

Merger votes this weeked by both boards, forming a new union..

2012-01-26T21:59:00.000-08:00

If All Goes to Form

SAGWATCH.net. under Merger/New Union, SAG Politics, SAG-AFTRA, Uncategorized, Union Politics.

There’s really only one question as the SAG National Board becomes the first to vote on ratifying the merger plan with AFTRA. When the electronic devices record the fractional votes down to the third decimal place, will the minority opposing sending the merger plan out for membership ratification have 25%, enough to include a minority report.

We’re betting the answer will be no.

AFTRA’s vote is expected on Saturday, and is expected to be even closer to unanimous in favor, though a few no votes are expected in Hollywood and one or two are possible elsewhere, if history is any guide.

That’s not to say the anti-merger crew, mostly based in Hollywood, has gone away. It’s just that it has lost over and over again for long enough to have been in the union equivalent of a deep freeze hibernation. Efforts to thaw the monster don’t seem to have found much traction – but we won’t really know for sure till the votes are counted in the referendum.

From SAGWATCH.net

'Grey' leads 'Man on a Ledge,' 'One for the Money'

2012-01-26T21:55:00.000-08:00

From the LA Times Company Town Blog.

Liam Neeson's new action-adventure thriller looks to have the edge on what will likely be a crowded movie weekend without a breakout hit.

"The Grey," starring Neeson, will likely take in between $12 million and $14 million, according to people who have seen pre-release audience surveys. That should be good enough to beat two other new offerings, crime comedy "One for the Money," starring Katherine Heigl, and thriller "Man on a Ledge," headlined by Sam Worthington. Both are expected to have soft openings of less than $10 million.

In an ironic twist, the latter two movies are being released by Lionsgate and its newly acquired subsidiary, Summit Entertainment, respectively. The films had scheduled release dates well before Lionsgate bought Summit two weeks ago, and they couldn't be moved, even though it means the independent studio is essentially competing against itself.

MOVIE REVIEW: "The Grey"
This weekend will also see several pictures that racked up multiple Oscar nominations expanding to more theaters in search of a box-office "bounce." They include "The Artist," "The Descendants," "Hugo," "The Iron Lady" and "Albert Nobbs."

Neeson has a history of strongly performing thrillers released in the winter, including last year's "Unknown," which debuted with $21.9 million, and 2009's "Taken," which opened to $24.7 million.
Despite largely positive reviews, "The Grey," about a group of oil drillers being hunted by wolves in Alaska, does not appear to be as enticing to audiences. However, distributor Open Road Films paid only about $5 million to acquire the picture last summer, meaning it could still be profitable if it opens in line with expectations.

"The Grey" is the second release by Open Road, a joint venture formed last year by theater chains AMC Entertainment and Regal Cinemas to take advantage of the fact that Hollywood studios are releasing fewer pictures. Their first picture was "Killer Elite," released last September.

Summit aggressively advertised "Man on a Ledge," about an escaped criminal trying to prove his innocence, but has had even less luck exciting audiences. The poorly reviewed picture, which cost about $42 million to make, is competing for the same adult crowd that will likely go to the other two pictures.

However, while the audience for "The Grey" is expected to be mostly male, those interested in "Man on a Ledge" are more evenly split between genders.

"One for the Money," meanwhile, is expected to draw a primarily female crowd familiar with the bestselling novel by Janet Evanovich on which it is based. Lionsgate is distributing it for Lakeshore Entertainment, which produced the picture.

In a bid to boost admissions, "Man on a Ledge" and "One for the Money" have run discount ticket promotions on the coupon websites Groupon and Living Social, respectively. Those marketing efforts could add a small amount to the films' box-office totals, but will only be worth it if they generate good word of mouth that brings in other moviegoers willing to pay full price.

Holdover films "Underworld: Awakening" and "Red Tails" could also compete for the top few spots at the box office after opening last weekend to $25.3 million and $18.8 million, respectively.

Among the Oscar-nominated pictures, "The Descendants," starring George Clooney. is making the biggest leap, going from 560 theaters last weekend to nearly 2,000. If audience interest is strong, it could end the weekend not far under $10 million, adding to its to-date total of $51.7 million.

"The Artist," "Hugo," "Albert Nobbs" and "The Iron Lady" will each be playing at fewer than 1,300 locations, meaning they're still only playing in a portion of the nation's markets.

From the LA Times Company Town Blog.

SKECHERS Superbowl 2012 Sneak Peek

2012-01-26T21:48:00.000-08:00

Alpha Dogs of Super Bowl ads

2012-01-26T21:45:00.000-08:00

From the LA Times Company Store Blog.

This Super Bowl might be remembered for the underdog.

Not the New England Patriots or the New York Giants, but a French bulldog in red sneakers.
Manhattan Beach-based Skechers USA has traded in Kim Kardashian -- who starred in the shoe company's steamy Super Bowl advertisement last year -- for a cuddly creature named Mr. Quiggly.
"Last year our advertisement got millions and millions of views online and it came out among the top of the consumer surveys of favorite ads," said Leonard Armato, president of the Skechers Fitness Group. "I thought, 'How am I going to top that?' "

The answer is on view in a 15-second teaser Skechers released to promote its upcoming advertisement in the Super Bowl. The ad marks the Southern California company's third outing in the Big Game.
Billionaire Mark Cuban also will be featured in the commercial. But Mr. Quiggly's other co-stars -- sleek greyhounds -- have drawn the attention of animal rights activists who have protested the dog-racing theme. Skechers said no animals were mistreated in the advertisement, which was shot at a Tucson, Ariz., dog track.

Instead, the advertisement promotes Skechers' new line of high-performance footwear, Skechers GOrun.

"This is a metaphor for the technology and the spirit of the brand," Armato said. "Animals work really well in Super Bowl ads."
Skechers won't be the only company placing a dog prominently in its spot. While the details are under wraps (or perhaps under the couch), Volkswagen also has a canine theme in its highly anticipated ad, created by ad agency Deutsch LA. Last week, VW released a minute-long teaser for its advertisement called the "Bark Side," which quickly went viral online and has been watched more than 9 million times.

"There is nothing like the power of the pooch," said Rob Siltanen, founder of Siltanen & Partners, the El Segundo-based firm that created the Skechers spot. "People absolutely love dogs."

Siltanen should know. His team created the Super Bowl spots for Orange County-based carmaker American Suzuki Motor Co. -- the ad will run in 21 markets (although not L.A.) -- and feature Siberian huskies. So far, animal rights activists have not expressed any concern about the treatment of these sled dogs.

From the LA Times Company Store Blog.

Golden Globes trial reveals art of negotiations

2012-01-26T21:40:00.000-08:00

From the LA Times Company Town.

When it comes to getting a television deal done, the rule is that there are no rules.

That was the takeaway from Day 3 of the legal battle over who controls the television rights to the Golden Globe Awards show. The Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. and Dick Clark Productions — partners on the Golden Globes for almost 30 years — are fighting in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles over a 2010 deal that Dick Clark Productions struck to keep the awards show on NBC through 2018. The HFPA sued Dick Clark Productions soon after it learned of the pact, charging that Dick Clark Productions didn't have the authority to renew with NBC because the association had not given it approval.

Throughout the trial, Dick Clark Productions — now owned by Red Zone Capital, a private equity firm headed by Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder — has emphasized its belief that a 1993 amendment to the agreement with the HFPA gave the production company the TV rights to the Golden Globes as long as the show is on NBC. On top of that, the HFPA's approval was not necessary for any renewal of NBC's deal for the show, per Dick Clark Productions' understanding of their partnership.

But if telling NBC that HFPA approval was necessary before any new deal could be sealed would help drive up the price, then Dick Clark Productions Chief Executive Mark Shapiro had no problems with that. Under questioning by HFPA counsel Linda Smith of O'Melveny & Myers, Shapiro acknowledged misleading NBC's then-head of business affairs, Marc Graboff, with regards to the role he believed HFPA could play on approving a deal.

"You repeatedly told them you needed HFPA approval," Smith asked Shapiro of his negotiations with NBC in the fall of 2010.

"That is correct," Shapiro replied, adding that he used the HFPA as a "higher authority" because he thought it would give him leverage with Graboff. Shapiro avoided using the word "lie" when testifying about his dealings with NBC and Graboff, preferring the phrase "negotiating strategy."

He also noted that in January 2010, HFPA member and former president Judy Solomon had told Shapiro that the organization wanted at least $20 million a year from NBC for the Globes and his deal with NBC resulted in an average annual rights fee of $21.5 million.

The idea that executives sometimes bluff or mislead the people they are negotiating with to get a better deal is hardly an earth-shattering revelation, but it is rare that such behavior is explained in a court of law.

As Shapiro was conducting his negotiations with NBC and keeping the HFPA out of the loop, the HFPA was doing the same to him with CBS, which apparently was interested in stealing the Globes away from NBC.

The topic of CBS wanting the Golden Globes surfaced several times during Thursday's testimony. Smith asked Shapiro if he had ever talked with CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves about acquiring the TV rights for the Globes. Shapiro said that in early 2010 he and Moonves had a very informal discussion about the status of the rights for the Globes. Asked in court if he was aware that CBS was willing to offer between $25 million and $30 million a year for the show, Shapiro said, "of course not" and also added that the agreement Dick Clark Productions had with the HFPA precluded negotiating with anyone except NBC.

Martin Katz (of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP), who is representing Dick Clark Productions in the case, asked Shapiro about a lunch that Philip Berk, who was president of the HFPA in 2010, had that summer with Moonves. The lunch, Katz seemed to suggest, was part of an HFPA plan to get the show away from NBC and Dick Clark Productions to CBS.

Asked by Katz if Berk and HFPA were within their legal rights to pitch the show to CBS, Shapiro said he doubted that was the case. Katz then read from the agreement between Dick Clark Productions and HFPA that confirmed that the association was not authorized to discuss a TV deal with a third party.
Much of Thursday's testimony focused on the state of relations between the HFPA and Dick Clark Productions in 2010. The two sides were unsuccessfully trying to renegotiate the terms of their partnership. The HFPA wanted to gut the amendment that Dick Clark Productions claims gives the company control of the TV rights in perpetuity as long as the show remains on NBC and to lower the 50-50 split.

Shapiro said Dick Clark Productions was willing to alter the split and give up the perpetuity amendment if it got at least a 20-year deal from the HFPA to continue to produce the show and a host of other rights to the Golden Globes. Early in 2010 Berk emailed Shapiro saying the producer was not to "seek or agree to any subsequent broadcast licensing agreement with NBC." Shapiro said he would "never make a move on a network renewal."

However, as the year dragged on and the two sides could not come to an agreement on changes to the partnership, Dick Clark Productions started negotiating a renewal with NBC. It did so primarily because if NBC's window to renew the Globes lapsed — which would have happened shortly after the 2011 awards show — Dick Clark Productions' deal to produce the show would be gone too.
Shapiro said in court that his response to Berk was not "meant to represent any legal obligations" that he thought Dick Clark Productions had to the HFPA with regards to keeping it up to speed on any new deal with NBC.

In an email to William Morris Endeavor partner Ari Emanuel, whose agency works with Dick Clark Productions on the Golden Globes, Shapiro expressed frustration with the HFPA in relation to his efforts to renew a deal with NBC.

"Jeff knows these people are crazy," Shapiro wrote to Emanuel, referring to then-NBCUniversal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker.

The case resumes Friday with more questioning for Shapiro, who is a member of the Times' parent company Tribune Co.'s board of directors. Graboff is also expected to appear Friday, and next week CBS' Moonves could take the stand.

From the LA Times Company Town.

Latest Leaks: Handel on Joining the New Union, Variety on New Union Elections

2012-01-26T16:59:00.000-08:00

SAGWATCH.net under Merger/New Union, SAG Politics, SAG-AFTRA, Union Politics.

As we noted earlier, Jonathan Handel in the Hollywood Reporter says the new union will have a $3000.00 initiation fee, which is less than the cost of joining SAG and AFTRA separately, and (this is new) he says the new union will end AFTRA’s open union policy.
Variety has a short post saying that the new union’s elections will be every other year.

From SAGWATCH.net.

Netflix stock surges 22% after strong earnings

2012-01-26T14:50:00.000-08:00

Shareholders rushed to buy Netflix stock Thursday while there was mixed reaction among media analysts about future prospects for the Los Gatos, Calif., video subscription company.
One day after reporting financial results and subscriber growth during the fourth quarter of 2011 that were stronger than many analysts and investors had expected, shares in the subscription video company surged 22% on Thursday, closing at $116.01.
That's the highest the stock has been since October, when Netflix shares plummeted following disappointing results for the third quarter, during which it lost 800,000 subscribers after a controversial price hike and aborted attempt to separate its DVD shipping business into a new brand called Qwikster.
The rush to buy Netflix stock came despite cautious responses from many analysts. Arvind Bhatia of Stern Agee said he was "incrementally bullish" but remained concerned about results in 2013 and maintained a "neutral" rating.
Janney analyst Tony Wible kept his "sell" rating and said he believes "it will be difficult to scale the low-margin streaming business that is now cannibalizing the high-margin DVD business."
John Blackledge of Credit Suisse was more bullish, calling Netflix's results "much better than expected" and said that while the company "remains in a transition period given a continued, albeit easing backlash from the pricing changes and international losses, we do not believe the opportunity has changed."
Thursday's increase accelerated a more than 65% jump in Netflix's share price since the beginning of the year. However, it's still far below a July high of just under $300.

Michael Caine - Acting in Film Workshop (Part 2)

2012-01-26T08:56:00.000-08:00

Michael Caine - Acting in Film Workshop

2012-01-26T07:58:00.000-08:00

Camera Techique for Actors Tonight in LA

2012-01-26T06:31:00.000-08:00

Screen Actors Guild

SAG Foundation LifeRaft Tonight in Los Angeles: Camera Techniques 101 with Jamison Haase

Event Details | SAG Foundation

www.sagfoundation.orgLifeRaft Event for Hollywood Members: Camera Techniques 101 with Jamison Haase; Learn to be captivating on camera. Thursday, January 26, 2012, 7-9pm (Check-in 6:00-6:45pm) at the SAG Foundation Actors Center.

THR's awards analyst Scott Feinberg analyzes SAG's five film categories.

2012-01-25T18:35:00.000-08:00

FEINBERG FORECAST: Expect a Big Night for 'The Help' and George Clooney at SAG Awards

"The Help"

From the Hollywood Reporter. Click here for entertainment news.

The 18th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will take place on Sunday evening. I've already shared my picks and rationale for the eight TV categories; now it's time to tackle the five film categories!

SAG Awards Nominations: The Complete List

FEINBERG FORECAST: 'Boardwalk Empire,' 'Modern Family' to Repeat at SAG Awards

SAG Awards: 'Suits' Star Patrick Adams Reacts to Shocking Nomination, Talks 'Friday Night Lights' Experience

SAG Awards: Jon Cryer on His First Nomination: 'I Had No Reason Whatsoever to Expect I Would Be Included'

Why the SAG Awards Need to Get Serious (Analysis)

SAG Awards TV: 'Modern Family' Leads Nominations, 'Homeland' Snubbed

SAG Awards Nominations: Key Stats, Inclusions and Snubs (Analysis)

FILM
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Nominees: The Artist (The Weinstein Company), Bridesmaids (Universal), The Descendants (Fox Searchlight), The Help (DreamWorks), Midnight in Paris (Sony Pictures Classics)
Some in SAG see this category as a best picture surrogate and vote accordingly, but most take it literally and simply vote for the best good movie with a big ensemble cast, which may explain why only 50% of its past winners (8 of 16 -- the category was only created for the 2nd SAG Awards) have gone on to win the top Oscar. SAG tends to celebrate casts that are diverse in terms of age, race, and/or nationality, just like the membership of SAG itself -- i.e. Traffic (2000), Gosford Park (2001), Crash (2005), Inglourious Basterds (2009) -- which leads me to believe that The Help will edge out The Artist here, if not at the Oscars… that is, unless voters really want to make a statement and go with Bridesmaids, which is not entirely out of the question.

PHOTOS: 2012 SAG Awards Nominees
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Nominees: Demian Bichir (A Better Life), George Clooney (The Descendants), Leonardo DiCaprio (J. Edgar), Jean Dujardin (The Artist), Brad Pitt (Moneyball)
One thing is for sure: one of this category’s five nominees will pick up his first individual SAG Award. For Bichir, this nom (his first) is the win; DiCaprio (lost prior three) and Pitt (lost prior one) are probably out because their films weren’t seen or liked enough to score ensemble nods, for which they were certainly contenders; all of which leaves us with Dujardin and Clooney, the two best actor winners at the Golden Globe. Give the edge to Clooney, who was nom’d five times prior to this one and has been on a roll lately, but keep in mind that whoever wins is likely to repeat at the Oscars, just like the last seven SAG best actor winners.

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Nominees: Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs), Viola Davis (The Help), Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady), Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin), Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn)
Close has eight SAG noms under her belt (all for TV work except this one), so they obviously like her. But I think this is probably going to come down to Golden Globe winner Streep (who has received nine SAG noms and won twice) and Critics’ Choice winner Davis (who lost her one prior SAG nom three years ago), with an outside possibility that Golden Globe winner Williams could upset. Primarily because Davis’ film was seen and liked by the most voters, I pick her, and, considering that seven of the last 10 SAG best actress winners repeated at the Oscars, that would be an important send-off.

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Nominees: Kenneth Branagh (My Week with Marilyn), Armie Hammer (J. Edgar), Jonah Hill (Moneyball), Nick Nolte (Warrior), Christopher Plummer (Beginners)
Hammer and Hill are young first-time nominees who won’t pose much of a threat. Nolte has put together a nice comeback, but he’s still a divisive figure and its hard to envision him at the podium, as well. Branagh is the sort of revered actors’ actor who might have won in any other year. But, this year, I would be shocked if 82-year-old veteran Plummer doesn’t add his first SAG Award (he’s been nom’d twice before) to his rapidly growing collection of statuettes and, like the last four SAG winners of this category, win again at the Oscars.

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Nominees: Berenice Bejo (The Artist), Jessica Chastain (The Help), Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids), Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs), Octavia Spencer (The Help)
Prior to this year, most voters hadn’t even heard of any of these nominees except McTeer, a best actress SAG nominee 12 years ago. Chastain had a great year but isn’t even the best supporting actress in the film for which she’s nom’d. Bejo is charming and could ride her film’s coattails to a win. But I suspect that this will come down to two women who starred in movies that everyone saw and were responsible for most of their laughs: raunchy McCarthy and cheeky Spencer. Either would be a feel-good choice, but Spencer would be seen as more respectable, and could follow in the footsteps of eight of the last 10 winners of this category and repeat at the Oscars.

From the Hollywood Reporter. Click here for entertainment news.

Movie Ranches stand in for Afghanistan to the Old West, Spain to woodlands in the northeast and northwestern US.

2012-01-25T13:58:00.000-08:00

From the LA Times Company Town. Click here.

On a cold, wet afternoon two cowboys trudge across a muddy street in a western town carrying saddles on their backs as a loud speaker blasts Jim Croce’s hit song "I got a Name." The scene was being played out at the historic Melody Ranch in Santa Clarita , where director Quentin Tarantino was filming his upcoming western "Django Unchained," starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jamie Foxx.
"It's a blast shooting here," Tarantino said in a break from shooting. "Most other western towns look like dollhouses. This has the complete look. It’s fantastic."

There are about 10 movie ranches in the Santa Clarita area that have become increasingly busy with production, providing a big boost to the local economy. The mostly privately-owned ranches are hosting a wide range of productions, from westerns like "Django" to beer and truck ads for the upcoming Super Bowl and a soon-to-shoot scene set in Afghanistan for the HBO series "True Blood."

PHOTOS: Santa Clarita movie ranches

The Santa Clarita Valley, which dubs itself Hollywood North, had a record year for film production last year with a 15% increase in shooting production days.

Some of the ranches are expanding. Walt Disney Co. is preparing to build a dozen soundstages on the Golden Oak Ranch, a prime location for such classics as "Old Yeller," "The Apple Dumpling Gang" and more recent releases such as "The Muppets" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End."
Tarantino's "Django," a story about a slave turned bounty hunter, is among many productions -- including TV shows such as FX's "Justified," and ABC's game show "Wipeout" -- that regularly shoot on ranches in the Santa Clarita area in northern Los Angeles County.

Although most of the ranches are in the county and outside the city limits, they have become vital contributors to Santa Clarita’s growing film industry, which already is home to several soundstages and TV shows, such as the CBS series "NCIS," the TBS comedy "Franklin & Bash," and two ABC family shows, "Jane by Design" and "Make It or Break It."

The city views the ranches as key to the long-term growth of the industry and recently approved a new zoning designation that makes it easier for owners of ranches in the city limits to host filming and to build soundstages and other production-related facilities on their property.

"The movie ranches are very film-friendly and they help keep Santa Clarita top of mind for location managers who are considering a place to film," said Russell Sypowicz, film office administrator for Santa Clarita.

The ranches are popular among filmmakers for several reasons. They offer wide open spaces -- one boasts more than 800 acres -- that can accommodate large crews and enable filmmakers to shoot in one location without the cost and hassle of filming in residential neighborhoods. They also have diverse terrains, from mountains to oak groves and lakes to desert landscape, enabling them to double for locations as diverse as Afghanistan and Virginia.

The ranches are located within the so-called 30-mile studio zone from West Hollywood, which determines the rates and work rules for union workers. Filmmakers like to stay within the zone because shooting outside the radius is more expensive.

In addition, each of the ranches offers something different and many have ready-made sets catering to certain types of movies or scenes.

Melody Ranch, which opened as Monogram Studios in 1915, has long been famous for its western sets and hosts an annual Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival. The original western town was burned down in a fire in 1962. The Veluzat family bought the property from Gene Autry two decades ago and restored the ranch, which now has 74 buildings and two sound stages.

The western town is popular for movies, especially westerns, but also commercials, including Super bowl commercials recently shot by Budweiser and Dodge. "The town has been pretty busy," Renaud Veluzat said.

He and his brother Andre also own another ranch in Santa Clarita that is known for its Spanish town.
A third Veluzat brother, Rene, owns the 100-acre Blue Cloud Movie Ranch in Saugus that specializes in military settings, with an Afghanistan-town set that is so real the U.S. military uses it for training purposes. The ranch also has a full-scale army camp and 50 military vehicles, including tanks, Humvees and helicopters.

A former stuntman and actor, Rene Veluzat bought the ranch in 2000. He says he booked 70 shows and nearly $1 million in revenue last year, renting his property to crews for such TV shows as "Touched" and "Chuck" and the low-budget war movie "Battle Force."

"I get 50 phone calls a day," Veluzat said." I’m booked up into March."

The sprawling Golden Oak Ranch, which spans more than 800 acres, recently built a business district set with 42 stores and a residential street with 13 houses, each with a different architectural style, according to its website.

A few miles east off Placerita Canyon Road is the much smaller A Rancho Deluxe, a 200-acre movie ranch started by Steve Arklin, who sold his trash disposal business and used the proceeds to buy the ranch in the mid-1980s. Initially, his goal was to earn enough money to pay taxes on the property.
His Sand Canyon ranch, which includes an artificial lake, Mediterranean villa, cabins and a western town surrounded by mountains has attracted 10 productions in the last two months alone, among them a salsa commercial, the TV show "Bones" and an upcoming Rob Zombie movie called "Lords of Salem."

"If I can pay my taxes and my kids earn a living out of it -- that’s a good thing," said Arklin, who runs the business with his two sons.

http://www.latimes.com/videogallery/67606108/Business/Envelope-On-Location-with-Richard-Verrier

Rise of Spanish Language Programming in English. Motion Picture Home to Remain Open. Battle over the Globes.

2012-01-25T13:15:00.000-08:00

Protesters in 2009 rally against the planned closure of the Woodland Hills nursing home and hospital operated by the Motion Picture & Television Fund. Quinten Smoller, 5, center, and his family showed up to support his grandmother Ava Bliss, 85, an actress, rear center in wheelchair. Credit: Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times

From the LA Times Company Town Blog...click here for the latest industry news.

The Motion Picture Home is Open for Business and will admit new residents.
Three years after a controversial decision to close Hollywood's best known nursing home, the Motion Picture & Television Fund has reversed course and said it would immediately begin admitting new residents to the Woodland Hills facility.

The decision marks a victory for residents and their families who waged a highly public campaign to fight the fund's decision in January 2009. Many residents accused the charity of losing sight of its mission to take care of entertainment industry workers and refused to leave, hiring an attorney to block evictions.

At the time, the fund's board members said they had no choice because its facilities were losing millions of dollars and threatening the charity with bankruptcy. On Wednesday, however, MPTF officials said the nursing home's finances had improved under new management, enough at least to justify admitting residents.

The board tapped former Panavision Chief Executive Bob Beitcher this summer to replace David Tillman, who resigned as head of the fund in February 2010 after bitter clashes with residents over his handling of the planned closure.

"I would give Bob Beitcher and his management team really a lot of credit for coming in and getting our house back in order, which it needed,'' said Jeffrey Katzenberg, chief executive of DreamWorks Animation and MPTF Chairman. "The results of it are that we can very comfortably expand our capacity."

The nursing home has only 29 of the more than 130 residents who lived there in January 2009. The fund will expand to at least 40 beds for now, with priority given to former residents who moved to other facilities. The nursing home is part of a larger retirement community in Woodland Hills operated by the fund.

"This will be a pivotal moment for current long-term care residents and their families, other campus residents and staff,'' Beitcher said. "It will restore the continuum of care on campus everyone has been hoping for."

Nancy Biederman, founder of the Saving the Lives of Our Own group, which fought the nursing home closure, said: "We applaud the MPTF on its stewardship and vision, and thank all who worked together to uphold the Fund's historic mission and move it forward.... That the MPTF has strengthened its commitment by embracing Long Term Care on campus is a victory for everyone."

The fund has been cutting costs by streamlining operations. The nursing home will operate on one floor instead of two, and last week the fund laid off 18 workers.

Fund officials also have spent months negotiating a deal with Kindred Healthcare Inc. of Louisville, Ky. Under a proposed deal, Kindred would invest $10 million to remodel an existing hospital building and would lease hospital and rehabilitation beds from the fund. That would give much-needed revenue to the charity, which provides various social and healthcare services to entertainment industry workers.
The signing of the deal, originally expected to be completed by the end of last year, however, has been delayed by uncertainty over whether Congress will extend a moratorium on the building of long-term acute-care facilities.

In the meantime, Wednesday's announcement should help backers such as Katzenberg raise charitable contributions at an annual fundraising event held the night before the Academy Awards ceremony Feb. 26.

"It's been long and it's been hard and very difficult at times, but the good news is that the bad news is behind us,'' said Katzenberg, who had previously supported the decision to shutter the nursing home. "Now I feel like this is really a new day."

Ricky Gervais hosting the Golden Globes.

Foreign Press vs. All American Dick Clark Productions (Clark is no longer a part of the company). The strategy of the Golden Globes owner, the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn., in its legal fight with Dick Clark Productions over who controls the television rights for the awards show became clear during the first day of the trial at U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

The battle grew out of a 2010 deal that Dick Clark Productions, which has produced the show for HFPA for almost 30 years, made with NBC to keep the Golden Globes on the network through 2018. That deal, worth about $150 million, was to go into effect starting with this year's show. Soon after Dick Clark Productions and NBC signed the contract, the HFPA filed a lawsuit charging that Dick Clark Productions violated the partnership because it did not have the organization's approval to renew the deal with NBC.

Dick Clark Productions has countered that a 1993 amendment to its partnership with the HFPA gave it the rights to to negotiate with NBC in perpetuity without the HFPA's consent, which would allow it to continue to be a 50-50 partner with the HFPA on the show. The HFPA disagrees.

"The contract says no such thing," said Daniel Petrocelli, the O'Melveny & Myers lawyer who is representing the HFPA, in his opening remarks. He added that the actions of Dick Clark Productions prevented "the rights from being sold to the highest bidder." The suggestion that HFPA would have signed an agreement that would allow that, he said, "defies common sense."

Petrocelli spent the first day of the trial grilling Fran LaMaina, the retired president of Dick Clark Productions who oversaw the company and its deal-making with the HFPA in 1993. Petrocelli kept asking LaMaina if the executive had made to clear to HFPA in 1993 how significant that amendment was to Dick Clark Productions.

"It was not my responsibility," LaMaina said in response, adding that he didn't think he "misled the Hollywood Foreign Press."

What Petrocelli appears to be trying to establish, however, is not that LaMaina should have told HFPA what Dick Clark Productions thought the amendment meant. Rather he is attempting to show that LaMaina and DCP did not have that interpretation of the amendment at the time. Getting LaMaina to acknowledge that he never discussed the idea that Dick Clark Productions would have the rights to co-produce the show in perpetuity as long as NBC held the rights seems aimed at proving that Dick Clark Productions is engaged in revisionist history and only recently decided that this amendment gave them the rights to renegotiate with NBC without HFPA approval.

LaMaina is expected to testify for much of Wednesday as well. Later in the week, current Dick Clark Productions President Mark Shapiro is expected to take the stand, as is former NBC business affairs head Marc Graboff, who was involved in negotiating the deal.

Hot market. Just days after News Corp.'s Fox announced it was launching a Spanish-language broadcast network in the United States, Mexican programming giant Televisa said it has struck a deal with production company Lions Gate to produce programming to sell in the U.S. Details from the Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times.

Actors Fernando Colunga and Lucero in Televisa's telenovela "Soy Tu Duena," which produced huge ratings in the U.S. for the Univision network. Credit: Antonio Uribe / Univision

Spanish production gears to English Speaking Audiences. Santa Monica-based independent studio Lionsgate and Mexico's programming powerhouse Grupo Televisa are expanding their budding partnership with a new venture that aims to create television shows for English-language audiences.

The move continues a trend of major media companies in the U.S. looking south to Latin America for programming concepts and business partners. Earlier this week, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. said it planned to launch a new broadcast network this fall in collaboration with Colombian broadcaster RCN.

Companies -- and advertisers -- are becoming increasingly interested in capitalizing on the growing clout of Latino consumers. They make up the fastest growing demographic group in the U.S.
Lionsgate and Televisa -- Mexico's largest media company -- said Tuesday that their new unit would tackle six to eight TV projects a year. The plan is to mine story lines from Televisa's vast vault of wildly popular telenovelas and adapt them into English-language comedies and dramas for U.S. broadcast networks and cable channels. Executives also intend to develop original concepts for scripted and unscripted shows.

The two companies first went into business in 2010 with a joint venture called Pantelion Films. Its purpose is to acquire and distribute feature films that appeal to Latinos in the U.S.

The parties declined to disclose financial terms of their new TV arrangement. The soon-to-be-named venture will be managed by Paul Presburger, chief executive of Pantelion Films. Presburger helped put the TV entity together with Lionsgate on behalf of Televisa.

Televisa separately has an equity stake in Univision Communications, the largest Spanish-language media company in the U.S. Televisa's programming fuels the prime-time ratings on the flagship Univision network, helping to build it into the nation's fifth most popular network.

A handful of projects already are in development for English-language programmers, including a comedic adaptation of Pantelion's first film, "From Prada to Nada." The firm is working on a scripted drama for ABC based on Televisa's smash hit "Soy Tu Duena." The new show will be called "Badlands." Walt Disney Co.-owned ABC Studios is collaborating on the series.

Until now, little of Televisa's programming was accessible to mainstream audiences. The new development, unveiled at the National Assn. of Television Program Executives convention in Miami, followed Univision's announcement that it would begin adding English-language subtitles through closed caption to its prime-time telenovelas.

Rob Lowe and Kaley Cuoco in Lifetime's "Drew Peterson: Untouchable." Credit: Lifetime.

The Daily Dose: Lifetime's movie "Drew Peterson: Untouchable," starring a heavily made-up Rob Lowe as the suspected wife killer, drew almost 6 million viewers Sunday. Lifetime brass was quick to grab glory for the performance. "This is an amazing way to start the year and is a direct result of our aggressive strategy to green-light quality programming," said Lifetime President Nancy Dubuc. While she did green-light it, the movie was put into development by her predecessors at the channel. What will be interesting to see is whether its success will lead Lifetime, which has struggled to create new shows in the last few years, to return to its women-in-jeopardy roots and move away from trying so many reality programs.

We're watching. This is a little out of our entertainment wheelhouse, but given its aspirations in media it is worth noting Google's latest moves in tracking consumer habits, which could raise privacy issues. Google, of course, not only is the largest search engine, it also owns YouTube, has its own email platform and a TV application. More on what the "don't be evil" folks are planning from the Los Angeles Times and Wired.

I could have rented them my place for less money. Time Warner has created a lab in its corporate headquarters to observe how people consume media. The media giant will see how people interact with television, magazines and video games, and react to advertising. Sounds like one of these deals where a company spends tons of money to learn the obvious. On the other hand, next time I'm in New York and need to get out of the rain and use a bathroom, I'll know where to go. More from the New York Times.

Boys' club. The British government is probing the lack of women both on and off the air at the BBC. "It is an issue that we must keep pressing at," Broadcasting Minister Ed Vaizey was quoted saying in the Guardian. "Some people might regard it as frivolous or something that makes good copy for a parliamentary sketch, but … we want to hear a balance of voices on the radio and to see a balance of presenters on the television."

Taking on Netflix? Amazon is considering offering its own standalone streaming service that would compete against Netflix, says the New York Post.

Inside the Los Angeles Times: Still debating the Oscar nominations? So are we. Here's a story about how comedy fared and one about whether "The Artist" will get a box office boost from all its nominations.

-- Joe Flint

Follow me on Twitter. It's like sitting in the peanut gallery all day. Twitter.com/JBFlint

Twitter: @latcompanytown

Facebook: L.A. Times Entertainment

"Gifted" Audition for SAG film

2012-01-25T12:47:00.000-08:00

info3@redagencylv.com

Please read the role and respond by submitting to info3@redagencylv.com:

-1 headshot, 1 resume & the role you can play and if you are union or non union talent and then the details regarding the audition will follow.

Breakdowns for Gifted:

Tara (approximate age 24) Female- Caucasian, Hispanic, Lead: Tara is Jordan's roommate and best friend. She is the comic relief of the film.
Always drinking and out to have a good time. She is fit and only eats salad and rice cakes.
(actor must be able to sing and dance)

Michelle (approximate age 20's) female, Any ethnicity,
Lead: Michelle is in the show with Jordan and Tara. She is a total bitch to Jordan. Recurring thru the film.
(must be able to sing and dance)

Stage manager (approximate age 40's) female any ethnicity, Supporting: She is the stage manager at Jordan and Tara's Las Vegas showroom.

Box office attendant (approximate age 20's) female any ethnicity,
Supporting: She is young and hip. She works at the box office inside the Plams. She thinks she recognizes Cole.

Timmothy (approximate age 20's) male any ethnicity,
Supporting: He is the photographer for Jordan's album cover. He works with A-Lost clients all the time and is happy to be working with Jordan (photography experience a plus)

Shop attendant (approximate age 20's) Female any ethnicity, Supporting: She works at a clothing store where Cole and Jordan go to buy some clothes.
Jordan is very high at this point.

Jessica (approximate age 8) female. Any ethnicicty, Supporting: She is a fan of Jordan and sees her on the street. Jordan is high as a kite. Jessica runs up and asks for an autograph.

Street musician (approximate age 20's) male any ethnicity, Supporting: He is playing one of Coles songs making no money. Jordan and cole walk past him on the street. Cole walks up and asks him to start again and plays with him. He makes tons of money.
(must be able to sing and play guitar)

Drummer, keyboard player, bass player, guitar player (approximate age 20's) males any ethnicity, Strong supporting: They are cole and then Jordan's band thru the film. Must be able to play the instruments submitted for.

Coles mom (approximate age 50's) female Caucasian, Supporting: She misses her son and is glad that he is cleaning up his life and has found a good woman.

Coles dad (approximate age 50's) Caucasian, Supporting: He is a preacher. He always tried to support his son and prayed everyday that he would clean up his life.

Coles sister (approximate age 30's) Caucasian, Supporting: She loves her brother but is a little weary that he has truly changed.

Coles brother (approximate age 30's) Caucasian, Supporting: He is very protective of the rest of his family and will not let cole hurt them anymore than he already has.

Mediator (approximate age 50's), Supporting: They run the rehab that Cole goes to clean up in.

This project will be SAG so all non union talent who are hired will be taft hartly.

This project will be filmed in Vegas

Rates are as per SAG:
Day players $504/8
Weekly $1752/40
note: with such a short shooting schedual there will be overtime added to these rates.

Note: this is from Craigslist, so use appropriate precautions. This is a SAG project, however be sure to have a contract in hand prior to starting work. Contact the Nevada SAG office for details.

MEMBER INFORMATION FOR THE 18TH ANNUAL SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS®

2012-01-24T16:51:00.001-08:00

Please read carefully. This email contains important information about the following:

·         SAG Awards Voting
·         DVDs being mailed to eligible SAG members
·         Digital film downloads via iTunes and other studio hosted sites
·         Movie Cash online coupons

VOTING 
Final SAG Awards ballot information postcards were mailed to eligible members on December 30. To be eligible to receive a ballot, your Nov. 2011 dues (and any address changes) must have been made by December 16. In continuing our green initiative, we are encouraging members to vote online. Your voting information postcard includes a link to vote online along with details on how to retrieve your PIN, which you will need - in conjunction with your SAG ID number – to log in to vote online. This PIN will also allow you access free digital film downloads and Movie Cash coupons online.

Members who would like to request a paper ballot in lieu of voting online may call our elections firm, Integrity Voting Systems, at (877) 610–8637 before 5 p.m. PT on Jan. 16 and a printed ballot will be mailed to you. If you return your ballot via U.S. post, you may not vote online. All ballots, whether submitted online or by mail, must be received by Integrity Voting Systems by noon PT, on January 27.    

Click here for a full list of this year’s SAG Award nominees.

For more information on voting, retrieving your Awards PIN, and any ‘for your consideration’ offers, please visit http://www.sagawards.org/voting.

SEEING SAG AWARD NOMINATED FILMS 
Every year we work with the studios to provide you with opportunities to view nominated films. The options for each film are reviewed by the studios, who ultimately make the decision as to how or if they make their titles available to members. We have received questions from members as to why you can't just bring your SAG card to a local movie theater. The answer is that the SAG membership is much larger than any of the other groups. Because of that, special arrangements must be made to accommodate the size of our national membership. As a result, some studios may elect to send out DVDs, make Movie Cash coupons available, or provide free film downloads of their films online via iTunes or studio hosted websites (details below).

DVDS
We have confirmed the following DVD screeners are being mailed to members this year (please note only those members eligible to vote will receive DVDs):

The Artist
Bridesmaids
The Descendants
The Help
Moneyball

DVDs are being mailed to you from our Guild mailing house as quickly as possible. Please be patient. They should reach your mailbox this week or next. Please protect the DVDs sent to you as content theft is a serious issue. More details at www.sagawards.org/DVDs.

DIGITAL FILM DOWNLOADS 
Once again, eligible SAG members can screen SAG Award nominated films as free iTunes movie rental downloads. iTunes movie downloads are available on special studio-hosted websites, which can be accessed at www.sagawards.org/filmdownloads. You will need your Awards PIN to access these sites.

A Better Life
The Artist
Beginners
Bridesmaids
The Descendants
The Iron Lady
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
My Week With Marilyn
Warrior

Additionally, the following two films are offered via studio-hosted websites, which will also require your Awards PIN to access.

Albert Nobbs
J. Edgar

Full details on all digital film downloads offered to SAG members can be found by visiting www.sagawards.org/filmdownloads.

MOVIE CASH 
The following films are being offered to you through downloadable Movie Cash coupons, which can be redeemed at your local theater: THE ARTIST, THE IRON LADY and MY WEEK WITH MARILYN. Only members eligible to vote will be able to download coupons. Your Awards PIN will allow you access to a special Movie Cash web page that has been set up for eligible SAG members to download coupons for selected films offered by the studios.

Please note: Your Awards PIN is valid for one time use only on the Movie Cash site. When you visit the site you will need to make all of your title selections and be prepared to print out all of your coupons at one time. Your code will not work a second time.

The coupons are valid at participating theaters only. You can find a listing of participating theaters on the Movie Cash website. Movie Cash details can be found at www.sagawards.org/moviecash.

ALL DETAILS on retrieving your Awards PIN, voting, iTunes, Movie Cash, and DVDs can be found on our website at www.sagawards.org/voting. If after visiting the site you still have questions, please email us at awardsinfo@sagawards.org.

The SAG Awards will be simulcast live coast to-coast on TNT and TBS on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT. An encore presentation will air on TNT at 10 pm ET/7pm PT. The stunt honors will be announced live from the red carpet on TNT.tv and TBS.com at 6:15 pm ET/3:15 pm PT. Please watch!

There will be a viewing party in Las Vegas. Special thanks to the committee putting it together. The event is open only to SAG members and one guest each. To RSVP and for further information contact SAG executive Steven. Clinton. Steven.Clinton@sag.org

Theater News and Links Sought by SAG ACTOR Online.com

2012-01-24T15:20:00.000-08:00

Please provide theater news and commentary, as with merger looming, SAG has dominated this blog more than intended.

That said one of the key items in the mission statement is the promotion of unionism, the Screen Actors Guild and AFTRA.

Art Lynch
sagnevada@me.com
createcom@mac.com

Click "read more" at end of story... and "Older Posts" for a wide variety of posts.

2012-01-24T14:42:00.001-08:00

Also, see right hand column topics, listing and achieve.

2012 Oscar Nominations Announced

2012-01-24T14:08:00.000-08:00

Best Picture
- The Artist Thomas Langmann, Producer
- The Descendants Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers
- Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close Scott Rudin, Producer
- The Help Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers
- Hugo Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers
- Midnight in Paris Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
- Moneyball
  Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers
- The Tree of Life Nominees to be determined
- War Horse Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers
  
  Oscar Nominations 2012: Academy Award Nominees List
  
  From the Huffington Post, click here for entertainment news from the HP.
  
  The nominees for the 2012 Academy Awards were announced on Tuesday morning, and as expected, films about films led the way.
  
  "The Artist," the silent, black and white tribute to old Hollywood, earned a nod for Best Picture, and, after a series of recent critics and guild award wins, is considered the favorite. Writer/director Michel Hazanavicius received nominations for both Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.
  
  Jean Dujardin was handed a bid for Best Actor for his turn as George Valentin, a silent film star who refuses to move into the era of the talkies; he earned the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy earlier this month. Bérénice Bejo, for her role as starlet Peppy Miller, earned a nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
  
  "Hugo," Martin Scorsese's 3D family homage to film preservation, earned 11 nominations.
  
  "The Descendants," the Alexander Payne-directed dramedy considered the other top awards contender, was also nominated for Best Picture; Payne earned a nod for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, the latter of which he shares with writers Nat Faxon and Jim Rash. George Clooney, who stars as a beleaguered father, soon-to-be-widower and trustee of sacred family land in Hawaii, earned a nomination for Best Actor; he was awarded the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama earlier in January.
  
  "The Help," the tale of domestic workers in segregated Mississippi at the beginning of the Civil Rights era, also earned a Best Picture nod, as well as a nomination for Viola Davis for Best Actress and nods for Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer for Best Supporting Actress.
  
  "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," the polarizing film about a boy in search of a secret from the father he lost on 9/11, earned a surprise nod for Best Picture, while Steven Spielberg's "War Horse" also slipped in. "Bridesmaids" earned a nomination for Best Original Screenplay for Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, while Melissa McCarthy got a nod for Best Supporting Actress.
  
  Relative newcomer Rooney Mara got a nomination for Best Actress for her chilling turn in "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo," though director David Fincher was left out.
  Terrence Malick's artistic and polarizing "The Tree of Life," which starred Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain -- who earned nominations for other films -- got a nomination for Best Picture; Malick earned a nod for Best Director.
  
  Here's the entire list of nominees; check out snubs and surprises analysis by clicking here.
  
  Best Picture
  "The Artist"
  "The Descendants"
  "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"
  "Hugo"
  "Midnight in Paris"
  "The Help"
  "Moneyball"
  "War Horse"
  "The Tree of Life"
  
  Best Actor
  Demian Bichir, "A Better Life"
  George Clooney, "The Descendants"
  Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"
  Gary Oldman, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
  Brad Pitt, "Moneyball"
  
  Best Actress
  Glenn Close, "Albert Nobbs"
  Viola Davis, "The Help"
  Rooney Mara, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
  Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady"
  Michelle Williams, "My Week With Marilyn"
  
  Best Supporting Actor
  Kenneth Branagh, "My Week With Marilyn"
  Jonah Hill, "Moneyball"
  Nick Nolte, "Warrior"
  Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"
  Max Von Sydow, "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"
  
  Best Supporting Actress
  Berenice Bejo, "The Artist"
  Jessica Chastain, "The Help"
  Melissa McCarthy, "Bridesmaids"
  Janet McTeer, "Albert Nobbs"
  Octavia Spencer, "The Help"
  
  Best Director
  Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"
  Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"
  Terrence Malick, "The Tree of Life"
  Alexander Payne, "The Descendants"
  Martin Scorsese, "Hugo"
  
  Best Original Screenplay
  Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"
  JC Chandor, "Margin Call"
  Asghar Farhadi, "A Separation"
  Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"
  Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, "Bridesmaids"
  
  Best Adapted Screenplay
  Alexander Payne, Nat Faxton, Jim Rash, "The Descendants"
  John Logan, "Hugo"
  George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon, "The Ides of March"
  Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian, "Moneyball"
  Bridget O'Connor, Peter Straughn, "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"
  
  Best Animated Feature
  "A Cat In Paris"
  "Chico & Rita"
  "Kung Fu Panda 2"
  "Puss in Boots"
  "Rango"
  
  Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
  Bullhead (Belgium)
  Footnote (Israel)
  In Darkness (Poland)
  Monsieur Lazhar (Canada)
  A Separation (Iran)
  
  Original Score
  "The Adventures of Tintin," John Williams
  "The Artist," Ludovic Bource
  "Hugo," Howard Shore
  "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," Alberto Iglesias
  "War Horse," John Williams
  
  Best Original Song
  "Man or Muppet," The Muppets; Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
  "Real in Rio," Rio; Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown, Lyric by Siedah Garrett
  
  Best Achievement in Art Direction
  "The Artist"
  "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
  "Hugo"
  "Midnight in Paris"
  "War Horse"
  
  Best Achievement in Cinematography
  "The Artist"
  "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
  "Hugo"
  "The Tree of Life"
  "War Horse"
  
  Best Achievement in Costume Design
  "Anonymous"
  "The Artist"
  "Hugo"
  "Jane Eyre"
  "W.E."
  
  Best Documentary Feature
  "Hell and Back Again"
  "If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front"
  "Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory"
  "Pina"
  "Undefeated"
  
  Best Documentary Short Subject
  "The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement?"
  "God Is the Bigger Elvis"
  "Incident in New Baghdad"
  "Saving Face"
  "The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom"
  
  Best Achievement in Film Editing
  "The Artist"
  "The Descendants"
  "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
  "Hugo"
  "Moneyball"
  
  Best Achievement in Makeup
  "Albert Nobbs"
  "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
  "The Iron Lady"
  
  Best Animated Short Film
  Dimanche/Sunday
  The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
  La Luna
  A Morning Stroll
  Wild Life
  
  Best Live Action Short Film
  "Pentecost"
  "Raju"
  "The Shore"
  "Time Freak"
  "Tuba Atlantic"
  
  Best Achievement in Sound Editing
  "Drive"
  "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
  "Hugo"
  "Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
  "War Horse"
  
  Best Achievement in Sound Mixing
  "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
  "Hugo"
  "Moneyball"
  "Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
  "War Horse"
  
  Best Achievement in Visual Effects
  "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
  "Hugo"
  "Real Steel"
  "Rise of the Planet of the Apes"
  "Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
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For the full list with photos and links:
http://oscar.go.com/nominees/

From the Huffington Post, click here for entertainment news from the HP.

Fix: Oscar noms out! Diddy goes cable. Superbowl Ads Available as those banking on teams that did not make it are dropped. New Weather man. Nick goes Soap Opera.

2012-01-24T13:58:00.000-08:00

Company Town

The business behind the show

TeleNovellas to join Nick-at-Night programming shift. Viacom Inc.'s Nickelodeon has struck a deal for 80 episodes of a prime-time soap opera for its Nick-at-Nite programming block that will debut later this year.

Based on the Mexican telenovela "Alcanzar una Estrella," "Reach for a Star" is part of Nickelodeon's ongoing strategy to bring young parents and kids to its Nick-at-Nite prime-time lineup. Once the home of old sitcom reruns, Nickelodeon's Nick-at-Nite has been programming more original shows in prime time over the last few years -- a better counterpart to its daytime schedule of kid and teen series it hopes will attract more family viewing.

Nickelodeon has had some success with the telenovela format, which typically runs new episodes five nights a week, as opposed to once a week, with Nick-at-Nite's mystery series "House of Anibus" and the high school drama "DeGrassi: The Next Generation" on the Teen Nick cable channel.

The single-camera "Reach for a Star" follows the life of a teenage girl who becomes a star overnight and has her life turned upside down. Nickelodeon is partnering with Spanish programming giant Grupo Televisa and Sony Television on the show, which will be executive produced by former "General Hospital" executive producer Jill Farren Phelps.

The Daily Dose: "I haven't seen any of these movies," sports radio personality Dan Patrick quipped Tuesday morning after looking at a list of the nominations for Best Picture. He's not the only one, and that may be a problem for ABC, which airs the awards show. While lots of people tune in for the glitz and gowns, having some popular movies in the running for the top trophies doesn't hurt either. Last year's show, which saw "The King's Speech" take the big prize, averaged 37 million viewers. A far cry from the 55 million that watched in 1998, the year "Titanic" cleaned up. Billy Crystal, you have your work cut out for you.

Crowded field. There will be nine movies including "Hugo," "The Artist" and "The Descendants" vying for Best Picture at next month's Oscars, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced Tuesday morning. Other nominations include Melissa McCarthy for Best Supporting Actress for "Bridesmaids" and, of course, George Clooney and Meryl Streep in the best acting categories. Early thoughts on the nominations from the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Variety and Hollywood Reporter.

Big machine. The future of television may be on YouTube. Machinima, a channel on the Google-owned online video site, has a monthly average of 125 million viewers looking at a billion videos. The channel is for video game geeks and draws lots of teenage boys. A look at the channel and the influence it's exerting in the entertainment industry from the Los Angeles TImes.

Diddy TV. Music and fashion mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs is launching a cable music channel and has Comcast on board to carry it, according to Broadcasting & Cable. The channel, dubbed Revolt, is set to launch in December of this year. Former MTV programming exec Andy Schuon is on board to help get it off the ground.

New BFFs. Billionaire investor Ron Burkle, who made his fortune in the supermarket business, has moved from the fringes of Hollywood to the thick of it with an investment in Ryan Kavanaugh's production company, Relativity Media. Maybe he'll get to ride around in Kavanaugh's helicopter! Details from the Wall Street Journal.

Change in forecast. The Weather Channel made some news Tuesday morning, announcing that David Kenny, former president of Web application firm Akama and a Yahoo board member, will become chairman and chief executive of the company. The hire is a further sign of the growing emphasis the Weather Channel is putting on its digital and online operations. He replaces Mike Kelly, a publishing industry veteran who will remain as a consultant. This news is so fresh, we don't even have a link for you.

Guard your wallet. With Time Warner Cable and the Pac-12 Conference launching regional sports channels in Los Angeles later this year, consumers should brace themselves for a hit. Sports Business
Daily looks at what these two new channels could do to your cable bill. It won't be pretty.

Home-field advantage. WNBC, the local New York NBC affiliate that will carry the Super Bowl, is poised to make millions more in local advertising now that the Giants are in the game than they would have if the San Francisco 49ers had won. Of course, the same is true for the Boston NBC affiliate because of the Patriots' involvement in the game. Having a local team in the Super Bowl is kind of like winning the lottery for a TV station. More from the New York Post.

Inside the Los Angeles Times: John Horn and Steven Zeitchik look at the contradictions the Sundance Film Festival. Lots of tough films about the bad economy amidst a festival full of booze, caviar and free gifts! Sign me up.
-- Joe Flint
Follow me on Twitter. Don't make me get tough with you. Twitter.com/JBFlint
Photo: "The Artist." Credit: European Pressphoto Agency

Twitter: @latcompanytown

Facebook: L.A. Times Entertainment

Oscar nominations 2012: 'Artist,' Scorsese's 'Hugo' shine brightest

2012-01-24T07:30:00.000-08:00

"The Artist," "The Descendants," "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," "The Help," "Hugo," "Midnight in Paris," "Moneyball," "The Tree of Life" and "War Horse" received best picture Oscar nominations Tuesday morning for the 84th Academy Awards.

OSCAR NOMINEES: Clockwise, "Hugo," "The Descendants," "The Artist," "The Help" and "Moneyball" are among the nine films nominated for a best picture Oscar in 2012. (Paramount Pictures / Fox Searchlight / The Weinstein Co. / DreamWorks / Columbia TriStar)

Related photos »

By Susan King Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences paid homage Tuesday morning to the early days of cinema by bestowing the lion's share of Oscar nominations on two films that are valentines to the early days of cinema. "Hugo," Martin Scorsese's heartfelt love letter to filmmaking, earned the most nominations with 11, including best picture, best director and best screenplay as well as several technical Oscars. "The Artist," the low-budget black-and-white silent movie that offers a glimpse of Hollywood during its transition to the "talkies," earned 10 nominations, including nods for best picture, best director, screenplay, actor and supporting actress.

On the acting side, George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt and Viola Davis were among the performers receiving nominations, while "The Descendants" and "Moneyball" also scored best picture nods as the 84th Academy Awards nominees were announced in Beverly Hills.

With the nominations, "The Artist" was catapulted to front-runner status even though it has not been widely seen. (It has only made about $12.1 million at box office.) However, it's stealing the lion's share of critics awards as well as a Golden Globe for best picture. It earned an extra boost last week when it won the Producers Guild Award. The award is one of the more reliable predictors of Oscar gold: Over the last four years, the PGA and the academy have agreed on best picture.

FULL COVERAGE: The Oscars

Rounding out the nine best picture nominees are "War Horse," "The Tree of Life," "Midnight in Paris," "The Help," "Hugo," and "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close." Disappointing comedy fans was the no-show "Bridesmaids," which some had suggested could win a best picture nod. However, the raunchy girl comedy wasn't completely shut out. Melissa McCarthy picked up a best supporting actress nomination, and the film received a best original screenplay nomination for "Saturday Night Live" star Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo.

It was a particularly good morning for buddies Clooney and Pitt. In addition to Clooney's best actor nod for playing a middle-aged father of two in "The Descendants," he earned an adapted screenplay nomination for the political thriller "The Ides of March." Pitt earned a nomination for lead actor as Oakland A's General Manager Billy Beane in "Moneyball"; he also picked up a nomination as producer of that best picture contender.

Besides Clooney and Pitt, the best actor nominees are Demian Bichir in "A Better Life," Jean Dujardin in "The Artist" and Gary Oldman in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy." Vying with Streep, who earns her 17th Oscar nomination as Margaret Thatcher in "The Iron Lady," are: Glenn Close in "Albert Nobbs," Viola Davis in "The Help," Rooney Mara in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe in "My Week with Marilyn."

PHOTOS: Oscars 2012 top nominees

Though Hollywood is always accused of being obsessed with youth, that certainly wasn't the case in the supporting actor category. All but one of the nominees is over 50, and two of them -- Christopher Plummer, for "Beginners," and Max Von Sydow for "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" -- are 82.

Joining them are Kenneth Branagh in "My Week with Marilyn," Nick Nolte in "Warrior" and the baby of the bunch, Jonah Hill in "Moneyball."

Alongside McCarthy and Spencer in the supporting actress category are Berenice Bejo in "The Artist," Jessica Chastain in "The Help" and Janet McTeer in "Albert Nobbs."

SCORECARD: Oscars 2012 nominees

One of the most intriguing races to watch on Oscar night will be between the veteran Scorsese, who won the Oscar for best director five years ago for "The Departed," and the Hollywood newcomer, French filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius of "The Artist." Taking on these front-runners in the best director category are Alexander Payne for "The Descendants," Terrence Malick for "The Tree of Life" and Woody Allen for "Midnight in Paris."

Though Allen allegedly doesn't give credence to award shows, the academy certainly favored his romantic romp set in the City of Light. The 76-year-old Allen earned four Oscar nods in all, including best picture, original screenplay and art direction. The film has also turned out to be the biggest financial success of his career, earning over $56 million domestically and $148.3 million worldwide.

There were several snubs and surprises among the nominations -- and a first.

PHOTOS: What's next for the awards season contenders?

Among the acting nominees, notably missing from the list were Tilda Swinton for "We Need to Talk About Kevin," Michael Fassbender for "Shame," and Albert Brooks for "Drive." All three had earned several critics honors as well as Golden Globe nominations, but were overlooked Tuesday.

Disney/Pixar, which had been a dominating force in the best animated feature category, saw its latest film, "Cars 2," fail to get a nomination. Moreover, Steven Spielberg's lavish "The Adventures of Tintin," which had won the Golden Globe and the Producers Guild Award in that category, was also overlooked. (It wasn't all bad news for the most famous filmmaker on the planet: "War Horse," his World War I epic, earned six nominations including best picture.)

Meanwhile, Bichir was a surprise in the best actor category for the low-budget film about an East L.A. gardener. The film barely made $2 million at the box office, and was only in 216 theaters. He earned a Screen Actors Guild award, but was otherwise absent this awards season. And "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," which had received mixed notices, did surprisingly well Tuesday, with the 9/11 drama earning a best picture nomination and a nod for Von Sydow for supporting actor.

The acclaimed Iranian family drama "A Separation" earned a best foreign language film nomination as expected. But the film, which has won numerous honors this awards season also earned a best original screenplay nomination for its director, Asghar Farhadi, making it the first Iranian film in academy history to receive such a nod.

Following "Hugo" and "The Artist" in the multiple nominations category were "Moneyball" and "War Horse" with six nominations apiece, and "The Descendants" and "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" with five each. "The Help" and "Midnight in Paris" each had four nominations.

Perhaps the only sure thing is that the Oscar ceremony is expected to be a lot more entertaining than last year when James Franco and Anne Hathaway misfired as co-hosts. That's because Billy Crystal and his quick wit are back at the helm.

The ceremony is scheduled for Feb. 26 at the Kodak Theatre. It is to be aired on ABC.

FULL COVERAGE: The Oscars

From the LA Times...click here for the latest news.

susan.king@latimes.com

Working Actor on Acting, Observing, Research and Joy

2012-01-23T23:59:00.001-08:00

"Hey, aren't you an actor!"

'I'd Rather Be A Mystery': John Hawkes On Keeping His Hat Pulled Down

Categories: Movies

by Linda Holmes

Listen to the Story

All Things Considered

[8 min 19 sec]

Fox Searchlight John Hawkes and Elizabeth Olsen in 2011's Martha Marcy May Marlene.

John Hawkes' conversation with Melissa Block on today's All Things Considered begins as many of his conversations might: with her noting that when she told people she was coming to talk to him and rattled off his credits, she got a response that he undoubtedly gets a lot: "Ohhh, he's that guy."

Hawkes has been in the HBO show Deadwood, last year's Oscar nominee Winter's Bone, and this year's Martha Marcy May Marlene, in which he played a cult leader. He's done regular television — Lost and Psych and Monk and The X-Files and CSI. But still, to many people, he's "ohhh, that guy."

Melissa Block asks him whether he thinks it's a drawback to be a character actor rather than a huge star. "I think to kind of be thought of as 'that guy,' or 'I think I know you from somewhere' kind of guy, is an asset for me," Hawkes explains. "I have a difficult time sometimes believing movie stars playing characters." He says even if he had the face to be a household name, he wouldn't care to be one: "I'd rather be invisible. I'd rather be a mystery."

While he generally gravitates to smaller films, Hawkes does have a role in Steven Spielberg's upcoming Lincoln. Whatever he's doing, he explains that big movies don't always satisfy his desire for storytelling. "I feel like the art that changes the world, which is what I want to be part of," he says, "is never the storyteller guessing what the audience would like, but rather the storyteller telling the story they would want to tell it. Audience be damned, in a way."

Ultimately, Hawkes says, given the mix of projects in which he tends to become involved, encountering the public isn't always easy for a guy who's somewhere between recognizable and not.

"If someone comes up and says, 'I saw you in Winter's Bone, I'm usually thrilled. If someone comes up and says, 'My friend said you were in a movie, what movies were you in?' and things like that? It becomes more difficult to begin listing things — 'Well, I haven't seen that' 'Well, I haven't seen that.' Sometimes, it's easier just to keep your hat pulled down and move about and live a normal life."

From NPR's All Things Considered (click here)

40 is a career ender and IMBD is violating Federal Law by listing birth years

2012-01-23T23:59:00.000-08:00

A top crafts agent questions the legality of a site that subjects behind-the-scenes job-seekers to age discrimination.

This story originally appeared in the January 20 issue of The Hollywood Reporter.

The perceived glitz and glamour of an actor's life contrasts sharply with the working-class lifestyle of the average crewmember, but many of them have one thing in common, thanks to IMDb: age discrimination.

When the woman suing the database's parent, Amazon, for disclosing her age was revealed Jan. 6 as actress Huong Hoang, many in Hollywood's below-the-line community sympathized. As an agent repping crewmembers for more than 20 years, I can attest to their already limited work opportunities being further diminished by their ages appearing on IMDb.

I might be pitching someone with great credits -- and the person on the phone will jump on IMDb while we're talking and see the client's age. Suddenly I have to justify how "young" they are: in spirit, in life. Now the client is being looked at differently and judged -- intentionally or not -- on something that, besides being illegal to ask about, has absolutely no bearing on his or her ability to be creative and collaborative with filmmakers of any age.

Each interview opportunity is precious, as there is only one director of photography, one production designer, one costume designer and usually one editor on any given project. Although many of these positions are filled by prior relationships, hundreds of people are submitted and about 75 strongly qualify for each job, I'm often told. Any negative information can be used to quickly whittle the pile to a select few.

PHOTOS: 21 of Hollywood's Ageless Actresses: Jennifer Aniston, Sandra Bullock, Julie Bowen
In this age of ever-changing technology, an "older" DP, designer or editor can be judged as not being "right" for a project simply based on his or her age -- the perception being that they are not well-versed or even interested in the hottest digital camera of the week or in sketching sets on their iPads. In reality, many of these experienced craftspeople have been itching for digital opportunities that would give them more creative choices, and they are now experts. But older candidates often are simply crossed off the list.

IMDb lists more than 4 million actors and crewmembers and features a "careers" button that not only gives cast and crew an opportunity to post photos, reels and résumés but also provides space for job openings and casting calls. That makes IMDb a quasi "employment agency," seeking and attracting employers to view potential employees and providing job listings. Because the site is actively facilitating job-seeking, isn't it in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, which protects individuals from discrimination based on age and applies to both employees and job applicants? The site supplies private birth-date information to potential employers who legally are prevented from requesting that very information from their job applicants.

As an agent, whenever I am asked how old a client is -- and I am asked occasionally -- we laugh together about how it isn't legal to ask or answer that question, yet people expect an answer. So they go to IMDb, which is only too willing to aid and abet age discrimination.

Haeusler is a vp and agent at Innovative Artists who specializes in below-the-line talent.

STORY: An Actor Pens an Open Letter to IMDb; Says He's 4 1/2 Years Younger Than They Claim

Kim Russell's Award Winning Work "Love Letters of a Tuskegee Airman"

2012-01-23T23:58:00.000-08:00

Kim Russel

Story of a Red Tail Tuskegee Airman, his wife and orphaned daughter

Tuskegee Love Letters - by Kim Russell

When America called, African American men and their wives responded

TUSKEGEE LOVE LETTERS
Tuskegee Love Letters is a collection of actual, intimate, personal letters between a wife and husband, separated by war. Written during World War II,
by a Tuskegee Airman and family, each letter is heartfelt
and filled with love, concern and hope.
America's war widows of today will understand the
anguish and the joy and the humor.
As the story evolves, read the daughter's
journey to learn more about her parents.

Excellent piece for stage setting, museum setting, veteran celebrations, classroom or humanities discussions.
One-act readers theater
Cast of 4 people - 2 women, 2 men, 16 pages

Click here to order Tuskegee Love Letters

Life of a Tuskegee Airman

tuskegeeloveletters.com

Read Tuskegee Love Letters and the Harlem project television series. Dramatic story of Harlem from WWII through the Civil Rights Era. It’s love story, and a story of patriotism. It is the story of

Las Vegas Kim Russel's non-fiction and very heart felt play...A Kennedy Center Play.

4 Broadway Casting Directors are coming to Las Vegas March 4th-8th

2012-01-23T23:57:00.000-08:00

Some of the most Influential Broadway Casting Directors are coming to Las Vegas on March 4th - 8th. All interested individuals who were not able to attend the audition in November and would like to participate in this upcoming seminar will need to apply online at www.wrightwaymasterclasses.com (national section – Las Vegas) by February 1, 2012. Those who are accepted will be required to pay for the seminar. All information can be found on our website or by emailing us at wrightwaymasterclasses@gmail.com.

Note: There is a fee and this event is tied to one of many "schools" in Nevada. Being seen by a casting director in a paid workshop does not imply, guarantee or in any way relate to your potential of working in the trades.

Why is all TV geared for onlly 18 to 49 year olds? Cable network RLTV goes after the over-50 crowd

2012-01-23T22:15:00.000-08:00

Company Town

The business behind the show

Photo: John Erickson, the founder of RLTV. Credit: Algerina Perna / Baltimore Sun

When Joan Lunden was first approached about doing a show for RLTV, the cable channel that caters to the over-50 crowd, she was a little reluctant.

“Oh man, do I want to be on Retirement Living TV?” the former host of ABC's "Good Morning America" recalled thinking to herself. The network, which has since dropped the phrase "Retirement Living" in favor of "Redefine Life," was interested in Lunden because of her experience caring for her elderly mother.

For Lunden, hosting a show on RLTV meant not only coming to terms with the idea of working for a channel aimed at Americans over 50, it also meant accepting the fact that at 61, she was right in their demographic sweet spot.

“I can't even wrap my brain around the fact that I'm 60-plus,” Lunden said with a laugh.
But after making “Taking Care With Joan Lunden” for RLTV in 2010, she's overcome any fears she had about being affiliated with the channel and has two new projects in the works. “The 50-plus audience is a force to be reckoned with,” she said.

Lunden's realization is what John Erickson, the founder of RLTV, is banking on. Erickson, who made his fortune building large-scale retirement communities, launched RLTV with a goal of programming to an older audience long ignored by Hollywood and Madison Avenue.

"We [as a culture] don't have a very positive attitude about aging, said the 68-year-old Erickson during an interview from RLTV's Baltimore's headquarters. “We don't celebrate these 25 or 30 years of life in any meaningful way that give people a sense of honor or dignity and involvement.”

For decades, the television industry has built its business around reaching the 18-49 demographic. Advertisers have always paid more to reach younger viewers, believing they are easier to persuade to try new products.

Older viewers, on the other hand, have always been taken for granted. As people age, they watch more TV, so programmers and advertisers figure they don't need to make any special effort to reach out to them or create shows tailored to them. Furthermore, there is a perception that as people age, they become stuck in their ways with regards to spending habits and adapting to new technologies.

Now, though, some of those executives who preached the gospel of 18-49 are singing a different tune as they find themselves inching closer to Social Security.

“We have seen in the last couple of years how a lot of advertisers are waking up to the fact that the 50-plus population is an audience they have to pay attention to,” said Kevin Donnellan, an executive vice president with AARP, the chief lobbying arm for older Americans and a producer of two magazine shows for RLTV. “We're no longer living in that era where people are thinking about their father's Oldsmobile.”

Currently available in 15 million homes (in Southern California it is offered on Verizon FiOS), RLTV hopes to double its reach by the end of 2012.

That growth will be key if RLTV is going to land major advertisers. Right now, its reach is too small to attract much national advertising beyond cheesy direct promotional spots. And it does not bother having its small audience tracked by Nielsen.

“There's no doubt about it, it's a hard sell,” said Paul FitzPatrick, RLTV's president and chief executive officer.

In anticipation of reaching a bigger audience, RLTV has been reaching out more to advertisers to build awareness for the network. Last fall, RLTV executives went on the road to New York and Los Angeles to pitch the network to top advertising agencies.

“I've looked at them a little more closely,” said Francois Lee, a vice president at MediaVest, whose clients include Wal-Mart, Kraft, Procter & Gamble and Microsoft.

As RLTV becomes available in more homes, it will start to open up its wallet to spend more on programming. Erickson said he hopes to invest another $40 million to $50 million on programming and promotion over the next few years and expects the channel, which he says is breaking even now, to become profitable at that time.

RLTV's current lineup is primarily made up of lifestyle and talk shows. “Brady Bunch” mom Florence Henderson hosts a talk show and co-hosts a cooking program. ABC News veterans Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts provide political coverage, and former “Today” co-host Deborah Norville has a show called “Making Medicare Work for You.” Reruns of NBC's popular Sunday morning political magazine “Meet the Press” also air on RLTV on Monday nights.

The network has dabbled in reality programming as well, with the dating show “Another Chance for Romance” and with “Sunset Daze,” best described as its version of MTV's “Jersey Shore” about adventurous senior citizens in Surprise, Ariz. In one episode a character talks about perhaps needing Viagra to keep pace with a woman who is particularly adept at grinding her hips.

RELATED:

RLTV targets aging boomers

-- Joe Flint

Twitter: @latcompanytown

Facebook: L.A. Times Entertainment

SAG Awards Votes due Noon on Friday

2012-01-23T22:06:00.000-08:00

Remember to Vote
for the
18th Annual SAG Awards®!

Friday, January 27 at noon PT is the deadline to vote for your favorite nominated performances of the year.

In continuing our green initiative, we are encouraging members to vote online. To vote online, you will need to log in with your SAG ID number and special Awards PIN, which can be retrieved online. This PIN will also allow you access to free digital film downloads and Movie Cash coupons online.

For more information on voting, retrieving your Awards PIN, and any ‘for your consideration’ offers, please visit www.sagawards.org/voting.

Seeing SAG Award® Nominated Films 
As a reminder, the studios have provided the following various ways for you to see their nominated films.

DVDs
The DVD screeners below have been mailed to members this year from our Guild mailing house (please note only those members eligible to vote will receive DVDs):

The Artist
Bridesmaids
The Descendants
The Help
The Iron Lady*
Moneyball

*The DVD screener of The Iron Lady will be arriving shortly, if it hasn’t already. This was a late addition to those confirmed earlier this month.

Please protect the DVDs sent to you as content theft is a serious issue with significant consequences. More details at www.sagawards.org/DVDs.

Digital Film Downloads 
Eligible SAG members can screen SAG Award® nominated films as free iTunes movie rental downloads. iTunes movie downloads are available on special studio-hosted websites, which can be accessed at www.sagawards.org/filmdownloads. You will need your Awards PIN to access these sites.

A Better Life
The Artist
Beginners
Bridesmaids
The Descendants
The Iron Lady
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
My Week With Marilyn
Warrior

Additionally, the following two films are offered via studio-hosted websites, which will also require your Awards PIN to access.

Albert Nobbs
J. Edgar

Full details on all digital film downloads offered to SAG members can be found by visiting www.sagawards.org/filmdownloads.

Movie Cash 
The following films are being offered to you through downloadable Movie Cash coupons, which can be redeemed at your local theater: The Artist, The Iron Lady and My Week With Marilyn. Only members eligible to vote will be able to download coupons. Your Awards PIN will allow you access to a special Movie Cash web page that has been set up for eligible SAG members to download coupons for selected films offered by the studios.

Movie Cash details can be found at www.sagawards.org/moviecash.

ALL DETAILS on retrieving your Awards PIN, voting, iTunes, Movie Cash, and DVDs can be found at www.sagawards.org/voting. If after visiting the site you still have questions, please email us at awardsinfo@sagawards.org.

The SAG Awards® will be simulcast live coast-to-coast on TNT and TBS on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. An encore presentation will air on TNT at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.

The stunt honors will be announced live from the red carpet on TNT.tv and TBS.com at 6:15 p.m. ET/3:15 p.m. PT.

For up to the minute information on all things SAG Awards® follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Remember to vote by 12 noon PT, Friday, January 27th!

Dream of the 90s - Portlandia on IFC

2012-01-23T14:49:00.000-08:00


				*Story of a Red Tail Tuskegee Airman, his wife and orphaned daughter*

SAG Actor

Vote Yes on Merger!

Acting Classes Forming

AFTRA Says Yes to Merger, Yes to Minority Report

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Mark Your Calender to Meet the Assassins

SAG Awards Sunday Night on TNT (local party for SAG members at Tommy Rockers starting at 5)

-Art Lynch

SAG National Board

Writing as a member of SAG

Why the SAG Awards are Unique

SAG Awards Facts

AFTRA Board votes 97% to 6 % for Merger with SAG: Merger Ballots for Both Unons go out February 27th

Needed Two Cowboys by Julie Goldman & Associates

Why I voted for Merger and why it is best for all of us as members of SAG

Shotgun Live In Las Vegas Feb. 3 - 4, Free Live Theatre!

Category:

Tags:

SAG BOARD SAYS YES TO MERGER, AND TO MINORITY REPORT

New Mexico Casting Directors

Film incentives keep New Mexico hopping and casting directors seeking fresh talent...why not take advantage of the opportunity...

505 Studio Works, LLC

Kathryn Brink Casting

Marty Keener Cherrix

New Mexico Talent Casting

Elizabeth Gabel

Anastarzi Casting

Carmen & Associates

Angelique Midthunder

Shari Rhodes Casting

FilmSavage.com

Scott Rogers You Tube Lessons for Auditioning

Merger Vote nears. Time to make a decision on joing SAG or AFTRA

Beverly Hills and Las Vegas Management seeking clients

Sharry Flaherty Management is seeking new talent to represent, must be able to travel to LA, to submit mail in your current head shot and resume to my Vegas office here at Casting Call Entertainment. Have an amazing day!!!

ARIZONA CASTING DIRECTORS

PHOENIX

TUCSON

Shakespeare in Las Vegas

Events, Saturday, January 28, 2012

Screen Actors Guild votes to approve merger plan

Merger moves one step closer...the decision is the memberships

The Screen Actors Guild

A Truly Democratic Union

SAG Board of Directors Approves Merger Package with AFTRA

AFTRA's Board of Directors to vote on the plan on tomorrow Jan. 28 and then members of both unions would vote on proposal.

SAG board approves AFTRA merger

AFTRA board to meet Saturday; approval would trigger Feb. 27 vote by members

Anthony Del Valle | THEATER REVIEW

Last Weekend to see "Sylvia" at LVLT. It would be a 'dog gone' shame if you missed it.

Portland SAG Branch Active Member Charles W Bernard RIP

Hollywood piracy defeat should force rethink of SAG/AFTRA merger

Measure for Pleasure continues this weekend and next at LVLV

The 18th Annual SAG Awards will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS this Sunday, January 29 at 8 p.m. (ET)/5 p.m. (PT). Be sure to watch!

SAG Awards Scorecard and Special issue SAG Actor Magazine

Are you ready for Sunday? Flip to page 13 and download your own follow-at-home scorecard!

Will HBO's Luck Win? Who Owns the Golden Globest TV Rights? Super Hype!

Fern Champion Seminar Tomorrow

LA Casting Director Fern Champion to be at Casting Call Entertainment to do a great workshop this Saturday, check out her IMDb page here http://www.imdb.com/ /name/nm0150703/

For more information please contact Gary or Sharry at 702-369-0400. Thanks and hope to see you there.

Nevada SAG Franchised Agencies

Events Friday January 27, 2012

Now is the time to join the Screen Actors Guild

A PARTIAL LITERATURE LIST FOR ACTORS

Primary

Directories

The Trade Publications

Las Vegas Publications

Acting Systems or Guides

Industry Basics

Alec Baldwin SAG Foundation Ambassador

Acting Class becomes Marketing Class tonight at Casting Call

SAG Awards Voting Ends at Noon

TNT and TBS to both broadcast SAG Awards Sunday Night

The 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, at 8 p.m. (ET)/5 p.m. (PT). Be sure to watch!

Give to the Las Vegas Little Theatre

Star of the Artist Retires, Wagging his tail in farewell

Uggie the dog is ready to hang up the acting collar.

SAG-AFTRA Merger Means Tougher Admissions, Potentially Costlier Membership

The changes in entrance rules and initiation fees will be of great interest to current and prospective members of both unions and close off a key route to a SAG card.