New Negotiators, Same Result

No progress on the SAG contract front. Despite the forming of the new negotiating team, there is no sign of ending the bitter dispute between the actors and the studios. What was supposed to be a couple days of ironing out the details and getting an agreement in place has turned into a stalemate once again. The AMPTP came up with their "last, best offer" which was voted down by the SAG board 73% to 27%. The AMPTP threw a couple of small bones in to better their offer from last fall, but the major sticking point was the NEW demand that the new contract run a full 3 years. That once again (in 2011-12) would set up all the guilds to be negotiating at separate times (the old 'divide and conquer' strategy no doubt.)

So, now what? Well, SAG can either decide to send out a strike authorization ballot to the members (which they just voted NOT to do) or they could do nothing. And it looks like nothing is the winner for now. Nikki Finke has the FULL REPORT HERE.

P.S. - Did anybody notice that this year is off to the best start EVER for movie theatre admissions? Seems that in a crummy economy, many, many people think the best bang for their buck is a movie. Yet, heads are still rolling here. Hmmm...