One Response

1. Richard J Holland

   May 27th, 2008 at 12:01 pm

   1

   The Big Cheese
   Bearing in mind your recent article regarding the AFTRA negotiations I would like to address a few points.
   It was around this time 7 Years ago SAG went on a commercial actors’ strike which crippled the commercial industry and changed it forever.
   The knock on effect that occurred, were that Producers sought to do their projects elsewhere. They now make their commercials in Argentina, South Africa, Prague and really anywhere they do not have to pay the residual fees for actors. Such is the true wonder of capitalism and irony of SAGS actions.
   A few gain a lot lose.
   In Film they looked at this and realized more than ever that productions abroad could be a big way to decrease their spiraling costs.
   Now Producers are going to Hungary, Romania, Australia, New Zealand, in fact, anywhere but here.. It is a business now and like it or not this is how you survive.
   In America, Michigan is now offering 40%. Louisiana is thriving and it is rumored that Fox and WB are going to build stages in New Mexico. The infrastructure in New Mexico is growing rapidly to accommodate the new movie business, bringing wealth and prosperity for many.
   For 35% Tvs’ Ugly Betty has packed up shop and moved to New York putting 300 plus people out of a job in Los Angeles, and like others I have a nagging feeling that there could be more to follow.
   A large cheese that is being nibbled away by so many factions.

   The far reaching effects of lost and runaway productions in Los Angeles especially for below the line technicians and their familys is enormous; if not catastrophic. The knock on effect to infrastructure suffering from this fall out is immeasurable.
   The result; that because of lack of tax revenue for last year we will have to endure cuts to our parks, needed welfare services and of course once again our schools.
   To top it all off, after getting through a devastating writers strike that did not help anybody except for a very few, we now have a nationwide recession, house prices falling and now the threat of another strike with SAG.
   Results are, the studios are not green lighting anything until it gets resolved; therefore putting below the line out of of work and on hold again.
   The disparity of salaries of above to below the line is so far apart now there is just no comparison. They also get residuals and points! To compensate for all these spiraling fees and increases Producers and Studios take it out on their below the line costs.

   Maybe a solution to this problem would be for the Unions and Producers to bring a halt to these present negotiations and focus more on seriously opening a dialogue that would benefit us all; and not just a few. We need to collectively implement a plan that would encourage movies and projects to be made here and change the course from which this Lemming is running. Let the Studios profit as they should do and let us profit also.
   We need to start protecting one of the most fundamental things of all in Los Angeles and that is to PROTECT OUR JOBS before it disappears completely from California.
   For keeping work here I do not pretend to have an answer, but a good place to start would be to find out who is responsible for stopping all the hard work for concessions and why? Maybe I have not paid enough attention, but I do not hear the voices of our guilds who are supposed to protect our jobs and represent us in all of this. Perhaps when we get to these answers, we can start to focus on the Solution. And then there really will be enough Cheese for everybody.

   Richard J..Holland
   Production Designer