SAG Getting Ugly Again

Things are heating up again over at the SAG (Screen Actors Guild) talks. If SAG does strike, it will knock out major TV and film project this spring including New Moon. Twilight narrowly avoided the fallout from the Writer’s Strike (WGA) last year. Most of the script was penned before the strike, and the strike was settled just prior to shooting beginning.  In the last two months we’ve seen:

  • Warring factions with A-list actors taking sides and taking out dueling ads in industry papers.
  • Talks back in November with a federal mediator present tank after two days
  • A strike vote that was originally scheduled for right after Christmas wisely get postponed
  • And perhaps our personal favorite the firing of Doug Allen (their chief negotiator) in a not so secret palace coup

So why are we bringing this up now?  This is what the studio bosses said when talks broke off Thursday:

“this is our last, best and final offer”. The went on to say, “The terms in the offer are the best we can or will offer in light of the five other major industry labor deals negotiated over the past year and the extraordinary economic crisis griping the world economy.”

That’s an ultimatum if we ever saw one. Expect people to be polite and not really mention it too much until Sunday’s Oscar ceremony is over. After that it’s anyone’s guess as to what SAG’s next move is going to be.