Hollywood Today
Friday, July 11th, 2008
Producers rebuffed on final “final offer,” “Final III –This Time its Personal” in theaters soon
By Brian Frederick
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today)
7/11/08 —
“We made it clear that our final is our final and that we’re not interested in further counterproposals, said Jesse Hiestand on behalf of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
As anticipated by Hollywood Today, ‘AFTRA Ratifies Agreement with Producers to the Chagrin of Screen Actor’s Guild’ - 7/9/08 - the Screen Actor’s Guild rejected the AMPTP’s “final offer” with conditions.
“The guild made a comprehensive counterproposal that adopted some of their (AMPTP) proposals and offered alternatives on others,” said Doug Allen, according to AP.
Allen is SAG’s executive director and chief negotiator.
They “unreasonably expect to obtain more in these negotiations than directors, writers and other actors obtained during their negotiations.
Any further delay in reaching a reasonable and comprehensive agreement does a disservice to the thousands of working people of our industry who are already being seriously harmed by the ever worsening de facto strike,” said the AMPTP in a written statement.
The parties met for more than five hours on Thursday to discuss SAG’s response to the AMPTP’s last offer.
Both parties have agreed to meet today to see if they could hammer out a tentative agreement.
The AMPTP on the other hand has stated that it will contact producers to let them know that SAG did not accept the deal.
SAG gave no public details on it’s website about what it does or does not agree with in the contract proposed to them, other than stating they will meet again today and give “further guidance” following today’s meeting.
SAG gave no public details on it’s website about what it does or does not agree with in the contract proposed to them, other than stating they will meet again today and give “further guidance” following today’s meeting.
The AMPTP has given the public full disclosure of its offer.
Still cleaning the wounds from the $2.5 billion writer’s strike, which effected virtually everyone in the entertainment industry, both parties have stated they want to avoid a strike or lockout.
If SAG chooses to go on strike, it would require a strike authorization letter to go out to all its members and take approximately three weeks to organize.
The AMPTP stated, that should an agreement not be made by August 15, which producers consider a deadline for retroactive pay. any pay increases (when a new contract is written) back to July 1.
SAG is seeking a greater percentage of DVDs, which the other unions were unable to achieve.
The offer the AMPTP gave SAG, gives the guild $250 million in additional compensation, residual payments for made-for-new media content,
a 2.5 percent increase in salary for guest stars in television and a 10 percent increase in wages over the course of the proposed three-year contract
SAG may have a legitimate gripe about wanting an increase in DVD residuals.
The writer’s guild representatives and other unions failed miserably in recognizing the importance of video.
Nearly 20 years ago during contract negotiations in 1988 when home video just hit show business, the writer’s guild literally left DVDs off the table, suckered into believing that DVDs were unproven and may not do well.
Surprise!
Unfortunately, when it does come to business and understanding it, most union leaders fail their members by pretending they can represent artists and artisans against people who negotiate business on a daily basis for a living.
That is because the union leaders themselves are generally made-up of the artists who represent them and have no real concept of business.
In the end, the artists are left in the dark trying to catch up in their contract negotiations from 20 years ago.
Perhaps the SAG leaders are right in this one endeavor, perhaps it’s just pride after being out-flanked by a smaller fellow union, perhaps it’s just wanting to look like a hero and beat corporate America or perhaps the SAG leaders truly believe that they can do better for its members.
Both parties are correct in protecting their interest but SAG should not discount the fact that the AMPTP has made four offers that were accepted by other unions.
SAG’s actors have different aims and requirements than directors, writers or reality show and TV commercial actors and want to continue the battle.
The AMPTP hopes it can make SAG look unreasonable while making its studio and network moguls look like Santa’s elves.
Don’t be mislead about production increasing according to SAG, like any good business executive seeing contract negotiations not moving forward as they should, of course they are going to speed up production and get projects finished.
In addition, union members will work just as hard to get as much pay as they can. .
Keep in mind the current situation in the U.S. auto industry and airline industry; you can’t just blame executives for corporate America’s debacles.
The share of blame can be spread out equally.
If you are old enough to remember Eastern Airlines, at one time one of the world’s largest airlines, like Pan Am, its union slogan was “full pay till last day.”
A lot good that kind of thinking did the union employees of now-defunct Eastern.
Mariah Carey - Elle Magazine (August 2008)
Sudden Legal Snags for Brown Auction
Don’t get your hopes up yet for a red “Sex” jumpsuit, dome hair dryer with gold-toned seat or a “Mojo Lifetime Achievement Award,” all lovingly preserved by James Brown, the Godfather of Soul.
Timothy A. Clary/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
An auction by Christie’s of nearly 350 personal items from Mr. Brown’s estate, originally scheduled for Thursday, is up in the air, the victim of an escalating war between the soul singer’s feuding heirs.
But not just the heirs are bickering.
Like the tangled knot that was the life of the flamboyant Mr. Brown, who had multiple wives, consorts, children and grandchildren, some with unproven paternity, his estate is also in a twist.
Two of his former business managers are at war with the estate’s court-appointed trustees.
The court-appointed trustees, Adele J. Pope and Robert L. Buchanan, want the auction to take place as planned.
The court-appointed trustees, Adele J. Pope and Robert L. Buchanan, want the auction to take place as planned.
But late Wednesday, a state appeals court judge in South Carolina approved a surprise request by the two former business managers, Albert H. Dallas and Alfred A. Bradley, for an emergency stay of the sale.
Undeterred, Christie’s held a press viewing on Friday of the auction items, which include a set of hair supplies with “approximately 80 hair rollers, picks and combs as well as 11 cans and bottles of hair products that were personally used by Mr. Brown,” according to the auction catalog.
The set includes a photograph of Mr. Brown — who was known for his wavy, glossy pompadour — with curlers in his hair.
Mr. Dallas and Mr. Bradley, the two former business managers, are seeking to oust the current trustees and be legally reinstated as trustees.
They contend in court filings that the current trustees are mismanaging the estate, even though last November, a judge in South Carolina ousted them as trustees after finding that they had mismanaged the estate.
Jasper M. Cureton, the appeals court judge, gave the current trustees until noon on Monday to explain why they should retain standing and why the sale should go forward.
In a statement on Friday, Christie’s said it was confident that the sale would be held on schedule.
Mr. Brown, who sang “I Got You (I Feel Good)” and “Get Up (I Feel Like Being a Sex Machine),” died in December 2006.
His personal taste in cars and clothes was lavish.
A bell-bottom denim jumpsuit with the letters G.F.O.S. — for Godfather of Soul — in metal studs across the midsection is expected to be sold for $5,000 to $7,000.
Mr. Brown’s disputed will names six children as heirs.
But one of the heirs, Terry Brown, and a grandson, Forlando J. Brown, have accused the court-appointed trustees, in a lawsuit filed last January in District Court in Columbia, S.C.,
of failing to use an irrevocable trust that is a main part of Mr. Brown’s assets to pay for Forlando’s education, as the trust was supposed to do.
The trust also oversees Mr. Brown’s 62-acre estate in Beech Island, S.C., which some heirs want to turn into a Graceland-style mecca.
The sale collection, which includes clothes, jewelry, personal effects and collectible items like posters and tickets, is expected to bring $1 million to $2 million.
But that may not go far, given the high costs of administrating his tangled estate.
A third former business manager, David G. Cannon, resigned as an original trustee in 2007 amid allegations in court papers that he had bilked the estate of $10 million.
In 1999, Mr. Cannon helped Mr. Brown sell $26 million worth of so-called Pullman bonds, which are tied to future royalty income, but most of that money appears to be gone, according to court filings.
The vinyl living room set of James Brown is one of the items shown for auction at Christie’s
Stage outfits of the Godfather of Soul to be auctioned as part of a sale of 350 items from the estate of the performer
Recently two of the Internet's loveliest personalities, Xeni Jardin of Boing Boing and
sex columnist Violet Blue, had a very public row in the blogosphere when Jardin removed every reference to Blue from public view on her site, totaling around 70 posts.
As the New York Times notes, the fracas raised the issue of whether unpublishing posts on a popular blog (currently there are 1,600-plus comments on the decision) is something a blogger has a right to do.
We'll admit, though, that we got a bit more excited when we saw old pics of the pair canoodling on Valleywag. Two sexy, smart, web-savvy women -- together?
We can't think of anything hotter.
Which got us thinking:
Who are some more of the blogosphere's sexiest women?
We scanned the web for some of our favorite female bloggers and video bloggers (or "vloggers") from the worlds of finance, entertainment, tech and sex, and we want to know who your favorite is.
Vote now and we'll ask the most click-worthy candidate to pose for Playboy.com.
Xeni Jardin
Who she is:
Co-editor of Boing Boing; host and executive producer of Boing Boing TV
Why she clicks with us:
With her signature platinum cropped locks and cool, ice-blue gaze, Xeni is every inch a futuristic beauty.
She's a perfect host for Boing Boing TV, the online daily video program that uber-popular "weird and wonderful things" blog Boing Boing launched last fall.
Whether she's doing a serious interview or making us laugh while she gets shocked by a human electricity conductor, she's always a charge to watch.
Violet Blue
Who she is:
Sex educator, writer and creator of Open Source Sex Why she clicks with us:
She's got a column in the San Francisco Chronicle and has published several books, but Violet Blue still finds time to take her sex life online.
She hosts Open Source Sex, a topical podcast where she gives kissing lessons one week and reads erotica the next.
She also contributes to Fleshbot.com, the adult branch of the Gawker Media empire, and runs her own prolific blog, TinyNibbles.com.
One of Violet's latest forays is a vlog on Blip.tv, where she focuses on her two favorite things: geeks and sex (and geeks having sex, more often than not).
Julie Alexandria
Who she is:
Host of daily "stock culture meets pop culture" vlog Wallstrip.com
Why she clicks with us:
Lou Dobbs and Jim Cramer?
Not so easy on the eyes.
We prefer Alexandria, a smart brunette who mixes serious stock tips with dirty jokes (a recent segment on steel had more than its share of "hard as" quips) and goofball posturing (such as donning Vulcan ears for a Star Trek segment).
In Touch Weekly is reporting that Mommy Jolie gave birth to the twins on Saturday.
And….it's two girls!!!!
Says the mag:
Sources at the La Fondation Lenval hospital in Nice, France, have revealed exclusively to In Touch that Angelina Jolie has given birth to her twins.
According to insiders, the 33-year-old had a caesarean today at 6pm French time and delivered two girls.
The first baby was born at 6.45 pm and the other at 7pm.
The babies are in good health, another insider says. Sources say Brad was present during the birth.
When contacted by In Touch, the hospital’s spokesperson, Nadine Bauer,
said that journalists would not be notified ”within minutes” after the birth and that the only way they would be told was by a press release posted on the hospital Web site.
Another insider adds that Angelina is expected to leave the hospital with her newborns within 48 hours.
Angelina checked into the seafront hospital earlier this month in anticipation of the twins arrival.
Congrats to the ever-expanding Jolie-Pitts.
Congrats to the ever-expanding Jolie-Pitts.
You know dad's gonna keep making babies until he has a Brad, Jr.!
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