HOLLYWOOD - The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) has offered independent film production companies a waiver from a looming strike.
Actors belonging to the organization are threatening walkouts in June if talks between the union and major film studios fail to resolve a dispute over pay and conditions.
But the SAG has now announced that independent moviemakers will receive guaranteed-completion contractions to ensure projects due to go into production this summer will go ahead.
To qualify for the waiver, film companies must not have a financing or distribution deal with any of the major studios who are members of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).
Doug Allen, SAG's national executive director and chief negotiator, confirmed the move.
He tells U.S. publications the Hollywood Reporter, "We are pleased to offer guaranteed completion contracts to independent producers who are such an important source of employment for actors. These (contracts) will allow independent producers to continue their work and continue to generate job opportunities for our members even as AMPTP employers decide unilaterally whether or when to green light new theatrical productions."
The union has set a June 30 deadline--the day their current contract expires--for negotiations to be resolved. If the strike goes ahead it could put hundreds of major film and TV projects under threat.
http://www.hollywood.com/news/Screen_Actors_Offer_Strike_Waiver_to_Independent_Films_/5095906
