DGA tells SAG to stuff it

DGA president Michael Apted has accused SAG of trying to monkeywrench the week-long informal talks between the WGA and the moguls.

Apted issued the blast early Tuesday evening in response to SAG president Alan Rosenberg and national exec director Doug Allen's attack on the DGA deal. He pointed out that Rosenberg and Allen said in their letter to the SAG membership that too little is known about the DGA/AMPTP deal for anyone to
"assume" anything about it.

"Then why do they need to send any letter to their members?" Apted said. "They are not in negotiations and have not scheduled any. Their letter has one purpose and one purpose only: to interfere with the informal talks currently underway between the WGA and the studios. Simply put, their assumptions and arguments are specious. The DGA deal is a great deal for our members."

- D. McNary

Comments

[Stuart Creque]

Seems to me that the leadership of the SAG does have a right and duty to communicate to its members in the lead-up to their own contract negotiations. Maybe the letter takes a couple of digs at the DGA for accepting less than it had previously demanded -- but it also acknowledges that the DGA deal is for the DGA's members to decide upon. Apted seems a bit testy, and it's not helpful to labor solidarity for him to react so defensively.

[lj]

Apted is old and out of touch. He made a shitty deal and he knows it and now he's defensive. If I were DGA I'd ask for a rebate on my dues for my pro-rata portion of that $2 million dollar research report. Because obviously it was a waste of money. The DGA are a bunch of loudmouth pussies. If they're the "adults" in these negotiations, then mom and dad have officially lost it and they need to be put in a nursing home. Embarrassing.

[allison p]

I assume Rosenberg's letter to the membership is a calculated ploy to run interference for the WGA, and to basically say what the whole creative side of town is thinking: the DGA rolled over again.

Listen, Continental Divide is one of my all-time favorites. I have nothing personally against Mr. Apted. But I have found the whole tone of the DGA's approach of "we're the smart ones in all this, just let us handle it" incredibly condescending. Like the DGA knows what's best for all of us and they're saving us all from our own folly. Well, I'm sorry. A flat fee for streaming is unacceptable. Period. And the DGA should be ashamed for trumpeting it as a historic gain. I hope-- I literally PRAY-- that the AMPTP knows this and that they'll be reasonable and agree to a percentage, because otherwise I think we're in big trouble. It's the right thing to do, studios, and you know it-- share. Even a child has to understand that.

[Mike Scully]

To paraphrase Michael Apted's classic "Up" documentaries: "Give me a man who hands away the work of his colleagues for free while telling them it's a great deal, and I'll give you the head of the DGA..."

MIke Scully
PS Thank you, SAG!

[Stuart Creque]

Well, it does take a certain degree of chutzpah for a Guild President to tell the President and the Executive Director of another Guild what is and isn't appropriate to include in a letter to their own members.

[Fi Core]

Thank God for AFTRA or this town will never get back 2 work

[torie]

I agree, SAG rocks! Change my dialogue all you want! Have sex with me in your trailer!

[Jimmy]

What I don't get is if the DGA is as good as Apted says, WHY HAVEN'T THEY GIVEN THOSE DETAILS TO SAG AND WGA???

That SAG letter was basically saying, "there are too many unknowns to call it a great deal."

Apted's response was "I know the unknowns, and it's a great deal."

WHY ARE THESE THINGS UNKNOWN???

By law, the other unions must be allowed to see every detail of this deal. So where are they?

If Apted is actually claiming it's great without actually having hammered out the details (which seems likely the reason they aren't available), then that's far more irresponsible than any other leader or person questioning it.

[Andy Gordon]

Michael Apted should pour himself a nice big glass of milk and go back to bed.

[Klaatu]

The DGA has admitted they chose not to make new media compensation a key issue in their negotiations. SAG and the WGA have (rightly) said it is THE main issue. Therefore, neither union could possibly take the DGA deal.

In fact, I hear one of the things the DGA did bother negotiating for is a favored nations clause, deciding to let the WGA (and SAG) fight for them. Pussies.