wolf

* The Wall Street Journal * JUNE 12, 2009 Lawmakers Make Noise About Loud Commercials By FAWN JOHNSON Some members of Congress want broadcasters to turn down the volume on television commercials. A bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo (D., Calif.) would require the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to "preclude commercials from being broadcast at louder volumes than the program material they accompany." Broadcasters say they are addressing the problem already. "The major television broadcast networks, including ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox, are each, individually, implementing policies that attempt to control loud commercials," said David Donovan, president of the Association for Maximum Service Television, a broadcast industry trade group, speaking at a hearing Thursday before the House Energy and Commerce Telecommunications Subcommittee. Mr. Donovan said Rep. Eshoo's bill could slow TV stations' voluntary efforts to control commercial volumes because any FCC proceeding would generate debate and uncertainty. "I can assure you that the industry is motivated to act," said NBC Universal Principal Engineer and Audio Architect Jim Starzynksi, also at the hearing. Final review of an industry standard on commercial volume is expected in July, and broadcasters could begin implementing it by fall, he said. Write to Fawn Johnson at fawn.johns

Red breakout box with real 3XLR connectors and operators headphone level ASL - RIP Kit - Remote Interface Panel for RED - Cine Gear Expo wolf

these people are polite, I get presented with one choice nowadays... and its not mine

Automatically Sync Dailies in Final Cut with Sync N Link Matt Armstrong March 3, 2009 Source: Studio Daily At the latest Alpha Dogs Editors' Lounge, post production guru Philip Hodgetts from The Assistant Editor and Intelligent Assistance demonstrated his new application for Final Cut Pro, Sync N Link, for synchronizing sound and picture shot dual-system. Sync N Link does what Avid's Auto-Sync function does, plus more. Footage and sound files with the same timecode can be automatically synched with a few clicks, either before or after the edit. http://www.studiodaily.com/main/training/richmedia/10569.html I have no personal experience with this

Spectrum use: Here some worldwide frequencies in use find them for your area: http://www.sennheiserusa.com/frequencyfinder/default.asp (ref. Scott F) http://www.lectrosonics.co.uk/lectroeurofreq.htm A sample database of USA TV channels pre digital is at http://www.globalcommnet.com/operators/tvoperator.asp Enter your location and TV channel and all licensed transmitters (TV, AM, FM) at a specified distance will be listed with full site maps. Of course, it’s of little use, as you are not allowed to use Modulus in the US and loads of TV and freq. Info: http://tvtower.com/Commercial%20Television%20Frequencies.html World TV systems list: http://www.kropla.com/tv.htm also http://www.alkenmrs.com/video/wwstandards1.html for world radio stations and internet stations go to : http://www.tvradioworld.com/region1/ca/tv.asp?m=los All TV channels and frequencies in the US http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Engineering_Technology/News_Releases/1998/et8002a.txt And http://www.soontai.com.tw/tvtab1.html Good little antenna lesson: http://www.professionalwireless.com/antenna.aspx LECTROSONICS WEBSITE FOR WIRELESS FREQ: http://www.lectrosonics.com/cgi-bin/tv_form.pl SHURE WEBSITE FOR WIRELESS FREQUENCIES: http://www.shure.com/scripts/freq_app/default.asp SENNHEISER WEBSITE FOR WIRELESS FREQ: http://www.sennheiserusa.com/newsite/mat_dev/frequencyfinder/Freqfinder-open.asp TV & RADIO CHANNELS AROUND THE WORLD: http://www.tvradioworld.com/ FCC TV CHANNEL LOOK-UP SERVICE: http://www.fcc.gov/mb/video/tvq.html Want to find out how to coordinate frequencies on the set? Here a computerized approach: http://www.professionalwireless.com/ias/Demo/index.html Digital transition consumer info: http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx http://www.dtvanswers.com/ http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php http://www.hdpictures.com/stations.htm http://www.shure.com/ProAudio/PressRoom/WhiteSpaces/index.htm white space info Find all digital stations within 80 miles of a zip code: http://www.rabbitears.info/search.php

great effort by Peter Grey http://petergray.org/lockits.html wolf at wolfvid.com

James Dehr and Pete Albert have been teaching a class at West LA college that enables students who "pass" to get on the Hollywood Producers roster and then they can buy their way into any of the unions. Glen Berkowitz and I teach a college "prep" class on sound to "Inner city film school kids" a summer long class for the "good" kids from inner city schools. None of their parents make more than approx. 36K a year ( Ca poverty level) - I find this very uplifting - to be in front of smart kids from lousy schools and difficult family situations eager to learn. THis is financed partially by LA city funds. Senator Mike Mikels (Sp.) has been teaching a college level sound course for years at some Pasadena Art school. He took over from Steve (?) Fox who ran out of union healthfund money and died of throat cancer. There is a pathetic attempt at teaching at the expensive well equipped LA film school, its just sound slavery for little $ to help rich kids make showreels. USC has a good sound dept under Tom Holman (?) who published several "teaching" books. I just try to get 2 ideas across: The mike is like a flashlight shining on the performers tonsils. Learn to listen and understand what you hear. 3.) Be prepared. my 2 cents wolf if you teach advanced classes here are some free books: http://wolfvid.com/html/lit.html

I have given away lots of jobs and clients to folks I barely knew and that I have never seen again. Then there are a few good folks who I know a little who refer me repeatedly and I try to return the favor as much as possible... even though its been slooooooooow. NOW in the slimy video assist world I was forced to pay 10% of the rental rates I collected for my gear to many operators when it was their client, their job. THIS RATE IS 50 % now !!! It makes for a nasty atmosphere of hustlers hustling video labor and gear. There is a movement on the video YAHOO group to "out" the really cheap sound guys who sell sound gear, mixer, boom, video guy and gear for ridiculous package rates for endless hours. The slime emanating from some music video productions has video assist certainly on a race to the bottom. Often these are union shoots. There are some video folks who get big jobs and pay their operators in addition to the payroll just so they wont go independent and also to shut up about the quality of the gear. And then there are the camera assistants who make extra bucks by providing video gear to production companies... Ohh and while I am at it there are several DITS who record HD and a second video assist recorder. Everything is being practiced somewhere and labor has no organization protecting jobs or jurisdiction. GAWD help us all. It's slimy out there most places. wolf

we make only complicated cables with Lemo and Hirose. We stock all the film ones. ( don't get the cheaper aftermarket imitations from China- only Swiss or Japanese will do) - for simple stuff go to Pacific, but nothing there is crimped and soldered! For Sound stuff go to the Sound houses LSC, COffey etc... Red cables we will add, unfortunately they use mini XLR cheap fragile shit. Call us in Marina Del Rey 310 822-4973 also check my constantly changing pages with unusual sound stuff: http://wolfvid.com/datasheets/Specials.pdf wolf

Wolf, I'm not sure if you were at the Quarterly Membership meeting? === no I was not. What’s the sense of bitching about a bad vote in retrospect? However you feel about the current board, you were not present at the last E Board Meeting === I am not on the BOD and there are never visitors, the dates are not publicized, secrecy prevails in effect. And all I can say is that there were lots of opinions expressed on the contract issue. === Who cares what “opinions are expressed” privately in a BOD meeting that noone reports on? All it does is vents for a few folks, the BA still uses his unchecked powers to support a anti-membership contract. Did the opposition on the board get even ask for third of a page in the mailing? NO they were silenced by JO. It seems JO has learned that scare tactics intimidate enough folk so they vote with him and keep paying his $ 160,000 salary. "If members don't vote in a new board of directors that care" The word vote is important, because if more members had voted in the ratification ballot, rather than the anemic 36%; perhaps L695 would have been the only local to turn down the contract. ==== Perhaps the BOD should at least publicize its debate in a mailing. Maybe a variety of ideas would involve a few more members. The BOD has let itself become an invisible rubber stamp. I totally agree with you that nothing will get done unless more members get involved, speak up, run for the Executive Board and at least vote. ==== The BOD has an obligation to involve people. Instead members are stuck with an absentee President and a burned out BOD and an illiterate BA. We were the only local that did not have even an “informational” meeting before the vote. --- SHAME! Who prevented this? J.O. of course . ----- why does the BOD not have a policy of PROXY attendees standing in for absentee members. That PROXY person should be appointed by the absent member an have a VOTE !!. This would involve a few more folk. ==== sorry I am so blunt, but NOTHING seems to get thru the hierarchy of L695. And the IATSE is just rewarding itself with our dues for delivering a submissive workforce to the conglomerates. ==== PS: Note how easy it can be to kick out the old time CEO of GM! These structures that we held to be self-evident can be changed… of course if the employees of GM had voted in a new CEO things would really be different – Obama is just a different color oligarch, so the substance stays the same… ( ohh I know I am gone get it now :-) bitterly?? wolf (knowing full well this post will only engender hate by JO) Michelle for ‘16 and ’20

only 2 members of the 695 board of 15 ( or so) made their views known. The unelected BA acted against his members interests. If members don't vote in a new board of directors that care, and if folks with opinions don't organize phone trees, we get NOTHING, the producers share of Hollyweirds growing pie is getting larger. Talking to like minded on bulletin boards in NOT ENOUGH. wolf

Pete Albert asked me to post from the Yahoo board for video assist folk: Here’s another reason to vote NO to ratification of the most recent IATSE contract. ( Send in by Wednesday) Many of you may not know that the means in which a production is initially intended to be distributed is often (not always) the basis for which contract is used. For example, if a production is intended to have it’s initial release as a made-for-TV movie, a “feature” or “theatrical release” contract would not be sought after by the producers, but a TV contract would be. Keeping this theory in mind, and keeping in mind that the “New Media” portion of the new IATSE contract is complete sell out and offers us not even basic pay rates, read the following blurb I found online today from the N.A.B. rss newsfeed. Given the statistics noted, I would not be surprised to learn that the networks and producers will intentionally plan to have TV shows "initially” released on the internet FIRST, thereby producing the show under the “new media” provision of the contract. A day or two after the Internet release, then they would air it on TV, thereby avoiding the more costly TV contract. You and I know, someone is going to be producing a show this way. Perhaps even a well established, highly ranked show. - Pete Albert ============= United Press International - March 16, 2009 ABC is dominating its U.S. TV network peers when it comes to online offerings, having nine of the top 10 most-streamed series, the Nielsen ratings group says. Nielsen said in its February VideoCensus report that ABC's "Lost" topped all other series last month with 2.5 million unique viewers online and 48 million total streams, MediaWeek reported Friday. The series' unique viewers tally for February marked a 41 percent increase compared with January, while its total streams represented a 20 percent jump. ABC also managed to top 1 million unique viewers in February with "Dancing with the Stars" and "Grey's Anatomy." Other top ABC shows in terms of online streaming last month were "The Bachelor," "Brother & Sisters," "Scrubs," "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," "Desperate Housewives" and "Private Practice." MediaWeek said NBC's "Saturday Night Live" mitigated ABC's dominance on the list, coming in eighth overall in total February online viewers. Here’s the link to the newsfeed: http://nab365.bdmetrics.com/NST-2-50203882/story.aspx?utm_source=addthis&utm_medium=addthis&utm_campaign=addthis Or http://news.webindia123.com/news/articles/Entertainment/20090316/1199810.html

I toured with Willie Nelson in the late '70s thru a bunch of Texas radio stations and "pikniks". most radio was AM mono. I had the "large" music board - 16 CH Stevenson (?) and the great luxury of an early IV-S no TC but blooplight. ended up in Austin where Courtney did the intercom... we shot+recorded 3 days and nights straight thru ( I got some shuteye in the "press" - trailor). Bob Primes and others shot film... (never released) Today Willie still does the same thing with 2 REDs fueled by lots of "herb" traveling in a caravan of buses thru the South and the rest of the USA. go Willie wolf

mail your ballot on MONDAY !!!! its a simple majority vote L 695 could not get it together to call a meeting before the vote.. they will announce the vote though it's like a Russian dictatorship: don't discuss anything in public just come to be told what was decided. sick fucks... burnt out Board of directors, unstable B.A fighting windmills again wolf

the key is to get folks to mail in their votes http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-iatse4-2009mar04,0,2698321.story >From the Los Angeles Times LABOR Conflict erupts inside theatrical stage employees union Leaders defend benefit cuts in a proposed pact with Hollywood film and TV studios, but critics say they go too far. By Richard Verrier March 4, 2009 Although much of the entertainment industry has focused on the civil war inside the Screen Actors Guild, another powerful Hollywood union is wrestling with its own internal conflict over a proposed contract with the studios. Leaders of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, whose members include 35,000 who work behind the scenes on film and television sets, are facing a high level of dissent from the rank and file over a contract that includes modest pay increases but also deep cuts in the union's coveted health and pension benefits. The union's brass says the cuts are necessary to plug a projected $580-million deficit in the health plans largely due to rising medical costs. Critics say the cuts go too far and will force thousands of union members and their families to lose their health insurance. Under the proposed three-year contract, members would be required to work 400 hours every six months, up from the current 300 hours, to keep their benefits. Concerns about work hours have grown as production activity has slowed to a crawl. Many of the union's members are still struggling to recover from the losses sustained in the writers strike last year and by the uncertainty caused by the SAG contract talks. Last year, the studios rushed to wrap feature films by June 30, causing a severe drop in production during the second half of 2008. The credit crunch has caused studios to further scale back production. "At a time when our nation is increasingly concerned about the growing number of people who don't have health insurance, this is the wrong direction to be going in," said Doug Knapp, a camera operator with the union's Local 600, who helped launch a website called 400hours.com to fight ratification of the contract. Knapp estimates that roughly 10% of the union's film and TV members -- 3,500 -- will lose health coverage as a result of the 400-hour requirement. The new threshold is a divisive issue for many union members, who've tended to accept lower pay increases in exchange for preserving their health benefits, for which enrollees don't pay premiums. Unlike most actors and writers, the union's members don't earn direct payments from prior work on TV shows and movies. Instead, payments that would be earmarked for residuals are funneled into a fund for health and pension plans. Union President Matt Loeb declined to comment. In a message accompanying the "memorandum of agreement" mailed to members last week, Loeb strongly urged members to support the contract, warning that a "vote against ratification is a vote to authorize a strike." Ballots are due back March 18. Despite the opposition, it is unlikely the contract will be shot down. The leaders of the union's various locals have given their blessing to the contract. Indeed, the union is known for having friendly relations with the studios and has long advocated early contract talks, reasoning that it helps foster labor peace. So few were surprised when the union announced an agreement in November -- eight months before the current contract expires. But when details of the agreement dribbled out, guild leaders faced a hostile reaction from union members such as Knapp. "I only had 287 hours in the last six months," said the camera operator, who worked on the Warner Bros. TV series "Moonlight" before it was canceled and the TV movie "Merry Christmas Drake & Josh." richard.verrier@latimes.com ============================================================

I thought Milk was a very powerful emotional true political film (I knew Harvey before he ran for office). It really grabbed me. I also noted watching the DVD provided by CAS on my simple system at home in mono (yes!) that I was increasing and decreasing volume more than ever to catch the dialog and I still missed 5%. it seemed a lot of it was buried in FX. not a good DVD mix. wolf

From Sam Cherroff on the video assist Yahoo board: "My apologies for this not being strictly about video assist. But as this is where so many of my Union Brothers congregate, It is the best forum for this post. I am another member voting a resounding NO to the proposed IA contract. As many of you know, my wife has been fighting metastatic breast cancer for the last ten (!) years. We have been told that, barring a miracle or some as-yet not invented treatment, she will always be fighting to keep her cancer at bay. In those ten years there have been several lean periods in which I would not have qualified for the 400 hour clause, and I could have easily exhausted my bank of hours. The current chemo treatments are excruciatingly expensive. If I were to lose my insurance there is no way a private company would take us on-- ever. Discontinuing her treatment is not an option for us. It is easy to imagine that ours would become one of those tragic stories you hear where the family is forced to sell their house, go bankrupt, and ultimately be at the mercy of fate. And it is even more absurd when you think about it-- god forbid it should happen-- that during such a desperate period the union would still be entitled to collect its dues from me! The other way to look at it is that if I now have to work more hours to qualify, I will do whatever it takes to secure those hours. If that means I'm forced to lower my equipment rental rates and/or my wage rates to get more work, I will absolutely have to do it. Losing my coverage is simply not an option for me. If enough members are in similar situations it could cause a downward spiral that effects everyone working above union minimums or who have a kit to rent. And exactly where would those extra hours I need to work come from? Wouldn't I just be taking hours away from other union members? This game of musical chairs will make membership in the union less relevant for many and ultimately bring about a reduction in the number of dues paying members. Talk about shooting themselves in the foot! I don't understand what the IA is trying to do with terms like these, unless it is to make themselves irrelevant at the behest of the producers. Sam. PS (wolf:): Aaron Katz (Video Assist) who had neck cancer for 5+ years ran out of money to pay for treatments after 300 hours + bank. He luckily was covered by his wife, a LAUSD school teacher. The IA does not look after serious illnesses in working families after 300 soon to be 400 hours. There should be a very large bank of hours say 6000, that would cover 10 years. Maybe Obama can get some minimal coverage thru congress for that, how a nation broke from fighting stupid wars pays for that is an unanswered question.

Scott Bernard: ( I emailed this the L695, Scott does not publish his email address) there is a question on how our contract votes get counted . re: http://www.jwsound.net/SMF/index.php?action=post;topic=3739.0;num_replies=10 message++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ re Mike Michaels message: as usual he is 45% correct Mike: "The IATSE members of the Hollywood Locals, which are the ones involved in the Basic Agreement, get to vote on that one contract, the Basic Agreement; the voting system is indirect, and a bit convoluted, " so far so good as far as I know MM: "in that the members vote on how their Local's BA is supposed to vote on it," this is wrong - we do not recommend our BA how to vote. He has one vote as we do. there is some sort of weighing going on in the voting - Maybe Scott Bernard can inform us, I doubt if JO could communicate this. [ what I don't understand is why only his personal views are mailed to all the members - sure we voted for him, but the contract effects our incomes totally and his not at all] MM: "sort of like the Electoral College is for Presidential elections in the USA." not true "There is no separate "Local 695 agreement", (or other Locals') although each Local's issues are addressed (or not!) in the Basic Agreement." that is true MM: "There is absolutely no voting on any "side letters", memorandums of understanding, or the tiered subcontracts, as these all come from HQ ("The International") under pretty much the sole discretion (dictatorship?) of the "International President"." so very true as we all know. We are never informed or have any sort of voice on any or all the side letters we work under. and yes there is a "low budget" commercial side letter, even though I have never seen it. Scott -- this is your area of expertise, please help us out. wolf

good long reason to vote NO on the IATSE contract memorandum http://www.400hours.com/400iahollywoodlocalshtmframe.html its worth the study I understand this was written by Gary Dunham former president of Local 600. He was forced out of office and the Local for his opinions. interesting read. wish JO had some comprehension of this. print it and pass it around the set. wolf

I have a real problem reading the incomprehensible gibberish that Jim Osburne writes. I would consider it a kind deed by the Board of Directors to give him a few years off to work thru the dementia he is suffering from. Is there noone in the Locals office who can at least proofread his stuff? It's embarrassing. Hey Jim - You are wrong about most everything so I will vote AGAINST the provisional memorandum of a contract. 400 hour limit to stay in the health plan? No increase in bank hours? no fixed rates at all for new media work? I would ask the IATSE negotiators to use the next 5 months to come up with a better deal. Then come back to us. wolf

Payments Drag Out on TV Spots http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123535388745645241.html By SUZANNE VRANICA Some of the biggest advertisers in the U.S., including auto maker General Motors and brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev, are putting the squeeze on companies that produce and broadcast their ads, as part of an effort to rework contracts with suppliers to cut costs. As the economy's slump continues, GM has raised an uproar among the production firms that make its TV spots by playing hardball on payment terms. Other advertisers could follow suit, bringing pressure on the small companies that make up that business. Over the past few weeks, GM, whose brands include Cadillac, Buick and Pontiac, has offered to pay ad-production firms 50% of a commercial's production costs 60 days after the first day of shooting and the remaining 50% when the ad is finished. That's a major departure from the standard practice of paying 50% or 75% of the cost before production starts. A car commercial can cost anywhere between $500,000 and $1.5 million, say production executives. "This has the potential to destroy the commercial-production business," says Matt Miller, chief executive officer of the Association of Independent Commercial Producers, the New York-based trade group that represents production companies. [adspending] The move is the latest in a long list of cost-cutting moves cash-strapped GM has adopted as it seeks to avoid a bankruptcy filing. Last year, GM asked its ad agencies to cut their fees by as much as 20% for 2008 and 2009. Historically, GM has been one of the U.S.'s biggest ad spenders, shelling out $1.6 billion to buy ad time and space for the first nine months of 2008, according to ad tracker TNS Media Intelligence, a unit of London-based ad-holding company WPP. So far many production companies have balked at GM's terms, but people familiar with the matter say that some firms have agreed to the new payment structure. GM declined to comment specifically on its moves, but a spokeswoman said, "We have and continue to work closely with our suppliers, partners and vendors in an effort to improve the efficiencies of our marketing." Anheuser-Busch InBev is trying to overhaul all its vendor contracts, including advertising-related deals. The world's largest brewer by sales recently told media outlets that they will now be waiting 120 days after an ad runs to receive payment versus the typical 30-day standard. "The challenging global economic environment has resulted in AB InBev, like many other multinational companies, reviewing its standard terms and conditions of payment," the company said in a statement. WPP's Group M, which buys ads on behalf of corporate clients, recently proposed new terms for its online ad deals that could triple the time that online publishers wait to get paid for the ads they run. The changes were designed to give its agencies and clients more flexibility, and not to cause media companies any hardships, says John Montgomery, chief operating officer of Group M Interaction. Because of the tough economy most publishers have complied. GM has been trying to persuade TV-production companies to accept its new payment terms by suggesting it is looking to have a few "preferred vendors." In order to be on the list, the production company would have to agree to the new fee structure. Production executives believe about 30 firms have received calls about the matter in the past few weeks. The new set-up reflects a broader policy change GM began applying to all its vendor contracts last year, according to a person familiar with the matter. "Our business is not the same as buying lug nuts" says Cami Taylor, president and co-owner of Crossroads Films, a Los Angeles production firm that has said no to GM's new payment terms. Crossroads also works with major marketers like Anheuser-Busch and Procter & Gamble. Ms. Taylor and other production executives say the lions share of their costs are tied up in labor and hard costs, such as locations and equipment, all of which have to be paid upfront. The new payment terms, they say, are unacceptable because many production companies aren't able to finance these costs, due to the tight credit facilities. Donald Block partner and executive producer at Gartner Films, a production company in Santa Monica, Calif., adds: "GM and other brands are finding ways to delay payments more and more." Mr. Block says GM still owes roughly $500,000 from a job he did in September. "It's a growing problem," he says. —Emily Steel contributed to this article. Write to Suzanne Vranica at suzanne.vranica@wsj.com

the bad part is that now both unions claim jurisdiction over "digital motion pictures". AFTRA made a weak contract last year, SAG has none as of Feb 1 2008.

Situational Awareness by Gary Dunham (long) "Unfortunately, the IA is ripping off all its members. If the IA is comfortable farming the BA Locals for dues it would be consistent that they would do the same to all members." THE IA AND THE “HOLLYWOOD” LOCALS. It is important to understand the makeup and history of the IA in order to understand the current issues the new Basic Agreement represent to the BA Locals and the IA’s current take it or leave it attitude. The IA is comprised of some 360 local unions, both in the US and Canada. Of those 360 or so locals only 18 are considered “Hollywood” locals. The locals are grouped into a bargaining unit called the Basic Agreement Bargaining Unit. (BA Locals) The 18 BA Locals’ contracts are negotiated for them by the IA. The “Hollywood” or Basic Agreement Locals represent only 5% of the IA. The other 95% of the IA are comprised of stagehand and mixed locals. Only the BA Locals (5%) of the IA locals participate in the MPIPHP health and pension plans. The IA Executive Board Is the governing body of the IA and is comprised of fifteen officers (President, Secretary Treasurer and thirteen Vice Presidents) only one IA Vice President represents the BA Locals, he is the business agent of the Studio Grips, local 80. The vast majority of the IA locals and their Executive Board representatives have little in common with the 18 BA Locals. The BA Locals work under separate contracts with separate terms and conditions and separate health and pension plans. Tom Short appointed most but not all Thirteen Vice Presidents of the IA executive Board. Having attended many IA executive board meetings during my tenure I became familiar with the circumstances surrounding the “retirement” of the VP’s that were not Tom Short appointees. But that is unimportant here. The important issue is that Tom Short did not tolerate dissent or opinion contrary to his own. The IA executive Board became IMHO a single-minded body without benefit of open discussion of opposing views or philosophies regarding the issues the varied locals faced. The problem the BA Locals have is that the IA is primarily a stagehand union geared to stagehand issues. From my experience the BA Locals were looked down on and many times openly ridiculed by Tom Short in the presence of the 95%. That is just the way it was. Matt Loeb has replaced Tom Short. For all the criticisms leveled at Tom Short, he was the leader of the IA and firmly controlled the IAEB. The political landscape has changed within the leadership of the IA. I imagine that President Loeb is concentrating on the IA Board trying to consolidate his power base as well as dealing with the AMPTP (it’s a political thing) I have heard that VP Mike Miller (VP Division Director of Motion Picture and Television Production, the arm of the IA that controls the BA Locals) has said that there will be no renegotiating the current contract proposal. He has said, in essence, that if the membership does not ratify this contract that he and President Loeb will call a strike. The leadership of the IA is using fear to coerce the members to ratify a deeply flawed contract proposal. The response of the IA leadership is absurd on so many levels. I know Mike; I was there at the LA IAEB when he was first appointed IAVP, I truly like and respect the man, but refusing, in advance, to abide by the will of the membership (prior to the votes being counted) is absurd. It flies in the face of the most basic foundation of trade unionism… the vote of the membership, the will of the membership. A union is not some sort of corporation to be run by CEO’s. President Loeb and VP Miller have a responsibility is to fulfill the will of the membership… regardless of their personal opinions. If they do not have the confidence that the contract will be ratified on its merits, they should be preparing a plan “B”. It is wrong and possibly illegal to bully the membership into accepting a contract. I am deeply disappointed to say the least. HISTORY MATTERS Years ago, the IA contract supported one of the main tenants of trade unionism…. Job security [when it was forced to]. The IA had a seniority system that guaranteed members, who had been loyal… supported the union through years of dues payments, picket lines, etc were rewarded with the ability to accept work before newer member. (It is a system that the IA still supports, and is alive and well in the stagehand locals.) Job security makes sense if an organization values its members. It is a system that actually protects its work force from age discrimination, sexism and a host of other ‘isms. ( of course this has fallen apart bynow) Twenty or so years ago the IA and the AMPTP dropped the classification provision in the contract. The bogus reason was that the IA needed to get control of the non-union workforce. The fact of the matter was that most of the non-union workforce were union members working on the more lucrative non-union shoots, (another story) most films were produced by the studios as a negative pick up deal. Negative pickups could have been stopped legally as a violation of the Basic Agreement. But the IA chose to sacrifice one of the basic tenets of trade unionism. But why? IMHO the motives were less than transparent. You see, the quarterly stamps that are affixed to the back of your union card are bought by your local from the IA. Those quarterly stamps represent the only income the IA receives from the BA Locals. A small stable membership, working constantly, represented a fixed income for the IA. But costs were increasing for the IA, big time. The solution… more members, more dues. Twice the members working half as much equals twice the revenue. The membership increases worked for the BA Locals as well. One of the most insidious aspects of the loss of job security provisions in the contract was what happened to the members… competition for jobs between members was greatly increased. A supply and demand phenomenon reared its ugly head. The supply of members greatly outnumbered the demand… for twenty years supply has outpaced demand resulting in poorer wages and working conditions for the membership. Subsequently, many of the provisions of the Basic Agreement have been eroded to the detriment of the membership. The multi tiered pay scale only served notice to the producers that the membership would do the same job for much less. Added competition between members for the “better paying” jobs. Five out of Seven… effectively severs you from a family life… And so it goes… The current continuation of the erosion of The Basic Agreement is the “New Media” clause, the final insult to the members. It is frightening in its transparency. The IA is responsible for nothing that is of any concern to the membership. Its only interest is dues collection… In return the producers get the benefit the lengthy and slanted bureaucracy of the IA when member issues arise. Since the clause is part of a collective bargaining agreement all-internal remedies must be exhausted before the Federal or State Govt. can step in. (up to a four year wait…) With every contract the lesson becomes increasingly clear. The IA’s issues are not necessarily the memberships issues. As the working terms and conditions have been eroded over multiple contractual cycles so have the terms and conditions of the health plan… administered by the MPIPHP. There are two main provisions in the Basic Agreement that pertain to the health and pension plans. Post 60’s and Supplemental Markets. The 400-hour qualifying period proposal is a result of the erosion of the language of the Supplemental Markets provisions. The language is complex as anyone who has read it knows. The only way I know how to make it understandable is to do so by using examples… THE COST OF EROSIVE CONTRACTUAL LANGUAGE AND RUNAWAY PRODUCTION In the “old days” the major studios made films using labor from the BA Locals almost exclusively. Contractually the studios agreed to pay residuals to the members of the BA Locals. It was set at 5.4% of producer gross on Foreign Box Office and 6.75% in the first $1 Million on cassette sales and 8.1% on amounts exceeding $1 Million. (There would be no residual payments on Domestic Box Office.) The money would be used to provide health coverage for the members of the BA Locals… It would be administered by the MPIPHP. (It is important to understand that the MPIPHP provides health coverage for other unions as well as producers) EXAMPLE 1 Lets say for the sake of argument that a film earns a Domestic Box Office of $100 Million, Foreign Box office of $100 Million, and DVD sales of $100 Million. The MPIPHP… on one film would receive…. $100 million x 5.4% = $5.4 Million on the foreign box office. And; $100 Million x 8.1% = $8.1 Million on the sale of the DVD’s. The producers get $236.5 Million the MPIPHP health plan gets $13.5 Million. $13.5 million on one moderately successful film. However, The IA and the AMPTP negotiated the residual participation for studios that are also distributors… there are many…. To only 20%; the 5.4% is now 5.4% of $20 Million. EXAMPLE 2 Same film, same $100 Million grosses. $20 Million x 5.4% = $1.1 Million on Foreign Box Office and; $20 Million x 8.1% = $1.6 Million on DVD sales… The Producers get $247.3 Million and the MPIPHP health plan gets $2.6 Million. $2.6 Million vs. $13.5 It will now take 5 moderately successful films to make up the difference. The IA and the AMPTP then agreed to a concept of “Prorating”. Basically prorating is the formula that the IA and the AMPTP use to separate BA Local crew members on a film from the other below the line crew members in order to reduce the percentage of residual payments due to the MPIPHP. EXAMPLE 3 A film shoots 8 weeks in Romania (or Canada) then travels to LA for 4 additional weeks of shooting. Upon arriving in the US the film signs an IA contract and uses crew from the BA Locals. The film is now responsible for residual payments according to the BA. However, he residuals will not be the full 5.4% and 8.1%, they will be prorated. (The actual language in the contract states that the determining factor is “costs” And I realize that crew cost vary but in order to understand prorating I will use hours…) 50 BA Local crewmembers work 12 hours a day 5days a week for 4 weeks. 50 x 12 = 600 hours per day 600 x 5 = 3,000 hours per week 3,000 x 4 = 12,000 BA Local below the line hours. (Contract language; Numerator) 50 Romanian (or Canadian) crewmembers work 12 hours a day 6 days a week for 8 weeks. 50 x 12 = 600 hour per day 600 x 6 = 3,600 hours per week 3600 x 8 weeks = 28,000 below the line hours. (Contract language; Denominator) 12.000 / 28000 = 42% of 5.4% =2.27%, the new FBO residual percentage. 42% of 8.1% = 3.4%, the new DVD residual percentage. Using the same dollar amounts in examples 1&2; EXAMPLE 4 $100 Million x 2,27% = $2.2 Million in foreign box office. And, $100 Million x 3.4% = $3.4 Million in DVD sales The producers get $244 Million the MPIPHP health plan gets $6 Million. But wait, that assumes that the producer is not a distributor. If the producer is also the distributor, which is often the case, the numbers shrink even more. EXAMPLE 5 $20 Million x 2.27% = $454,000 in foreign box office, and, $20 Million x 3.4% = $680,000 in DVD sales. The producer gets $249 Million the MPIPHP health plan gets $1 Million I think given the rate at which films are no longer shot or have abbreviated shooting schedules in the US, that the above examples (3, 4, and 5) are extremely generous but it does illustrate the drastic economic effect of “prorating”. And of course if the film is shot entirely out of country the MPIPHP gets $0.00, and unfortunately, the majority of the bigger films are shot out of country. DOMESTIC RUNAWAY PRODUCTION Yet one more caveat plays here that is the moronic “triggering “ mechanisms that the IA has instituted to keep residuals down in films shot in the US. The IA and the producers have agreed that if a member of a film crew is a member of a non-BA, studio-mechanics local his/her wages will be used to lower the percentage of residual payments. I’m sorry but WTF? OUR OWN DUES PAYING UNION MEMBERS BEING USED TO REDUCE THE PAYMENTS TO THE HEALTH PLAN? THE FIX The reason I have included all the examples above is to illustrate how seemingly insignificant contractual changes can have devastating effects in the long term. But even more importantly is that each example represents a provision in the contract that can be amended. There is a lot of room for negotiating. To begin with, if a film is shot in the US by a union crew there should be no prorating based on a member’s union affiliation, no “triggering”…in either the Post 60’s or Supplemental Market clauses… Article XXVIII © (3) (iii) Secondly, if a film has been shot out of country and wants to continue in the US, there will be no prorating of residuals based on foreign or domestic crew. Full residual payments should apply… Article XXVIII © (1) (ii) Thirdly, residual payments should be paid in full regardless of whether or not the producer is also a distributor… Article XXVIII ( (2) (ii) There is ample room for negotiations in Article XXVIII of the Basic Agreement. If the three sections listed above were struck from he Basic Agreement the monies gained would provide the MPIPHP with the funds necessary to keep the qualifying hours at or below 300 hours and eliminate the need to cut $260 Million in benefits to the members. And it would not affect the budgets of any film… Residuals are profit sharing of secondary and tertiary markets… OPTIONS It seems clear that the IA has no interest in renegotiating the contract. It is also clear that the business agents of the 18 locals will do what they are told by the IA regardless of the harm the contract does to their members. But the members have options. A,B,C A: The members can ratify the proposed contract and move on… but at what cost? … And there will be cost… just as there has been cost to the past contracts that were not anticipated… Runaway production will continue unabated, the lack of funding to the health plan will continue to undermine the services the plan provides. Residual payments and prorating will continue to erode the funding of the health plan as well, with similar results. Without financial relief the health plan will be forced to cut more services and limit the number of participants by raising the number of qualifying hours… The unanticipated cost will be the further disenfranchisement of the membership. It will only be a matter of time before producers realize, and take advantage of, the fact that the union no longer is relevant to the workforce, the union providing neither a good wage, nor health coverage to the majority of it members. The union becomes a layer of bureaucracy that has no benefit to members. There will be no incentive on the part of the membership to organize shows. Shows shot under the “New Media” provisions will only exacerbate the problem. The membership will continue to lose earning capacity with substandard wage increases…(inflation has averaged above 3% the last ten years) as well as working under substandard concessionary contracts. B: The membership can reject the proposed contract and wait. Wait for whatever new contract happens to appear. The problem with such a strategy is that it could easily work against the membership. If an equal or worse contract is presented to the membership the IA leadership and the leadership of the BA Locals will have a ready-made excuse for failure… “See, we told you so.” Fear would be maximized and chances of another rejection greatly reduced. C: The membership can reject the proposed contract with a plan. If the membership sends the IA back to negotiations with a specific agenda and specified contract proposals. The IA leadership, and the leadership of the BA Locals will need to report exactly why and how they failed if they do not succeed. (It is a subtle difference but an important one) The membership will be more attuned to the process and if need be a second rejection would be possible. If the IA cannot deliver on specific demands of the membership the embarrassment would be public and overwhelming… remember there are 350 or so other locals in the IA. The IA is in a lot stronger negotiating position that it lets on. The AMPTP is not in the position to face another labor dispute… especially over an issue that cost so little in the scheme of things. The AMPTP is an organization of 160 separate companies All 160 want to get back to work they lose money as well during labor slowdowns. They are not the cohesive unit that the IA makes them out to be. Furthermore, the IA has the ability to reach out to SAG and combine forces by double-teaming the AMPTP at the negotiating table. The time is exactly right for such a move and a true labor union would jump at the chance! IMHO now is the best time in years to press at the negotiations table. It is shameful that the leadership of both the IA and the BA Locals continue to lower the expectations of their members in order to justify the pathetic results at the negotiating table. The membership needs to decide… more of the same or a new direction. Gary Dunham ( ex president of L600) Feb 2008

Madoff did not get screwed, the Wall street moguls are doing very well, thank you. When the Katzenbergs (etc.) loose they just cut their charitable distributions (close the Motion Picture Hospital for the ones who really need it) and keep what they had. - wolf.

some big name actors are breaking SAG ( is that scabbing?) by making digital movies in New Mexico using digital video cameras under the AFTRA contract. Ouch.