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AG concessions to keep work in L.A.
By Pat Nason
UPI Hollywood Reporter
From the Life & Mind Desk
Published 7/12/2002 3:31 PM



LOS ANGELES, July 12 (UPI) -- The Screen Actors Guild has opened the door to making contract concessions with producers as a way of fighting runaway production -- the practice of taking movie and TV productions outside of the United States to save money.

SAG, working in conjunction with other entertainment industry guilds, has negotiated a concession with a group of companies producing a new UPN drama that will allow the show to be produced in Los Angeles on more favorable terms than most TV dramas receive.

As a one-hour drama, "Haunted" would normally be made using SAG contracts for performers. The union has granted a waiver to Industry Entertainment, Viacom Productions and CBS Productions, allowing the show to be produced on terms closer to the American Federation of Radio and Television Artists contract terms that typically apply to half-hour TV shows.

The union's decision to make contract concessions might lead other producers to ask for concessions of their own. However, SAG spokeswoman Ilyanne Morden Kichaven suggested that no one in Hollywood should take the concession as a sign that the union is ready to extend the same break to other productions.

"No not at all," said Kichaven. "It is not a precedent and it is not a pattern."

The pilot for "Haunted" -- a mystery series starring Matthew Fox ("Party of Five") -- was shot in Vancouver. Kichaven said producers came to SAG and said they would like to shoot the series in Los Angeles.

"We decided that it would be in the best interest of our members to grant AFTRA terms," she said, "which are very similar to SAG terms."

Kichaven said that a deciding factor in the union's decision was that license fees for TV shows are "significantly lower" on UPN and the WB than they are at the other networks. That gives producers of shows for those networks less money to work with than their counterparts with shows on ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC.

"SAG's main goal is to keep our members working," said Kichaven. "It's not only the (jobs for) leads that go to Canada -- it's the supporting actors, extras and stunt performers too. We saw this as a good work opportunity for our members."

Another front in the campaign against runaway is a bill currently being considered by state lawmakers that would provide a wage-based tax credit to producers for making movies and TV shows in the state.

The Assembly passed the bill earlier this year, but it is being stalled in a Senate committee over concerns about its price tag. The bill would cost an $650 million over five years, and some members of the state Senate say that's more than the state can afford at a time when California is facing a $20 billion budget deficit.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Democratic California Gov. Gray Davis said the bill is not intended to help Hollywood millionaires, but is meant more for working-class people in the entertainment industry.

"We want to keep the behind-the-camera work in California," said Davis, "and so the tax credit extends to wages up to the first $25,000. We are looking for the carpenters, cinematographers, the soundmen, the makeup artists, the people constructing the sets, costume people. All of these people are out of work if filming is done beyond the border of California."

The bill, if passed, would take effect in 2004. Some critics say that would be too little too late, but Davis suggested the timing allows producers to plan ahead.

"Production decisions are made nine to 10 months in advance," said Davis. "(Producers) know this incentive will be there, and in some cases the planning horizons are much larger than nine months."


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