George Clooney might have a gazillion bucks in the bank but he’s apparently a union man through and through.
In a two-page letter released Thursday, Clooney adopted a neutral stance in the dispute between the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Screen Actors Guild.
“What we can’t do is pit artist against artist,” he wrote.
AFTRA has already reached a tentative agreement with Hollywood studios. SAG wants AFTRA members to vote against the deal, saying its approval will handcuff SAG at the bargaining table. Both unions’ current contracts are set to expire Monday, leaving Hollywood on edge about a possible replay of the 100-day writers strike that ended in February. Results of the AFTRA vote are expected July 8.
Tom Hanks, Alec Baldwin and others have joined hundreds of actors in signing an online petition urging actors to ratify the AFTRA pact. Meanwhile, Jack Nicholson, Viggo Mortensen and Holly Hunter have endorsed a SAG ad calling for AFTRA to return to the negotiating table to get a better deal.
Clooney called the fight counterproductive. “Because the one thing you can be sure of is that stories about Jack Nicholson vs. Tom Hanks only strengthens the negotiating power” of the studios, he said.
Clooney also called on higher-paid actors to chip in a greater share of union dues and for 10 A-listers — “people that the studio heads don’t often say ‘no’ to,” he suggested, listing only Nicholson and Hanks by name — to sit down with studio heads once a year to “adjust the pay for actors.”
The idea of millionaire actors unionizing, let alone going on strike, has always struck me as ludicrous. But Clooney’s instinct here is right: if they’re going to organize, the big money stars ought to take care of the little guys. It makes sense to have a system in place for the folks struggling for scale jobs trying to get regular employment. Not so much one that has the likes of Clooney and Hanks walking a picket line.
In case you were thinking about breaking into the world of tv journalism, but you were scared it would be too hard, fear no more - apparently anyone can get a job as a local anchor. Holly Hunter appeared on “What’s the Buzz”, a segment on a local ABC station, to promote her new show, “Saving Grace”, and she’s the only one who knew what was going on. The anchor certainly didn’t. Were there no cue cards she could read? Did she not practice a little? Maybe it was her first day.
“Saving Grace” debuted Monday night with big numbers - an average of 6.4 million viewers at 10:00 P.M., which made it the most watched cable series premiere of the year thus far.
This video is worth watching to the end, where you can hear someone on the set scream - I can’t tell whether it’s in disbelief, anger, or mockery.
In a two-page letter released Thursday, Clooney adopted a neutral stance in the dispute between the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Screen Actors Guild.
