Welcome to Season III of

IN PLAIN SIGHT

FINAL CALL TIMES FOR

Monday, 1st, February 2010

 

Thank you for being part of this great TV Series

Stand Ins

Mary – Vicki - FINAL Call Time 07.30 AM

Marshall – James - FINAL Call Time 07.30 AM

Henry - Bryan  - FINAL Call Time 07.18AM

Claudia -  Natalie  -   FINAL Call Time 12.30 PM

Carson  -  Ted  -  FINAL Call Time 07.30 AM

  

 

The Average filming day is a 12-14 hour day. Please bring a book or cards to keep you occupied in you down time. Please be 15 to 20 minutes early if you would like to eat before you start work.  If you have any questions  Please call

Kathryn  505 316 6101   or    George  505 307 0316

BACKGROUND INFO

Please check Wardrobe instructions below.

TOURIST & TOWNSFOLD WITH AUTO - -  FINAL  Call Time – 6.30AM

TOURIST -   - FINAL  Call Time -6.48AM

TOWNSFOLK – FINAL  Call Time - 7.00 AM

WARDROBE -

Neutral muted colors, tans, beige, light grey, light brown, light blues, etc.. It is present day in November.Jeans, kahkis, cargo pants, tshirts, polo shirts, etc, long sleeves, light jackets, closed in toed shoes, you are in Old Town as a tourist or townfolk. .  Please bring light jackets. Please come dressed and ready in one option and BRING TWO ADDITIONAL OPTIONS FOR WARDROBE TO CHOOSE FROM. NO LETTERING OR JERSEYS.  NO WHITE NO BLACK, NO RED  NO STRIPES NO LOGOS.

 

DIRECTIONS -Parking – 1820 Bellamah Rd , Abq 87104

From I-40 and I-25 go WEST on I40.

Exit 157A Rio Grande Blvd.

Turn LEFT onto Rio Grande Blvd. for .03 miles

Turn LEFT onto  Bellamah AVE

Base camp  ill be on the right.

You will see all the big trailers and signs saying IPS with arrows.

Park where indicated and take all your wardrobe with you. Please bring drivers licence and SS to fill out your paperwork. Please be on time as it will help you enjoy the day.

If you have any questions, please call

Kathryn  505 316 6101   or    George  505 307 0316

 

  

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Want a good reason to film in Albuquerque? One need look no further than the city’s film office website, boasting 310 days of sunshine a year (take that Michigan!) And if it’s possible, the days are looking even brighter when it comes to the future of filmmaking in the Duke City; just ask the Mayor and his Film Office liason, Ann Lerner. I’ve known the Mayor for years, but it was my first opportunity to meet Mrs. Lerner, and I liked her right off the bat…and not just because she’s a rabid KU fan like me! I was told that Ann was a really warm and funny personality and she didn’t disappoint; Ann even came prepared with her own prop…a fake concrete block that I am sure she intended to use on the Mayor if he got out of hand during the course of the interview. He did get out of hand, several times, but I am accustomed to dealing with the Mayor over at my radio home, KZRR 94ROCK, so I anticipated this and promised Ann that I would keep some things off the record!

So while the talk did start off with a rousing discussion on the finer points of Blazing Saddles, we did get to lots of serious film stuff in this interview…I promise, but based on the two characters I was speaking with, the entire interview was punctuated with humor and enthusiasm, and I think it was a good metaphor for film in Albuquerque. We don’t take ourselves too seriously, making it easy for filmmakers to feel right at home here, but we’ve also got a reputation for supporting our projects with a loyalty and enthusiastic spirit that is truly New Mexico.

Ann Lerner has that loyalty…she left New Mexico to go to School at the University of Kansas where she earned degrees in elementary education and special education, but she came back to Corrales in 1977 and got involved in film the old-fashioned way: “I slept with the director.” Ann said very matter-of-factly…insert dramatic pause…then she added with a wink and a smile: “The director I slept with was my husband!” The Mayor added a funny line here, questioning: “Just the one director?” but I think that was supposed to be off the record. Ann’s husband had started a production company and she began her foray into film. That led to a more than 20-year background in commercial film production, which eventually led all the way to City Hall. “I have the best job in the city…don’t tell anybody because then they’ll want my job…but one of the reasons why is because Mayor Chavez is so film-friendly. He understands that this is a creative, high-paying, non-polluting industry.”

Ann says it gives native New Mexicans, who are creative by nature, a chance to work in their home state instead of the brain-drain leaving for L.A. Ann mentioned the movie The Game, which was scouting for a large, post-apocalyptic set and they were looking at New Orleans, which was and to some degree is still, post-apocalyptic and perfect for their needs. “But when the producers went to New Orleans, the Film Commissioner was too busy to meet with them so they just gave them a map and they were on their own.” Ann says when those same producers came here, they not only got a meeting with the Film liason but the Mayor was there to greet them as well. “The scene for the film eventually led to 17.2 million dollars spent directly in Albuquerque, and put 90 construction workers on the job.”

That’s why it’s a no-brainer for the Mayor, and he notes one of the main reasons Albuquerque is so successful is because its versatility makes it very attractive to producers. “Albuquerque is unique in the fact that it can look like so many other cities. Architecturally, you can film a lot of different places right here.” The Mayor recalls shooting on Elvis Has Left the Building : “The premise of the film is that they are traveling to Las Vegas and going through many cities to get there. They filmed seven of those cities within five miles of Old Town. That speaks to the profitability of a movie, if you can do all of those locations in one place.” I asked the mayor if that kind of hospitality has translated into any cameo roles for his Mayor-ness; he joked “No, but we’re working on a new Film liason who can get me lots of those cameos.” That got a laugh from his current Film liason (and maybe a swat to the shoulder) and a big laugh from me.

The Mayor says the gem of Albuquerque’s Film Industry is Albuquerque Studios. Located south of town, the 28-acre site contains a 100-million dollar investment of eight soundstages, production office space, mill space and a big backlot. The city’s website sells it as a convenient location for busy film workers, being just a 90-minute flight from LAX and a five-minute drive from the airport once they arrive at Albuquerque’s Sunport. The lot sits on a 9,000 acre development on Albuquerque’s southeast mesa and incorporates the best practices of planned and sustainable urban development, which is also very attractive to many filmmakers. Albuquerque Studios employs hundreds of New Mexicans on productions each year, and continuing to grow that local film workforce is clearly becoming every bit as important as drawing new projects to the state.

Earlier this winter, the State announced classroom initiatives that are already benefitting Albuquerque’s classrooms. The idea is, if you keep kids interested longer, they stay in school longer…our graduation rates improve, and so do our numbers for skilled film workers sustaining the industry from within. In addition to the state initiatives, Ann says the Albuquerque Film office has a list and is in constant contact with schools and teachers who specifically work in film or digital media. They send film industry professionals to the schools to talk to kids about real-life film jobs and they notify the district of new plans with e-mail blasts to keep kids up-to-date with upcoming opportunities. The Albuquerque Film Office is also involved with the 505 Festival, which is a city-sponsored Film Festival just for high school students held at the historic Kimo Theater. The Mayor talked about a 12-minute DVD that the city sponsored and submitted to the World Leadership Awards in London, where it didn’t win but it did make the finals. The DVD details the progression of how Albuquerque students will learn the business and art of filmmaking to prepare them for future careers here at home. “These are the opportunities that maybe some kids…maybe in L.A. had, but no one else in America will have these kinds of opportunities for their kids. It’s mind-boggling.” Ann mentions that many of these school film programs have agreements with CNM so the transition to vocational and technical training is easier for kids leaving high school but not so sure they want to go to a four-year college. Ann says “The below-the line film crew are really blue-collar jobs…you can wear whatever you want…you don’t have to dress up in a fancy suit and you make 50- to 100-thousand dollars a year here.” That’s just not possible in a lot of other blue-collar industries.” Ann adds it’s important to note that the hours for film workers are long, but you have the option to take time off between films.

Helping to bring in big films also carries with it the tedious job of having to meet and thank movie stars. Fortunately, our Mayor is up to the task. He’s met lots of big names visiting the movie sets to personally thank the producers and actors for choosing to spend their time here. I asked him who he’s met and he said : ”Gosh, I’ve met Kevin Kline, Joe Pesci; yesterday we were on the set of “In Plain Sight” and Mary McCormack wouldn’t come say ‘hi’ to me.” He seemed a little hurt so Ann stepped in to massage the ego by saying “No, the guy said when she was done with that scene she ran after you to say ‘hi’ but you’d already left.” Then the three of us mused on how attractive Mary McCormack is, and then that led to talking about how pretty Charlize Theron is. “I was really impressed meeting Charlize…I always thought she was attractive but in person, it’s like, pick your tongue up off the ground! She’s just gorgeous.” I told him I understood because I had the same reaction when I met Steven Segal. That was a joke, by the way. I also told the mayor I suspect maybe that’s why he supports Albuquerque film so much, if it means bringing the most gorgeous women in the world to our city on a regular basis.

Ann said its projects like “In Plain Sight” and “Breaking Bad” that are also getting Albuquerque’s name out there, because each show is set in Albuquerque. Ann says with “In Plain Sight” they spend about a million dollars per episode in Albuquerque and about 90-percent of the crew are New Mexican. “The economic impact of 3-5 million viewers watching each week is immeasurable. And they’re showing the city off in a good way.” She mentions the last episode which featured the Kimo, Nob Hill, and even Lindy’s Restaurant. The Mayor mentioned the CSI franchise and says New York has one, Las Vegas has one and Miami has one, but Albuquerque has two T.V. shows set and filmed right here. Crash is also a T.V. series being filmed here, although the series is set in L.A.

And that’s not all Albuquerque’s got on the horizon: The Reelz Channel is a cable-channel that recently set up shop at Albuquerque Studios and they hired between 80-100 New Mexicans. UNM is building a film school. There are numerous film festivals, including the Duke City Shootout, the Italian Filmfest and the 505 Youth Film Festival. Add to that the overwhelming support from local and state government, and it’s hard to imagine there would be any detractors. And the Mayor says while you can still find them, their legislative threats just aren’t taken seriously. “A legislator from Deming tried to squash the film incentives, but that’s where they filmed the last Indiana Jones. I don’t think those efforts are serious. The evidence is just compelling that the incentives are good.” Ann adds, “And I think we need to get the word out across the state about how much filming is done around the state, and not just in Albuquerque. So some of these films might be based in Albuquerque but they might be out filming for a week in Edgewood or Carrizozo, so it’s really statewide.” And the Mayor wants to support all types of projects…not just the blockbusters, he says if a 2-million dollar production comes in, that’s REAL money being spent here and it all benefits New Mexicans.

The mayor says one of the reasons he believes Albuquerque is faring well or better than some other cities is directly related to film activity. Albuquerque had 19 film credits in 2008, including Saint John of Las Vegas, Love Ranch, and Terminator Salvation. And when it comes to the incentives, the Mayor says he thinks we ought to sweeten the pot. ”We really ought to go up a few percent at the state level because these incentives can be replicated anywhere.” Research by Ernst & Young shows that for every dollar New Mexico spends on film, we get $1.50 back. Mayor Chavez says other towns are looking at our model to try to take some of the market, but he adds “We have taken the incentives and built out the rest of the infrastructure with post-production facilities, and the digital capacity is as good here as anywhere in the world now. So we hook them with the incentives but we keep them with the rest of it.”

Ann says you can’t overlook quality of life is a big seller too. ”Would you rather shoot here in January or in Michigan?” I’m sorry Michigan, no offense, but that’s an easy answer for most. And let’s hope for the Mayor’s sake that it’s an easy choice for Charlize Theron too.

by Senior Reporter

Erica Viking

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Erica Viking Announces the “New Icon Series” for FilmSavage.com <See Video Below>

1 comment

DUE TO UPCOMING PRODUCTION SCHEDULE CHANGES WE WILL NEED TO

RESCHEDULE THE DATE FOR THE BUSINESS SEMINAR IN MARCH:  Please stay posted we will reschedule this date in the next two weeks.

Business Series – HOW TO WORK WITH FILM PRODUCTION COMPANIES

About:
This is a series of three informational classes that will cover all aspects of working with film production companies. These classes will teach you how to access the millions of dollars they spend each year in New Mexico including how to make the right contacts, develop businesses and protect your company when working within the industry.

Gwyn Savage of FilmSavage.com has over 20 years experience in business consulting, development, management and marketing with over 7 years direct experience working in the film industry in New Mexico. This includes work as a casting director, and business owner servicing the film industry. Over the past 7 years Gwyn has developed key relationships with production companies and crew and put thousands of people to work in the industry. With her business experience and film knowledge she has put together a class series that will help local New Mexico business navigate the industry and negotiate the difficult world of working in film.

Who Should Attend:
Anyone who would like to develop a strong business relationship with Film Production Companies & Crew. Anyone who wants to learn the in’s and out’s of how the film business works should attend.

The film industry in New Mexico has grown from one or two films a year to over 20+ a year with budgets ranging from 1 to 120 Million. Many businesses benefit from the revenue production companies bring to the state including but not limited to: hotels, restaurants, cleaning services, car dealerships, car rentals, new and used cars, hardware stores, office supplies, catering companies, specialty stores, furniture for lease or to buy, realtors, home rentals, film locations, spas and resorts, and all types of products bought to build and design the sets for films.

YOU CAN CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO REGISTER…

Please Note: that by registering below you are registering for the Seminar March 23rd and March 25th. We will email you once you have registered with location information and additional details.

FOR 1 PERSON (Click Below)

FOR 2 PEOPLE (Click Below)

FOR 3 PEOPLE (Click Below)

FOR 4 PEOPLE (Click Below)

SEMINAR OVERVIEW

DAY 1- The Nuts & Bolts of the Business
Monday March 23rd
Time: 1PM to 5PM
Location – TBD

Industry Overview
Brief History of Filming in New Mexico
What do Production Companies Want & Why?
How does your business benefit

2- Digging Deeper – The Unspoken Rules of the Film Industry
Class 2 – Wednesday March 25th
Time: 1PM to 5PM
Location – TBD

Breaking Down the Different Departments & What they do
Chain of Command & Why it is so important
What you need to know to get the business
Questions you must ask
How to make sure you get paid

3- Block by Block – How to build the right relationships in each department and the specifics on where the business is and how to get it.

Class 3 – We will be scheduling group times w/ companies and the

corresponding departments they wish to work with based on the two prior classes.
Times: To Be Scheduled at Class 2
Location: FilmSavage.com Offices

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FANBOYS will have a limited release Feb 6th 2009

Please email and tell any friends that know in those states. If all goes well national release will come soon after.
Thank you again to all the wonderful Actors and StarWars Fans that helped make this film.
Also check out the official site link below.

http://www.fanboys-themovie.com/#/home-page

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This article posted from the Official SAG WEBSITE -

CLICK THE LINK BELOW FOR THE FULL ARTICLE

http://www.sag.org/home

TV/Theatrical Negotiations
Important Information Regarding Negotiations

Click here to view Fact Checking the AMPTP – December 01, 2008

Click here to view Questions and Answers Regarding Negotiations
Questions and Answers Regarding Negotiations

Why should we vote to authorize a strike?
We need to show management that we are willing to fight to preserve our ability to earn a living as union performers; otherwise, management will take that away from us. Nearly half of our earnings as union performers come from residuals, but management wants us to allow them to make programs for the Internet and other new media non-union and with no residuals. This means that as audiences shift from watching us on their televisions to watching us on their computers and cell phones our ability to earn a living will go away and future generations of actors may never be able to earn a living through their craft. This change will happen faster than you think.

To add insult to injury, management also insists that we eliminate force majeure protections from our contract. These protections have existed since the first SAG contract in 1937 and protect you when production stops as the result of an “act of God” like a natural disaster or a strike by another union, such as the WGA strike earlier this year. This is an enormous rollback that will leave actors without one of the most basic protections of a union contract.

What is the effect of voting “yes” to authorize a strike?
Voting “yes” does not mean that there will automatically be a strike. A strike authorization is a tool that gives us more leverage in negotiations and we intend to use it to try to get a fair deal. If we receive “yes” votes from at least 75% of the members who vote on this referendum, the National Board will have the ability to call a strike, but it must vote to do that, and that won’t happen before we attempt further negotiations to reach a deal with management.

Why does management believe we should endorse non-union, residual-free work in New Media?
Management claims this bad deal is necessary because they need to “experiment” with new media and they claim they will renegotiate these terms with us in the future. We have already agreed to most of management’s new media terms, however, and have proposed, in the areas where we still disagree, extremely flexible terms for new media based on our successful low budget theatrical contracts and our nearly 800 made-for-new media contracts with independent producers. Our terms will allow management the latitude to experiment using union actors.

And how can we believe that management will ever improve these new media terms when they still won’t improve the home video residual formula after 22 years? Right now all the actors on a given cast share 1% of the revenue generated through DVD sales because of a formula we agreed to in 1986 when management needed to “experiment” with home video. In this negotiation, we have asked only that management at least make pension and health contributions on DVD residuals, rather than making us pay them ourselves out of our paltry 1%. They have refused even that!

The basic cable residual formula was also negotiated early in the history of that medium to reflect the then “experimental” status of basic cable programming and pays only a small fraction of network television residuals. It is now over 20 years later, 27% of all television ad dollars are now spent on basic cable, and the basic cable formula still pays only a small fraction of network television residuals. Management simply does not have a history of ever ending their “experiments” and paying us fairly.

The reality is that management is opportunistic and they believe they can force these concessions on us because they believe we are weak and divided. We need your vote to prove them wrong.

Don’t all these terms just go away at the end of 3 years anyway because management has agreed to a “sunset clause”?
All the “sunset clause” means is that if management wants to maintain in future negotiations the bad new media deal they want to force on us now, they must write those terms down on a piece of paper and give it to us as a proposal. Do you really believe that this will provide us with any protection in a future negotiation if management decides that they like making non-union, residual-free programs in new media? The fact is that once management establishes a business model that relies upon non-union, residual-free production, it will be even harder to change their minds. Just look at how hard they continue to fight to avoid improving the home video formula, well after DVD’s have become their richest source of revenue.

Haven’t the other Hollywood unions accepted this deal already? Why do we need a better deal?
We are not looking for a “better” deal. We are looking for a deal that is different and that recognizes the unique needs of actors. No other union represents the actors who appear in motion pictures or the actors who account for over 95% of the earnings in primetime network television. While management likes to pretend, when it suits them, that “pattern bargaining” is somehow obligatory for unions in this industry, the fact is that we have a legal right to negotiate our own contract. And for good reason—the “pattern,” in many cases, affects us differently:

The impact of sanctioning non-union made-for-new media programs is different for us. Many performers must rely on the collective bargaining power of the union to obtain fair terms of employment. Unlike the writer or director, a day performer or background actor may not have the leverage to negotiate fair terms for themselves. Performers, especially stunt performers, also have health and safety issues on the set that aren’t shared by writers or directors and they rely on the union to look out for them. And unlike writers or directors, our union faces a significant threat from non-union performers who want to provide producers with an alternative workforce they can use to make their product without having to comply with union terms and conditions. Allowing our employers to make non-union new media productions will allow these non-union actors to gain credits and experience, which will make non-union production easier and more attractive and thereby reduce the opportunities for union actors like us to get work.

Allowing residuals-free new media production also impacts performers differently. Unlike writers and directors, most performers don’t earn enough in initial compensation to live on. Instead, we rely on residuals to get us through the lean times. As production inevitably shifts from traditional media to new media, the lack of residuals in new media will eventually choke off that vital source of income that enables us to stay in the profession even when we aren’t working so that we can audition, hone our craft and remain available for new roles. In such a world, many of us will be reduced to amateurs working day jobs to support our acting habit.

There are already lots of differences between management’s new media proposal to us and their deals with the DGA and WGA. For example, management has agreed to set minimum payments for writers of made-for-new media programs, but refuses to do so for actors. Why doesn’t the pattern apply to this critical issue? There are other differences. The minimum residual for a TV show rerun on the Internet for six months is over $600 for a director or a writer, but only $22.77 for an actor who works as a day player. On the other hand, use of clips of an actor’s work on the Internet requires consent by the actor, but a director’s or writer’s work can be used as a clip on the Internet without their consent. Is that better, worse or just different? Management talks about their new media template like it is exactly the same for each union and can’t be changed. In fact, management has proposed varying new media provisions to different unions when it suited them, but they have refused when we have proposed reasonable and modest changes, like making sure all made-for-new media productions are done union and pay residuals.

Are we sure that we have exhausted every opportunity to make a deal before asking for this authorization?
We shouldn’t have to exhaust every opportunity to make a deal before asking for a strike authorization. Most successful unions ask for a strike authorization early on, sometimes before they even start bargaining, because management is more likely to take the union seriously if they know the members are willing to fight. We didn’t do that this time because the WGA strike had just ended, but our union needs to get back to the routine practice of approving a strike authorization well before we get to the expiration of the current contract. Actors elected by the membership to the SAG National Board decide by a vote if and when a strike should be called.

As it happens, we have absolutely exhausted every possible opportunity to make a deal before asking for this authorization. We spent 42 days between April and July in hard bargaining with the AMPTP. In the months that followed, we bargained informally, met with CEO’s and educated our membership about the issues. Finally, we asked for a federal mediator to intervene. After nearly a month, management agreed to return to the bargaining table for a marathon mediation session that ran late into the night on two consecutive days until the mediator finally declared that it was pointless to continue.

After all of that, management’s positions on the fundamental issues at stake in this negotiation are the same as they were on the first day of bargaining. On the other hand, we have pared down our demands, made painful concessions and offered compromise after compromise, all to no avail. It is crystal clear that without the support of our membership for this authorization, we will have no choice to but swallow whatever management sees fit to give us lock, stock and barrel.

Is a strike really feasible considering how bad the economy is right now?
The bad economy hurts management just as much as it hurts us. As uncertain and anxious as our employers are about the future of their businesses and of their own jobs, the prospect of a SAG membership willing to go to the mat and fight them is the last thing they want. Yes, the bad economy means that it will require more of a sacrifice from some of our members if in fact a strike becomes necessary, but remember that this union was founded and obtained its first contract during the depths of the Great Depression. Hard times do not mean that we stop demanding fair treatment from management.

What can I do to help?
Vote “yes” on the strike authorization referendum. It’s our best hope of obtaining a fair contract. Talk to your fellow SAG members wherever you can find them and convince them to vote “yes” too. Read your email and visit the SAG website to stay informed and learn about town hall meetings and other events in your area and make sure you attend. Better yet, bring another member with you. If you can’t attend, or prefer to express yourself in writing, email your thoughts and suggestions to contracts2008@sag.org. We read every email that comes in.

And most importantly, stay strong. Do not let management intimidate you into accepting less than you deserve. If we stay united, we will prevail.

Stay informed by visiting SAG’s website to view new videos at SAG TV click http://www.sag.org/sag-tv and new posts at SAG Talk at http://www.sag.org/sag-talk and to see current information regarding the TV/Theatrical contract negotiations at http://www.sag.org/tvtheatrical-negotiations.

Please email Contract2008@sag.org with your questions or suggestions.
Alan Rosenberg Message: Recent Developments Regarding SAG’s TV/Theatrical Negotiations

November 26, 2008

Dear Screen Actors Guild Member,

As your president, I want to take this opportunity to communicate directly with you about recent developments regarding our television and motion picture contract negotiations.

Last week, under the guidance of a federal mediator, we attempted to resolve our differences with the AMPTP. Our national negotiators and committee met with the mediator prior to our sessions with management, and followed the protocol and advice of the mediator. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts over two days to find creative solutions designed to move the process forward and to reach agreement, the federal mediator adjourned the mediation process early Saturday morning after concluding that mediation was over.

Now, per the resolution passed by 97% of our newly constituted national board of directors in October, we are launching a member education campaign and we will send out a strike referendum ballot to SAG members in December. We ask that you support your board and negotiating committee, and vote YES to authorize the board to call a strike only if it becomes absolutely necessary.

Your leadership believes that we must be empowered with the real threat of a work stoppage in order to let management know that we are committed to protecting the future of all actors. We ask for your support, knowing that you have entrusted us to fight for your rights, and to protect your wages, working conditions and your health and pension benefits. We take your trust very, very seriously and will work towards reaching a fair agreement without a work stoppage.

Management continues to apply its one-size-fits-all demands to SAG actors. And we continue to stress that actors have unique, reasonable needs that are different, not better, but different, than writers, directors and crewmembers. So they are telling us to allow the unions who negotiated before SAG to be our proxies. I wonder, would NBC ever let ABC negotiate its license fees for them? Of course not, but they think it’s perfectly reasonable to ask us to defer to the needs of other union workers and ignore what is critical to actors and their families.

It’s also curious that these global corporations are preaching to us about the bad economy. Like it’s our fault. As middle-income actors we are the victims of corporate greed. We didn’t cause this turmoil.

Now, more that ever, we need to take a unified stand, in solidarity, and protect the art of acting, and actors. I cannot stress this enough. Our ability to make our livings as professional actors for decades to come is at stake. New media is not an “experiment” as the employers want you to think. It’s their future, and it’s our future.

So please, don’t believe all the rhetoric management is sending over the airwaves and to the press. Please read your SAG emails and watch our website for the real facts.

In unity,

Alan Rosenberg

To see this message on SAG TV click http://www.sag.org/sag-tv or go to www.sag.org, click the “home” tab and select SAG TV.

Please email Contract2008@sag.org with your questions or suggestions.
Important Message Regarding Mediation

Dear Screen Actors Guild Member

The National TV/Theatrical Negotiating team was optimistic that federal mediation would help to move our negotiations forward, but despite the Guild’s extraordinary efforts to reach agreement, the mediation was adjourned shortly before 1:00 a.m. today.

Management continues to insist on terms we cannot responsibly accept on behalf of our members. As previously authorized by the National Board of Directors, we will now launch a full-scale education campaign in support of a strike authorization referendum. We will further inform SAG members about the core, critical issues unique to actors that remain in dispute.

We have already made difficult decisions and sacrifices in an attempt to reach agreement. Now it’s time for SAG members to stand united and empower the national negotiating committee to bargain with the strength of a possible work stoppage behind them.

We remain committed to avoiding a strike but now more than ever we cannot allow our employers to experiment with our careers. The WGA has already learned that the new media terms they agreed to with the AMPTP are not being honored. We cannot allow our employers to undermine the futures of SAG members and their families.”

No timeline has been set for the mailing or return of the strike authorization ballots.

Further updates and information will be provided very soon.

If you have questions, please email your negotiations representatives at Contract2008@sag.org.
Negotiations Update October 9, 2008

October 9, 2008

Dear Screen Actors Guild Member,

On Wednesday, October 1, the SAG National TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee passed an advisory motion to the national board of directors that will be discussed at the board’s upcoming plenary meeting in Los Angeles on October18 and19.

The advisory motion recommends that the national board should send a strike authorization referendum to SAG members, support the passage of the strike authorization, and run a member education campaign in support of the measure. Although the national negotiating committee is empowered to authorize such a referendum, the committee felt that the national board should be the body to debate and decide this important issue at this time.

It is important to note that if passed by a majority of the national board, the resolution does not call a strike. It only provides for a membership referendum to be conducted, which will take approximately 30 to 45 days.

If 75% of the qualified SAG members who vote in the referendum support the strike authorization, only then can the national board of directors call an actual work stoppage, should the board decide that it has become necessary to do so.

Any work stoppage called affecting the TV/Theatrical contracts will only impact work under those contracts, such as feature films, free television, and pay cable television, and will not affect other Guild contracts. Under such circumstances, Screen Actors Guild members would continue to work on all other contracts including the commercials contract, TV animation, basic cable television and basic cable animation contracts, industrial contract and interactive/video game contract.

All work under these contracts would continue uninterrupted. In addition, work on the more than 750 features by independent producers under SAG Guaranteed Completion Contracts would continue, as these producers are not represented by the AMPTP.

Please read the National TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee’s motion below and email Contract2008@sag.org if you have any questions.

In unity,

Alan Rosenberg
National President

Doug Allen
National Executive Director

National TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee Resolution, Oct. 1, 2008

“Whereas, Screen Actors Guild has been and remains willing and able to continue formal and continuous negotiations with the AMPTP and the employers, with the intention of reaching a mutually-acceptable deal; and

Whereas, the National Board has unanimously identified the core principles of new media jurisdiction and new media residuals as essential elements of any agreement in the Television/Theatrical contract negotiations; and

Whereas, preservation of longstanding force majeure protections for actors is of self-evident importance; and

Whereas, the President and Chief Negotiator have communicated this view to the AMPTP and the employers, and have requested that they return to the bargaining table to negotiate a fair deal; and

Whereas, the AMPTP and the employers have refused to change their position and have continued to refuse to meet to attempt to advance the negotiations; and

Whereas, in the opinion of the National Negotiating Committee, the AMPTP and the employers will only seriously engage in further negotiations after the members of the Guild express their confidence in their leadership by authorizing them to take all actions necessary to protect the interests of the membership, including a strike; and

Whereas, although the National Board has already unanimously delegated the authority to take a strike authorization vote to the National Negotiating Committee, in the opinion of the Committee, the strong and public support of the National Board for the necessity of a strike authorization at this time is a necessary prerequisite for its success;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Negotiating Committee that:

A strike authorization vote of the membership is necessary to overcome the employers’ intransigence, and the Committee therefore recommends that the National Board authorize such a vote be taken; and further recommends:
That the National Board adopt a resolution strongly supporting such an action, and recommending that the membership vote in favor of a strike authorization; and

That the National Board endorse an educational campaign advocating a “yes” membership vote, to give the authority to the National Board to call a strike only if the National Board deems it necessary and unavoidable to do so. ”

Adopted: October 1, 2008
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SAG NATIONAL TV/THEATRICAL NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE PASSES ADVISORY MOTION TO NATIONAL BOARD

SAG NATIONAL TV/THEATRICAL NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE PASSES ADVISORY MOTION TO NATIONAL BOARD

Los Angeles, CA (October 1, 2008) – The National TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee of Screen Actors Guild today passed the following advisory motion to the National Board:

“Whereas, Screen Actors Guild has been and remains willing and able to continue formal and continuous negotiations with the AMPTP and the employers, with the intention of reaching a mutually-acceptable deal; and

Whereas, the National Board has unanimously identified the core principles of new media jurisdiction and new media residuals as essential elements of any agreement in the Television/Theatrical contract negotiations; and

Whereas, preservation of longstanding force majeure protections for actors is of self-evident importance; and

Whereas, the President and Chief Negotiator have communicated this view to the AMPTP and the employers, and have requested that they return to the bargaining table to negotiate a fair deal; and

Whereas, the AMPTP and the employers have refused to change their position and have continued to refuse to meet to attempt to advance the negotiations; and

Whereas, in the opinion of the National Negotiating Committee, the AMPTP and the employers will only seriously engage in further negotiations after the members of the Guild express their confidence in their leadership by authorizing them to take all actions necessary to protect the interests of the membership, including a strike; and

Whereas, although the National Board has already unanimously delegated the authority to take a strike authorization vote to the National Negotiating Committee, in the opinion of the Committee, the strong and public support of the National Board for the necessity of a strike authorization at this time is a necessary prerequisite for its success;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the National Negotiating Committee that:

A strike authorization vote of the membership is necessary to overcome the employers’ intransigence, and the Committee therefore recommends that the National Board authorize such a vote be taken; and further recommends:
That the National Board adopt a resolution strongly supporting such an action, and recommending that the membership vote in favor of a strike authorization; and

That the National Board endorse an educational campaign advocating a “yes” membership vote, to give the authority to the National Board to call a strike only if the National Board deems it necessary and unavoidable to do so. “

Adopted: October 1, 2008

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Written by Dan Mayfield

As the movie industry heats up, it’s common to see familiar Albuquerque faces in the background. But what about art?
Watch the background of the TV shows “Breaking Bad” and “In Plain Sight” for local artists’ work. Weems Art Gallery has started renting art to local movie sets as set dressing.
“They come in and they get a mix of everything,” gallery owner Mary Ann Weems said.
The set dresser, Mary Holyoke, has had to outfit drug dealers’ houses, teachers’ homes and, recently, an entire mall. The film “Observe and Report,” which is filming at the nearly empty Winrock Mall, is using a bunch of art from Weems for a fake mall framing shop.
“I tried to get them to name it Weems,” Weems joked. “The latest one is a real mix because it’s a frame shop gallery in the mall. It was fun because I had a real big picture of my dog Oscar, and she took it.”
Sometimes, the requests are specific.
“We have to do the drug house, and that required expensive-looking art. That has a lot to do with framing. We did the teacher’s house, so we have to have something up, and the teacher is in Albuquerque, so it was more southwestern and traditional,” Weems said.
To the artists, Weems pays a percentage of the rental fee, which can be as much as 10 percent of the cost of the art.
“When I first started noticing art in a TV series was on ‘Frasier.’ OK, this was what was so fun, that was when I was handling Anthony Quinn’s work, and I recognized an Anthony Quinn piece, then they switched it to a (Dale) Chihuly sculpture. They were using real art because Frasier was an art snob,” she said. “Maybe those drug dealers are, too.”
STUDIO DIFFERENT: The new Santa Fe Studios is on its way — but there are still a few minor hurdles for the company to jump before it’s done.
The new studio is a groundbreaking idea, designed to fit in with Santa Fe’s unique attitudes toward buildings and be green at the same time.
Those are often antithetical ideas in filmmaking.
Last week, the Santa Fe County Commission voted to allow the county to sell 65 acres of land to the Hool family of movie maestros.
“There’s a number of additional minor hurdles, nothing too significant,” said Jason Hool, one of the family members working on the studios.
Hool said the big stuff — selling the county on the idea of the studio — is done. And really, how hard could that have been? It looks good, will bring clean jobs, and take over land to the south of town that nobody has wanted.
The little things now, like getting approval for the design and ironing out some other little construction issues, should be handled quickly, and Santa Fe Studios should be open for business by the end of 2009, or early 2010.
And it’s about time.
Albuquerque Studios is swamped. The studio here, in Mesa Del Sol, may be huge but it’s also entirely booked. TV shows, and of course the behemoth project “Terminator IV,” have leased the entire thing.
We do need another studio — and fast — if the state wants to keep up with the film industry that can’t seem to get enough of our landscape and eager film crews.
But studios are big. They’re warehouses on the outside, and all the magic happens on the inside. Usually, not so pretty.
This one should be. It’s designed around the ideas of starchitect Gary Bastien, who drew inspiration from northern New Mexico’s pueblos. Bastien has, for example, designed the studio to run along one of the sun’s meridians, like Chaco Canyon dwellings.
A MARIAH MOMENT:
Superstar singer Mariah Carey quietly slipped in and out of New Mexico in spring 2007. Not long after her record “The Emancipation of Mimi” hit the top of the charts, she filmed “Tennessee” here.
Not to avoid all the “Glitter” bomb jokes, but Carey sparkles in the new film. Folks who saw the movie’s premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York said it was her best acting effort yet. That may not be saying much, but she’s apparently pretty good in it.
The film was shot mostly in Albuquerque and Moriarty.
“Of our 22 days of shooting, three-quarters were in New Mexico,” said Lisa Cortes of Lee Daniels Entertainment.
Though the film was produced by Lee Daniels (“Monster’s Ball,” “The Woodsman”), it’s still considered an indie film because it’s not attached to a major studio.

For More >>> click here http://www.abqjournal.com/abqnews/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7676&&Itemid=52

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Paul Newman, who combined Method training with matinee idol looks to become the personification of the cool ’60s rebel in such iconic roles as the reckless Hud, the defiant Cool Hand Luke and the hotshot Butch Cassidy, died Friday. Surrounded by friends and family, including his wife, Joanne Woodward, the actor and philanthropist passed away at his farmhouse home near Wesport, Conn., after a long battle with cancer. He was 83.

In a film career that spanned nearly six decades, Newman received seven Oscar nominations before he was finally presented with an Honorary Oscar in 1986 “in recognition of his many and memorable and compelling screen performances and for his personal integrity and dedication to his craft.”

But then he pulled out a trump card of his own, winning the best actor Academy Award the following year for “The Color of Money,” in which he reprised the role of pool shark Fast Eddie Felsen, the character he first played 25 years earlier in “The Hustler.” Hardly slowing down as he aged into an ornery character actor, he went on to earn two more nominations — for “Nobody’s Fool” in 1995 and “Road to Perdition” in 2003.

Yet, at times, he almost seemed embarrassed by his success as an actor, as if play-acting wasn’t entirely a manly profession. He is reported to have once said, “To be an actor you have to be a child.” And so after starring in 1969’s “Winning,” he found a new passion in fast cars, which drove him to adopt the life of a professional racer. Because of that interest, director John Lasseter sought him out to provide the voice of Doc Hudson, the town elder in Radiators Springs, in the animated “Cars,” Newman’s last feature film.

In 1975, he came in second at the twenty-four hours of Le Mans. He won four “Sports Car Club of America National Championships,” and at 70, he was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as being the oldest driver to win a professionally sanctioned race — 1995’s twenty-four hours of Daytona.

Click here for more on this story:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3iac830de737fb321214c99f1e43a967ca

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Written by Dan Mayfield  Â

Friday, 08 August 2008

   The film “Saint John of Las Vegas,” which started shooting last week in Albuquerque, may seem like an ordinary independent film, but the company that’s making it isn’t.    The production company IndieVest is a first-of-its-kind company that brings the principals of venture capital and mutual funds to the movie industry — the kind of company that shows up in the business pages, not Daily Variety.     IndieVest is the brainchild of Wade Bradley and Mark Burton. Bradley is the money guy, and Burton is the movie guy. The idea is parallel to that of a mutual fund, which can own a company by pooling the resources of hundreds of investors. So can investors own a film.     The IndieVest idea is new in the film world, and “Saint John” is the first film for the fledgling company.     “Essentially, I came out of the venture capital industry and I wanted to invest in independent film,” Bradley said. “I literally could not get comfortable with the risk.”     Films are risky. Films that should be monster hits sometimes aren’t. Take “Pluto Nash,” a film that should have made millions because it starred Eddie Murphy at his peak and was put together with a $90 million budget, yet made only $4 million at the box office. Or, films like the Jennifer Lopez-Ben Affleck bomb “Gigli.”     Nothing is ever a sure thing in the movie business.     Then, of course, you have the odd “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” which was made for only $5 million but grossed nearly $250 million.     Though it would be nice to score big, IndieVest is hedging its bets through what the business world calls vertical integration. The company owns the project from start to finish, from the script to the theatrical and DVD distribution. By covering its bases from start to finish — much the way the oldtime studio model worked — Bradley and Burton feel confident that the company can turn a healthy profit.     And, of course, having bankable stars helps. “Saint John of Las Vegas” stars Steve Buscemi.     But getting from a script to a movie isn’t easy.     “I always loved film,” Bradley said. “I wanted to invest personally and get involved. As I was going through the research, and realizing the problem, and how we could achieve solutions, I realized that this problem was not mine. It was a multibillion-dollar problem. Millions were being lost. Ninety-five percent of the films made in the U.S. fail to achieve any theatrical release and don’t get any distribution.”     The company has founded its own distribution company that guarantees widespread distribution of a film.     But then, you have to get people to see it.     “The normal (independent) film wants to get to Sundance to find a buyer. Then, it takes a while for the buyer to figure how to market it,” Bradley said. “With us, the distributors and the marketers are going in lockstep. It shorts the duration between the film being completed and U.S. audiences and foreign audiences.”     By almost micromanaging the whole process, the IndieVest films are expected to make money, be entertaining and provide people with a smaller net worth a chance to be involved in film.     But picking the right project isn’t easy.     “Mark and his team have gone through 1,200 projects,” Bradley said. “(‘Saint John’) came to him about 10 months ago.”     From the outset, it was clear the film would be shot here.     “One aspect is the director liked the area,” Bradley said. “You’ve got great incentives to come there, great crews, everything is accessible. It’s easy to put together a project in New Mexico.”

For more goto…..http://www.abqjournal.com/abqnews/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8218&Itemid=52

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Saturday – October 25th, 2008
“Sex and Lies in Sin City” shows on the Lifetime Channel at 7 PM (MT)

The Burrowers  –

Release Dates

Canada  –  September 2008 (Toronto Film Festival)

Plot Summary

A band of courageous men sets out to find and recover a family of settlers that has mysteriously vanished from their home. Expecting the offenders to be a band of fierce natives, the group prepares for a routine battle. But they soon discover that the real enemy stalks them from below.

 

 Appaloosa  –   

Release Date: October 3, 2008

Plot outline

Two friends hired to police a small town that is suffering under the rule of a rancher find their job complicated by the arrival of a young widow.

 

Not Forgotten –

  Release Dates

USA  –  2009

 Plot Summary

Set in a Tex-Mex border town, Not Forgotten is a classic psychological thriller about Jack and Amaya Bishop, a couple who must come to terms with their tortured pasts in order to save their kidnapped daughter. It is a tale taut with intrigue and steeped in Latino mysticism, where the line between what’s real and what’s imagined becomes hopelessly blurred.

 

The Burning Plain –

  Release Dates

Italy  –  August 2008 (Venice Film Festival)

Plot outline

A drama with a two-tiered storyline concerning a mother (Basinger) and daughter (Theron) who try to form a bond after the young woman’s difficult childhood.

 

Five Dollars A Day –

Release Dates

USA  –  2008

France  –  15 May 2008 (Cannes Film Market)

 Plot outline

The conservative son of a thrifty conman begrudgingly joins his father on the road — after being released from jail for one of his dad’s earlier crimes.

 

Brothers –

Release Dates

USA  –  4 December 2008

Denmark  –  27 February 2009

Plot outline
A young man comforts his older brother’s wife and children after he goes missing in Afghanistan. Based on Susanne Bier’s film, “Brothers”.

 

Beer for My Horses –

  Release Dates

USA  –  8 August 2008

 Plot outline

“Beer for My Horses” tells the story of two best friends that work together as deputies in a small town. The two defy the Sheriff and head off on an outrageous road trip to save the protagonist’s girlfriend from drug lord kidnappers.

 

GAME –

  Release Dates

USA  –  30 November 2008

 Plot Summary

Set in a future-world where humans can control other humans in mass-scale, multi-player online gaming environments, a star player (Butler) from a game called “Slayers” looks to regain his independence while taking down the game’s mastermind (Hall).

 

Spoken Word –

  Release Dates

USA  –  2009

Plot outline

A San Francisco spoken word artist returns to New Mexico to be with his dying father, only to find he loses his “voice” as he is sucked back in to the dysfunctional life of drugs and violence he left behind.

 

Shoot First and Pray You Live (Because Luck Has Nothing to Do with it) –

  Release Dates

USA  –  2008

 Plot outline

Tale of vengeance — outlaw style — as Red Pierre hunts down legendary gunman Bob McGurk to avenge the murder of his Mother and Father.

 

A Lonely Place for Dying –

Release Dates

USA  –  1 December 2008

Plot Summary

It is the fall of 1972. CIA Agent Robert Harper fears he has much to answer for. KGB defector Nikolai Dzerzhinsky suspects his secrets are already known. And in an abandoned prison deep in the Mexican desert both men will learn this is…a lonely place for dying.

 

Legion –

 Release Dates

 USA – 2009

Plot Summary

After a terrifying biblical apocalypse descends upon the world, a group of strangers stranded in a remote truck stop diner in the Southwest unwittingly become humanity’s last line of defense when they discover the diner’s young waitress is pregnant with the messiah.

 

Keep Checking back for more Updates…..

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