The ACT monitors A-list stars requesting SAG to cancel vote on strike

(SANEPR.com) December 22, 2008 -- Recently a petition urging the Screen Actors Guild leaders to halt the strike authorization vote was organized in part by the actress Rhea Perlman and Richard Masur, a former national president of the union.

The pending strike is affecting the plans of many ACT students and their families. Typically in January scripts begin to flow into the studios and executives start deciding what they’re going to shoot for pilots. Normally it is a frantic, competitive time in Hollywood when the prominent producers, reputable writers, and experienced directors design and showcase their wares for network executives. A vote to strike could change everything for young acting hopefuls.

When the petition was announced the staff and instructors of the ACT, a nationally recognized, private, nonacademic, avocational school for children and teens in the entertainment industry ( theact.tv ), began monitoring the events surrounding the signing and presentation of the petition to the Guild.

The Guild (SAG, the Screen Actors Guild) was established in 1933 to give actors a voice amidst a heavy handed studio system. The Guild encompasses both film and television actors. Over time, it has campaigned for actor control over contracts, established a health and pension fund and won residuals payments for its members. ACT students all dream of the day they will become eligible for a SAG membership as entry into SAG marks a major step toward achieving the Hollywood dream.

With a down economy in place, many SAG members oppose a strike. Of all the unions in the entertainment business, the actors’ guild is the only one remaining that has not reached terms with the studios. Programming developed for the Internet seems to be the key element that has membership and leaders divided on the issue of striking.

There is nothing easy about breaking into Hollywood, but during normal times and cycles, it can be done, especially during pilot season. Can the A-list power-house stars get the attention of the Guild leaders? Only time will tell.