Hollywood actors who oppose their union s tentative deal to relax investment limits for talent agents plan to stage a rally Thursday outside the national headquarters of the Screen Actors Guild.
The agreement, narrowly endorsed last month by SAG s national board, has sharply divided the union since it was hammered out in late February following several weeks of closed-door negotiations.
Ballots for the referendum on the pact, which amends SAG s master franchise agreement governing agent-actor relations since 1939, went out Wednesday to 98,000 union members, with results to be announced April 19.
The deal would permit talent agencies for the first time to sell as much as 20 percent of their business to independent TV and film production houses or buy stakes of up to 20 percent in those such companies. The same cap would apply to talent agency investments made in or received by advertising firms.
Opponents argue the deal would effectively scuttleconflict-of-interest safeguards that prevent agents from having too big an ownership interest in companies for which their clients work.
This is a bad deal, terrible for actors, said SAG treasurer Kent McCord, who chairs the Actors Rights group opposed to the pact. Our guild is trying to scare members into voting for an incomplete contract that will take away actors rights to uncompromised representation.
Supporters of the deal cite the need to avoid the chaos of deregulation that could occur if the agreement is voted down. They contend that investments allowed under the deal would be fully disclosed and represent non-controlling interests, leaving the nature of actor-agent relationships unchanged.
The pact still forbids movie studios, television networks or their affiliates from holding a stake in talent agencies.
For the agencies, the deal gives them greater ability to attract much-needed capital and to compete with talent managers in Hollywood who already can represent clients interests while producing movies and TV shows.
The Actors Rights group plans to rally at SAG headquarters at 11:30 a.m. Thursday for an event that will include celebrity speakers and street theater with actors wearing masks.
board members opposing the deal include Seymour Cassel, Richard Dreyfuss , Frances Fisher, Elliott Gould, Valerie Harper, Sally Kirkland, Diane Ladd, Esai Morales and Fred Savage. Rob Schneider has also announced his opposition, asking last week that SAG set representatives stop distribution of pro-deal material on the set of The Hot Chick at Disney.
Supporters of the deal include SAG president Melissa Gilbert and board members Mike Farrell , Tess Harper, Jane Kaczmarek and Tom LaGrua.
Farrell and McCord debated the issue Wednesday during KPCC-FM s Air Talk show.
Many other high-profile SAG members have been reluctant to take a public position on the deal. Opposition from stars was a key factor in the decision in early 2000 to scuttle a tentative deal with the agents for a two-year waiver on ownership restrictions.