Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Who Needs Movies - We Can Just Watch SAG for Drama!

SAG's Rosenberg still defiant

Dissent not dissuading guild president


The SAG standoff over national exec director Doug Allen remains inflamed, with president Alan Rosenberg still defiant in the face of efforts by the board's majority to topple Allen.

"These people are like children," Rosenberg said of his opponents in a Tuesday interview with Daily Variety. "They refuse to take responsibility for anything they do."

The moderates have pledged they will fire Allen on grounds that he's bungled SAG's negotiations, defied the will of the board and left members without a new feature-primetime contract for nearly eight months. Despite having the votes to toss Allen out, the moderate wing was blocked by Rosenberg and his allies at the Jan. 12-13 board meeting via a 30-hour filibuster.

Rosenberg said it remains unclear when the strike authorization may be sent out as he and Allen attempt to persuade other board members to go along with a new plan to enter last-ditch negotiations with the congloms, then send the final offer out to the members without a recommendation. The moderates have already ridiculed the plan, saying they don't trust Allen.

Rosenberg questioned the latest promise by the moderates, asserting they may not have enough votes to dismiss the exec by the process of obtaining individual written signatures -- which could be submitted before the end of the month. "I suspect that they can't get enough votes for written assent, which would take us back to the dark ages," he added.

Click here to see the full article