Audition: "Sprint" @ Ross Lacy Casting. This goes well. My callback ratio isn't the greatest at this office. Hopefully that will change; at any rate, I had a great time.

Tonight I attended, what was supposed to be, a SAG Presidential Debate Meeting. The only problem is that the opposing side chose not to participate. I usually attend a couple of meetings a year and more often than not I leave with not such a great feeling. To be honest, I sometimes wonder exactly what side the higher-ups of the Guild are on. I don't pretend to know the real in and outs of all the contracts, but some things just seem weird. I could never understand why "we" hired Bob Pisano, the former the CEO that recently resigned. I mean, he was on the board of directors of Net Flix the whole time. I don't blame him for not giving up his seat on the board, I’m sure he was making a lot of money but I don't understand why SAG hired him. I believe it was pretty obvious what side he was on...and it wasn't ours. I don't know, it just seems that SAG, in so many ways, is playing catch up while the producers watch us fight.

If you, like me, used to not too much attention to the Guild stuff that comes in the mail I beg of you to check it out. We need guidance and soon. We have to have more informed voters so we can all earn a living in this crazy business. As I wait for my residuals for “The Terminal” it pains me to know how little of the pie we get while the studios get so, so much. On the surface, it seems to me, that if we actors were aligned with the directors and writers we could get our fair share.

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This is an email I received as an example during a recent negotiation. It shows how things can be:

Thank you SOOO much for your recent email. I have tried till I'm blue in the face to explain what happened to me on the movie Seabiscuit, which you referenced in your email? [Note: we pointed out that the Writer and director of "Seabiscuit" each made $650,000 from DVD sales.]

Please feel free to share this information in ANY of your materials as it will further breakdown HOW LITTLE will show up in the actors' pockets and how MILLIONS of dollars will be lost in the future.

A few key points on "Seabiscuit" and another movie I worked on, "Catch Me If You Can".
Seabiscuit - pay rate for me: 1 day, Scale plus 10%. "Take it or leave it." Sound familiar? I took it. THINKING, great book, big movie, big budget, RESIDUALS - WRONG!!!!

The movie grossed over 200 million at the box office, then went on to become the #20 Top Selling DVD of ALL TIME at 6.6 MILLION UNITS. But I had to split the 12 CENTS that actors got for each of those 6.6 MILLION UNITS with 90 other speaking roles!

Net pay for me for one day: $538.00
Residuals: $458.00 - And that's for EVERYTHING - DVD, Cable, Pay TV.

Films of this size are skipping cable and syndication and cutting right to cheap, mass-produced DVD's which offer PURE PROFIT.

Now I will use Catch Me If You Can as my other example:
2 days at $800 (my quote at the time - you'll see why fighting for your quote is worth the risk of losing the job.) [Note: this is also a good example of why the proposed 3% increase in minimums is meaningless.]

My residuals for Catch Me If You Can: $5,200. Almost 3 times my initial salary. Same 200 Million at the box office - BUT - not anywhere near the DVD sales of Seabiscuit. BUT - A LOT of HBO, Cable and Pay-Per-View.

The DVD issue is worth sending these guys back to the table. Any penny above what we have now is worth MILLIONS in the long run. The STARS have to come out on this since they have even more to lose than we do. They came out late in the Commercial Strike - I say - bring them out now.

I will send your email to all my friends with that thought in mind that ANYTHING we get above NOTHING now is worth the good fight. WE MUST NOT be fed this b.s. from up top. They misjudged us when they tried to sell us on the merger and on the dues raise. I think they're doing that here, too.

Yours in Brotherhood,

[Name deleted at writer's request.]

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Is that a wake up call or what? Arm yourself with knowledge and then vote!!