Actors Board Narrowly Backs Contract Deal

(NEWSER) - Nearly 10 months after their previous contract expired, the Screen Actors Guild and Hollywood’s major film and TV studios have a tentative agreement for a 2-year deal, the Los Angeles Times reports. Few details of the deal, which must be ratified by the union’s 120,000 members, were made public. One contract rejected by the guild before the recession hit contained a 3.5% raise—not nearly what members will get now, analysts tell the AP. More»

SAG: members can keep working, pending talks

(NEWSER) - The contract between the Screen Actors Guild and Hollywood studios expired early today—but SAG has decided to let members keep working for the time being, E! Online reports. The two sides are scheduled to reconvene tomorrow. The Alliance of Motion Picture and TV Producers made it what it called a “final offer” last night, but SAG officials were skeptical. More»

Hollywood composers, lyricists form alliance with Local 399

(NEWSER) - A group of composers for movies and TV seeking a better deal now have the Teamsters in their corner. The musicians, who complain that their pay is shriveling as studios expect them to absorb more costs, were one of the few groups of Hollywood workers not covered by union contracts. The unlikely alliance was made at the suggestion of the Writer's Guild of America, which declined to handle the musicians' grievances. More»

(NEWSER) - Former film and TV heartthrob Van Johnson died today in New York of natural causes, Variety reports. He was 92. Johnson starred in many movies in the 1940s and 1950s, and was later nominated for an Emmy for his appearance on the TV show Rich Man, Poor Man. Dubbed the "non-singing Sinatra," the wholesome star married only once—a union that ended in what he called "the ugliest divorce in Hollywood history." More»

Hollywood wants permission to block video to some TV hardware

(NEWSER) - Hollywood is asking the government to let it control what movies HDTV watchers can see based on what hardware they’re using. Studios don’t want pre-DVD releases going over analog cables, where they can be illegally copied. In return, they’re offering to release new movies in HD on cable and satellite TV before DVD, reports the Wall Street Journal. More»