SAGThe actors looking to move forward are one step closer to taking the bull by the horns.
Unite for Strength, the platform launched by Screen Actors Guild members such as Kate Walsh, Amy Brenneman and Doug Savant who have been ready to vote on a new contract for months, won six of a possible 11 Hollywood seats on SAG's national board, according to ballot results announced Thursday.
Two of the seats will be occupied by Brenneman and veteran character actor Ken Howard.
Among other things, the group has objected to SAG president Alan Rosenberg and executive director Doug Allen's continued refusal to let members vote on the three-year deal proposed in June by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents major studio and network heads.
SAG's dissidents had also won the support of Tom Hanks, Sally Field, Alec Baldwin and other thesps who urged members of the smaller American Federation of Television and Radio Artists to approve the deal that their leaders arrived at in May.
Unite for Strength also supports the idea of a SAG-AFTRA merger, saying it would make the actors, broadcasters and other performers that much more powerful when they run up against studio and network execs.
On the other hand, heavy hitters such as Jack Nicholson, Viggo Mortensen and Martin Sheen have stood up for the side that thinks AFTRA agreed to unsatisfactory terms.
In the meantime, AFTRA went on to ink a new contract and SAG remains mired in a contentious funk, its members working without a contract since June 30.
But now, at last, there may be an end in sight to the nearly five-month stalemate.
The AMPTP has called the contract that it put forth months ago the alliance's "final offer," but a shakeup in SAG's leadership could start bringing people back to the table—although many agree that making a major change, such as unseating Allen as chief negotiator, might only breed hostility between opposing factions.
Joely Fisher, Keith Carradine and Scott Bakula—all members of Membership First, which is opposed to merging SAG and AFTRA and wants further negotiations to ensure improved conditions for "middle-class actors"—have also won seats on the board.
But with all this change in the air, here's something we're used to: Nothing's going to happen for now, at least until the board meets Oct. 18.