As the Screen Actors Guild and the major studios resumed contract negotiations today, Hollywood's below-the-line laborers wanted to deliver a message: "Let's get back to work."
About 100 film and TV workers, including cinematographers, studio drivers, makeup artists and prop makers, staged a rally this morning outside the Sherman Oaks headquarters of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers -- the negotiating arm of the studios -- urging the parties to "reach a speedy resolution to the current stalemate."
Rally organizers said their purpose was not to take a position on the contract dispute, but to convey a sense of urgency about how the continuing stalemate was creating hardships for entertainment industry workers.
"We decided we needed to be seen physically,'' said Ed Gutentag, a cinematographer and spokesman for the self-described "Let's Get Back to Work" coalition. "We're not taking sides, we just want to send a message that we're suffering by their inability to come up with a deal."
Actors have been working without a contract since June 30, creating an atmosphere of uncertainty that has contributed to a steep falloff in feature film production. The slowdown has been a double whammy for crew members, who were hit hard by the fallout from the 100-day writers strike last year.
Hope Parrish, a property master, says she hasn't worked in eight months, the longest stretch in her 29 years in the business. "Nobody is starting any projects,'' said Parrish, who worked on "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." "I would like to see the producers negotiate a good deal with the actors so we can get back to work."
Many of the protestors belong to the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which is grappling with its own contract issues with the studios. IATSE members are about to vote on a controversial contract that includes widely unpopular cuts in health benefits, including extending the number of hours members have to work to keep their health insurance benefits.
Also joining the rally were about 50 supporters from the Membership First faction at SAG, who've been at war with the union's board members over the firing of former executive director Doug Allen. Membership First fears the new negotiating team will capitulate to the studios, short-changing what actors earn from shows distributed on the Internet. In that spirit, they carried signs declaring, "SAG Board Sells Us Out Again" and "Vote No on Contract."
--Richard Verrier
Two new 'Lost' clips, plus a 'Friday Night Lights' actor stops by the island
Below are a couple of clips from Wednesday's "Lost" episode, which is titled "316" and was written by executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse.
The first clip is all about Mrs. Hawking, and I thought it was pretty cool. Well, it gives us a glimpse of something cool. The second clip may be of interest to Jack-Kate fans. (Jaters, if you will.)
Oh, and there's some good news for "24," "Mad Men" and "Friday Night Lights" fans: Actors from all three shows are making appearances on "Lost" in the next few weeks.
Below the clips, there is a guest-cast roster for the next three episodes. You can just scroll to that part of the post if you don't want to see anything else.
By the way, I've gotten a few e-mails and comments asking if I'm going to do a weekly "Lost" recap here. I did so for the first few episodes of the season, but for various reasons, I have not done so in the last couple of weeks. So many other folks on the Internets write excellent "Lost" recaps and summaries that I didn't feel the need to write about "Lost" each Thursday morning unless something extra-crazy happened.
But if you really want me to start posting some thoughts every week, I'll reconsider. Leave a comment or e-mail me at moryan@tribune.com if you would like to start up a weekly "Lost" forum here. Truth be told, I am more interested in your thoughts and theories about the show, so perhaps each week I could post an open comment thread.
Regarding upcoming episodes, I think it gives nothing away to tell you this interesting fact: Both Wednesday's episode and Feb. 25 episode (which is titled "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham") were written by the show's executive producers, Lindelof and Cuse. They usually write episodes in which lots of major stuff goes down, so I'm quite excited to see those "Lost" outings. Between that fact and the excellent guest-star roster, I have my fingers crossed that we're going to see a lot cool island (and off-island) happenings in coming weeks.
What's below: The two clips from "316," then the guest-cast list, then very brief episode summaries.
Ben Linus and Mrs. Hawking and a big reveal for the "we have to go back" crowd:
Kate talks about Aaron with Jack. Other stuff happens too.
If you just want to know the prominent guest cast coming up, I'm going to list that in the next paragraph. If you don't want to know the guest cast, jump out now.
How cool is this? The guest cast in coming weeks includes Fionnula Flanagan as Eloise Hawking, Jeff Fahey as Frank Lapidus, SaidTaghmaoui as Caesar, Zuleikha Robinson as Ilana, Raymond J. Barry as Ray, Malcolm David Kelley as Walt, John Terry as ChristianShephard, Alan Dale as Charles Widmore, Lance Reddick as MatthewAbaddon, Nestor Carbonell as Richard Alpert, Doug Hutchison asHorace Goodspeed, Reiko Aylesworth (from "24") as Amy, Kevin Rankin (Herc on "FNL") as Jerry and Patrick Fischler (Jimmy Barrett on "Mad Men") as Phil.
Here's your warning: Below are the episode summaries and full guest-castrosters for the Feb. 18, Feb. 25 and March 4 episodes of "Lost," fromABC's press site. Don't read on if you don't want to know what's inthem.
Feb. 18: "316"
Summary: "The way back to the island is revealed to members of the Oceanic 6, but there's trouble ahead when not all of them wish to return."
Guest cast: Fionnula Flanagan as Eloise Hawking, Jeff Fahey as Frank Lapidus, Said Taghmaoui as Caesar, Zuleikha Robinson as Ilana, Mary Mara as Jill, Raymond J. Barry as Ray, Kavita Patil as Rupa Krishnavani, P. D. Mani as Nabil, Rebecca Hazlewood as Nalini, Patti Hastie as barfly, Glen Bailey as magician and Ned Van Zandt as Mr. Dorsey.
Writers: Lindelof and Cuse. Director: Stephen Williams.
Feb. 25: "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham"
Summary: "Locke's fateful mission offthe island as Jeremy Bentham is revealed. Malcolm David Kelley guest stars as Walt."
Guest cast: Malcolm David Kelley as Walt, John Terry as ChristianShephard, Alan Dale as Charles Widmore, Lance Reddick as MatthewAbaddon, William Blanchett as Aaron, Said Taghmaoui as Caesar, ZuleikhaRobinson as Ilana, Ammar Daraiseh as Hajer, Grisel Toledo as Susie,Stephen Scibetta as foreman and John Jamal Bradley as kid.
Writers: Cuse and Lindelof. Director: Jack Bender.
March 4: "LaFleur"
Summary: "Sawyer perpetuates a lie with some of the other islandsurvivors in order to protect themselves from mistakes of the past."
Guest cast: Nestor Carbonell as Richard Alpert, Doug Hutchison asHorace Goodspeed, Reiko Aylesworth as Amy, Christopher Jaymes asdoctor, Kevin Rankin as Jerry, Patrick Fischler as Phil, Molly McGivernas Rosie, Carla Buscaglia as Heather and John Skinner as Other #1.
Writers: Elizabeth Sarnoff and Kyle Pennington. Director: Mark Goldman.
Photo: Nestor Carbonell as Richard Alpert.
A marathon. A happening. It's Philip Glass's 'Music in Twelve Parts.
Composer Philip Glass and the members of his ensemble walked onstage wearing steely expressions Monday afternoon, as if bracing themselves for what was to follow: the West Coast premiere, 35 years after its New York premiere, of Glass's 'Music in Twelve Parts'Concert listings | Event listingsPerforming arts listings
'The Queen Of Bling' Preps For The Oscars
Third-generation jewelry designer Lorraine Schwartz has adorned Beyonce, Barbra Streisand and Elizabeth Taylor.
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