WRESTLERS HELPING WRESTLERS ACT.

THE NEW DEAL IS ON! SAG-AFTRA AND PRODUCERS SHAKE HANDS ON $256 MILLION INCREASE.

Dear Member,

We are thrilled to announce that we have reached a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on successor agreements covering motion pictures, scripted primetime dramatic television and new media production.

Significant improvements were secured in the residuals rate paid to performers for exhibition of their performances on streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon. Under the new terms, actors will receive residuals for exhibition on subscription video on-demand platforms earlier, now after 90 days instead of after one year. The new formula delivers a 300% increase in residuals to performers within their first two years when their work is exhibited worldwide on Netflix.

SAG-AFTRA achieved a historic breakthrough in the rules governing travel for television performers, including an up to five-fold increase in the fees due to series performers who work at locations away from home. The travel rules for television have been rationalized and clarified, closing many loopholes and ambiguities that have allowed for abuse.

Series performer option rules were greatly improved, with the effect of reducing exclusivity periods for many series performers during which they can be held off the market.

In an unprecedented breakthrough, the new deal improves the overtime provisions for background actors working in the West Coast Zones so that they match New York standards while protecting against the attempted removal of night premiums in the New York Zone. Additionally, the committee improved the pay rate for photo doubles and achieved superior terms for background actors employed under the CW Supplement.

The committee also secured an additional 5 percent increase in the first year of the contract for stunt coordinators working under flat deal contracts in television.

Additionally, there is a first-year increase of .5 percent in the contribution rate applicable to the SAG Pension Plan and the AFTRA Retirement Fund, bringing the total benefits contribution rate to 17.5 percent. The union may also elect to convert an additional one half of one percent from the wage package in each of the second and third year.

Highlights of the tentative agreement include:

• Total package valued at $256 million over three years
• 3-year agreement commencing July 1, 2017 and expiring June 30, 2020
  
• Wage increases of 2.5 percent in the first year, 3 percent in the second year and 3 percent in the third year
• Half percent increase in the current rate of employer contributions paid to the SAG Pension Plan and AFTRA Retirement Fund in the first year of the agreement, raising the total contribution rate to 17.5 percent effective July 1, 2017
• Secured an additional .2 percent increase in funding to the SAG-AFTRA industry cooperative funds, which will support monitoring animal safety on sets, safety training and sexual harassment prevention training
• Achieved recognition of Middle Eastern North African as a diverse category in the casting data report
• Agreement to study the design and implementation of an electronic reporting system for performer work times
• Improved residuals for programming made for SVOD (subscription video-on-demand)
  • First residual is now due in 90 days rather than one year
  • Increase in the residual rate
    
  • First ever residuals compensation for foreign use
• Improvements to money and schedule breaks
• Improvements to the advertiser-supported streaming residuals
  
• Outsized increase of 18 percent for background actors working under the CW supplement
• Terms requiring that all background actors be paid double-time starting after 10 hours of work
  

The new three-year agreement will be presented to the SAG-AFTRA National Board of Directors for their approval on July 15 to be followed by a member ratification vote. Watch your email for further updates.

Thank you for your participation and involvement. Your steadfast support of SAG-AFTRA on social media vividly clarified to management that our negotiators had the strong backing of the board and our membership. This unity granted us the strength and leverage to achieve real gains on some of our membership’s most pressing items. 

In unity,

Gabrielle Carteris
President and Chair of the TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee

David White
National Executive Director
and Chief Negotiator

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WYCLEF JEAN'S NEW CARNIVAL.

Wyclef Jean has announced the release of his first full-length album in eight years, Carnival III: The Fall and Rise of a Refugee, out September 15 via Legacy Recordings. The album features contributions from Emeli Sandé, Supah Mario, The Knocks, and Lunch Money Lewis. The release coincides with the 20^th anniversary of Wyclef's critically acclaimed debut album The Carnival.
 
In addition, Wyclef Jean has released two new tracks "What Happened To Love" produced by The Knocks via CNN and "Fela Kuti" produced by Supah Mario via XXL today. Listen to "What Happened To Love" and "Fela Kuti" and pre-order the album here.

Ahead of the Carnival III rollout, Wyclef partnered with Certified Classics, an extension of Legacy Recordings, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Carnival and the 10th anniversary of the Carnival II. Certified highlights the impact of key anniversaries of classic Hip Hip and R&B albums, all in an effort to preserve the culture. Learn more at: www.thisiscertified.com
"My Carnival albums have always been about celebrating music culture from all parts of the world and Carnival III is no different," says Wyclef.

"It's outside the box. There's genre-bending. There's new talent on there. Carnival III is more than just an album. It's a celebration of what I love about music: discovery, diversity and artistry for art's sake... It's about putting music together that will outlive me and live on for generations to come that is full of emotion, vibration and fun. Get ready."

In 2016, Wyclef was back yet again with another hit, "Hendrix," the first single off of his EP, J'Ouvert. "Hendrix" garnered over 20 million streams worldwide. Wyclef's influence on the new generation is evident with the creative connection with Young Thug, who named a track on mixtape, JEFFERY, "Wyclef Jean." The two musicians teamed up to record the Caribbean-inspired "I Swear," the third single off of J'Ouvert.

As big a comeback as "Hendrix" and "I Swear" have proven to be, one should not count on Fall and Rise of a Refugee as being an entire album full of mid-tempo tracks. "Do I have anything for the clubs?" he asks. "You're talking to The Carnival Man! I've done the biggest dance records of all time! I plan to put them on the dancefloor more so than ever. I know people want that dancefloor bounce from me — that hip hop thing."

The music that Wyclef Jean has written, performed, and produced — both as a solo superstar and as founder and guiding member of the Fugees — has been a consistently powerful, pop cultural force for over two decades. In 1996, the Fugees released their monumental album The Score. As a solo artist, he has released six albums that have sold nearly nine million copies worldwide, including his 1997 debut The Carnival and 2000's aptly titled The Eclectic: 2 Sides II a Book.

Carnival III: The Fall and Rise of a Refugee Tracklist:1. Slums2. Turn Me Good3. Borrowed Time4. Fela Kuti5. Warrior6. Shotta Boys7. Double Dutch8. What Happened To Love9. Carry On10. Concrete Rose11. Trapicabana12. Thank God For The Culture

DIGINET GET TV, STAGES LENA HORNE BINGE TV EVENT.

In celebration of the 100^th anniversary of the birth of legendary star of music, stage, and screen Lena Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010), one of the most iconic African American stars of the 20^th century, getTV is proud to present a triple play of classic (and rare) Horne television appearances from the 1960s on Monday, June 26, 2017 from 9PM-12M ET. Beautiful and classy, the mesmerizing song stylist was an MGM contract player, recording artist, nightclub entertainer, Broadway star, civil rights activist and a frequent guest performer on TV variety shows from the late '50s through the '60s, when African-Americans were still not regularly seen on primetime TV.

Up first is "MONSANTO NIGHT PRESENTS LENA HORNE," originally broadcast on September 10, 1969 on NBC.  At 52, Horne was one of the first African-American women to solo host her own national primetime network TV special. The show features Horne performing classics such as "Stormy Weather" mixed with contemporary hits like "You Made Me So Very Happy" and even civil rights songs such as "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free."  She welcomes soul singer O.C. Smith and actor David Janssen (TV's "The Fugitive") as guests.

"We're so proud to present three hours featuring Lena Horne during the week of the 100^th anniversary of her birth," said Jeff Meier, Senior Vice President and General Manager of getTV, "For more recent generations who know her mainly from The Wiz, this is a chance to get more exposure to a vitally important performer who infused her performances with both elegance and intelligence.  They don't make them like Lena Horne anymore."
At 10PM, two iconic divas meet up when Horne joins Judy Garland for a well-remembered episode of "THE JUDY GARLAND SHOW," first aired on CBS on October 13, 1963, where they perform both solo and together. A highlight features the two MGM alumni's doing a medley of many of their biggest hits such as "Honeysuckle Rose," "It's All Right with Me," "Love," "Meet Me in St. Louis" and "The Trolley Song." British comedian Terry Thomas (TV's "Burke's Law") also guests.

And at 11PM, Horne is the featured guest on an episode of "PERRY COMO'S KRAFT MUSIC HALL". Filmed on location in Boston, the show, first telecast on NBC on October 18, 1965, features Horne performing solo and with Como, with the two collaborating on a New England-themed medley that includes "Moonlight in Vermont" and "Old Cape Cod."  Other guests include pianist Peter Nero and The Wellesley College Choir.

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