JPC-ANA-AAAA-SAG-AFTRA
The New Contract for all these Letters Brings Peace In Front of the Camera
By Jon Lee Andersen
A couple of months ago, the Joint Policy Committee on Broadcast Talent Union Relations (“JPC”) of the Association of National Advertisers (“ANA”) the American Association of Advertising Agencies (“AAAA”) finalized their negotiations with the Screen Actors Guild (“SAG”) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists for a three-year extension of the agreement (the “Agreement”) governing payment and other terms for performers in television and radio commercials. I thought it might be worthwhile to note some of the significant changes in the new Agreement for those readers involved with the production of TV commercials (I am going to omit the radio part).
For starters, the Agreement became effective on April 1, 2009 and runs through March 31, 2012 or until terminated by one party or the other. It applies to commercials made on or after that date, to new or revised commercials produced under earlier agreements that are integrated after April 1, and to all commercials that are edited and aired after April 1.
For performers the chief benefit the new Agreement provides is for an increase in rates for their work (an increase SAG described as 5.1%) and an increase in the contributions for Pension & Health benefits. The new Pension & Health rate is 15.5% of compensation.
For advertisers, the new Agreement provides some changes that could prove to be economically beneficial. For example, in commercials involving employees of the advertiser, the employees can now be exempted from the terms of the Agreement even if the shoot takes place outside their usual place of business, if the change in location was necessitated because it would be unusually difficult, disruptive or unsafe to do the filming at the place of business. Subject to certain limiting parameters, employees may also be directed to speak dialog for these commercials. Another change benefitting advertisers and producers concerns the use of executive officers of a company. Chief Executive Officers, Chairmen of the Board or Presidents, can now appear in commercials and not be subject to the terms of the Agreement, where before they were limited to “institutional messages” in their appearances. There is also a new provision, which unfortunately won’t become effective until January 1, 2012 which will cap the Pension & Health contributions for any performer who earns more than $1,000,000 in a single year.
Among other new features, in commercials made for the Internet or New Media producers are now required to make every effort to advise performers, at the time of audition and hire, of the anticipated number of commercials and their intended use. However, until March 31, 2011, free bargaining with performers still remains for commercials “made for” Internet or New Media usage. New Media, by the way, is described to include digital, electronic or any other type of delivery platform, including mobile phones and other electronic media whether now known or unknown.
A final note on the added expense side, advertisers who are JPC authorizers or who use advertising agencies who are JPC authorizers will now be required to pay a $75.00 fee per commercial to support the work of the JPC.
There are many other changes too numerous to cover here, but which will significantly affect the production and running of commercials, whether in TV, the Internet or in New Media. Agencies and commercial production companies should, of course, get familiar with the new Agreement as soon as possible.
In shorthand, the Agreement works this way:
One actress was pretty, the other was a hag
One made you smile, the other made you gag
But after the shoot
When it came to the loot
They both got the same, thanks to SAG
© July 2009 Jon Lee Andersen All Rights Reserved