Thursday, February 23, 2012

Merger competitors to file for injunction motion Monday

Competitors from the SAG-AFTRA merger will file a motion for any preliminary injunction Monday, setting happens for any possible March 26 hearing in federal court -- four days prior to the merger votes should be tabulated.But SAG is anticipated to file for a motion to dismiss the situation as soon as Friday, based on a resource acquainted with the problem, alleging the litigants have unsuccessful to condition a contributing factor to action. Plaintiffs' attorney David Casselman of Wasserman, Comden, Casselman & Esensten told Variety the suit is targeted to make sure that the Screen Stars Guild adheres to the own rules. "The complaint is not designed to subvert the procedure.Inch The Screen Stars Guild and also the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists are scheduled to mail out ballots Monday to 120,000 SAG people and 70,000 AFTRA people. To become approved, the merger must receive a minimum of 60% from the votes from each union.The competitors sued Wednesday, alleging that SAG is trying to merge with AFTRA "without performing the required research." U.S. District Court Judge James Otero continues to be designated towards the situation. SAG vowed to "intensely" fight the experience, calling it "a obvious attempt for circumventing the desire from the membership" and stressed it has held a lot more than 50 educational conferences round the country within the run-as much as the merger referendum.About 40 competitors picketed Thursday at SAG headquarters -- the 3rd such event previously two days.Former SAG leader Alan Rosenberg, who's a complaintant within the suit, attended together with former board people Renee Aubry, Mark Carlton, Frances Fisher and France Nguyen. Contact Dork McNary at dork.mcnary@variety.com

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Cinema Network NCM Makes Upfronts Plan

It seems everyone wants in on the upfronts action. First, Internet giants Yahoo, Google, Hulu, MSN and AOL said last week that they will hold their own event — dubbed Digital Content New Fronts –to promote new shows for advertisers like the broadcast and cable networks do each May in NY. Now in-theater network NCM Media Networks said today that it will hold its first-ever upfront presentation May 16 that will featurea sneak peek at the upcoming Hollywood 2D and 3D film slate and the ways marketers can reach moviegoing audiences.The NCM network is one of Americas top-rated networks on weekends as well as one of the top 15 national networks overall, so it makes perfect sense for us to participate in the TV upfront process, said Cliff Marks, NCM president of sales and marketing. The company saysnearly 700 million moviegoers see NCMs FirstLook pre-show program and walk through its theater lobbies each year, and NCM consistently ranks as one of the top three networks on Fridays and Saturdays in adults 18-34 in primetime. The event “will allow advertisers to get a first look at the upcoming feature film slate and have special access to premium inventory and our unique integrated cinema programs, Marks said.