Hollywood Sign Owner Cries Foul Over Ad Agency 'Infringement'

Visit the website for The Brooklyn Brothers, a New York ad agency, and you’ll find a splash page announcing their new Hollywood venture, called BB Hollywood. It’s a snazzy looking page – a photo of the Hollywood sign with “BB” photoshopped in, to form “BBHOLLYWOOD” in the iconic white staggered, blocky typeface.

But it turns out the splash page has already made more of a splash in Hollywood than the agency intended. When it showed up in a New York Times story identified as the new venture’s logo, at least one person in LA took notice.

“I’ve already sent it over to our attorney for a cease and desist (letter),” Jeff Lotman told The Hollywood Reporter. Lotman is the CEO of Global Icons, a licensing agency that represents the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. The non-profit Chamber, as much of Hollywood knows, owns a trademark in the Hollywood sign – and they police it vigilantly.

Details: The Hollywood Reporter.



Check out “Hollywood on Strike!,” available on Amazon in pb and Kindle. Subscribe to my blog (jhandel.com) for more about entertainment labor. You can also follow me on Twitter or friend me on Facebook. If you work in tech, take a look at my book How to Write LOIs and Term Sheets.

Actors Union SAG-AFTRA and Industry Postpone Commercials Negotiations

SAG-AFTRA and the advertising industry have agreed to postpone their previously-scheduled early negotiations of the union’s commercials agreement, the union announced Saturday. The existing agreement remains in place through March 31, 2013. The parties need more time, said the union, to address “data challenges” regarding a study that may result in a revamp of the commercials residuals system, referred to as Gross Ratings Points (GRP).

No date has been set for commercials negotiations, but the calendar makes it unlikely these will occur before mid-January, raising the possibility of a nail-biter. Big issues are likely to be GRP, pension and health contribution levels, and the increase in non-union work.

Details: The Hollywood Reporter.



Check out “Hollywood on Strike!,” available on Amazon in pb and Kindle. Subscribe to my blog (jhandel.com) for more about entertainment labor. You can also follow me on Twitter or friend me on Facebook. If you work in tech, take a look at my book How to Write LOIs and Term Sheets. 

Movie Academy Journeys to Mars and (Far) Beyond at Sold-Out Event

“What’s anything without a trip to Mars?,” asked NASA’s Eric De Jong Tuesday night on stage at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. No one in the audience seemed inclined to disagree, but many no doubt felt “Why stop at Mars?”

The panelists were happy to oblige, taking the audience to the limits of the observable Universe. Hosted by producer Frank Marshall, the event showcased the relationship between NASA animation and Hollywood in such films as Transformers: Dark of the Moon (complete with a clip of Shia LaBeouf) and Hubble 3D.

On stage were NASA personnel and consultants and such Hollywood veterans as producer Tom Jacobson and visual effects supervisor Scott Farrar, while the audience included Buzz Aldrin, the second person to set foot on the moon, and June Lockhart, the co-star of Lost in Space.

Details: The Hollywood Reporter.


Check out “Hollywood on Strike!,” available on Amazon in pb and Kindle. Subscribe to my blog (jhandel.com) for more about entertainment labor. You can also follow me on Twitter or friend me on Facebook. If you work in tech, take a look at my book How to Write LOIs and Term Sheets. 

Unions Investigating 'Liz & Dick' after Lindsay Lohan, Crew Allegedly Overworked

Two prominent Hollywood unions are investigating the Lifetime movie Liz & Dick, The HollywoodReporter (exclusive) has learned, with the moves coming in the wake of reports over the weekend that star Lindsay Lohan suffered from “exhaustion and dehydration” from overwork and that two crew members went to the hospital for the same reason.  

The producer of the biopic about Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton denies any violations or knowledge of union inquiries


In a statement to THR, actors union SAG-AFTRA said, “We're looking into this matter, but can't yet provide any verified information.” A spokeswoman added, “our people are on it.”

IATSE, the union that represents movie and television crew members, declined to comment. However, a source told THR that “the Business Agents are looking into long hours on the production.”

Details: The Hollywood Reporter.



Check out “Hollywood on Strike!,” available on Amazon in pb and Kindle. Subscribe to my blog (jhandel.com) for more about entertainment labor. You can also follow me on Twitter or friend me on Facebook. If you work in tech, take a look at my book How to Write LOIs and Term Sheets. 

Musicians Union Pickets Marvel Over Runaway ‘Avengers’ Score

Blasting Marvel Studios as “unfair” for scoring megahit The Avengers non-union in Europe, members and leaders of the American Federation of Musicians, including president Ray Hair, picketed the Disney subsidiary’s Manhattan Beach facility Friday morning, handing out leaflets that ask “how many billions must your companies earn before Marvel will score its film music here at home?”
 
Details: The Hollywood Reporter.



Check out “Hollywood on Strike!,” available on Amazon in pb and Kindle. Subscribe to my blog (jhandel.com) for more about entertainment labor. You can also follow me on Twitter or friend me on Facebook. If you work in tech, take a look at my book How to Write LOIs and Term Sheets. 

SAG/AFTRA Members: Will your dues go up or down? Now you can tell ...

There's been a lot of discussion about how dues will change if SAG and AFTRA  merge, but no one's made it easy for you to know exactly what will happen to your own. For a detailed breakdown -- and a graph that encompasses earnings from $0 to $250K, see The Hollywood Reporter. Whether you're SAG-only or a dual cardholder (or if you're AFTRA-only or even a broadcaster), the graph will show you exactly what will happen to your dues if merger passes.


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Check out my new book “Hollywood on Strike!,” available on Amazon (also in a Kindle edition). Subscribe to my blog (jhandel.com) for more about entertainment law and digital media law. Check out my residuals chart there too. Go to the blog itself to subscribe via RSS or email. Or, follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook, or subscribe to my Forbes.com or Huffington Post articles. If you work in tech, take a look at my book How to Write LOIs and Term Sheets. 

Snowe Rains on Republicans' Parade

Sen. Olympia Snowe, a moderate Republican who's represented Maine in the Senate since 1994, announced today that she won't seek reelection in November, citing polarization in Washington as the reason. Her retirement, coming from a state where Democrats hold a registration edge, is a blow to the GOP and puts the seat in play.

What does this have to do with the subject of this blog? Nothing, but when you think up a headline too good to be true, you have to go with it.

You can read my Hollywood labor coverage at thrlabor.com.
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Check out my new book “Hollywood on Strike!,” available on Amazon (also in a Kindle edition). Subscribe to my blog (jhandel.com) for more about entertainment law and digital media law. Check out my residuals chart there too. Go to the blog itself to subscribe via RSS or email. Or, follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook, or subscribe to my Forbes.com or Huffington Post articles. If you work in tech, take a look at my book How to Write LOIs and Term Sheets. 

Live on Larry Mantle re SAG-AFTRA Merger

I'll be live on Larry Mantle (http://www.scpr.org/programs/airtalk/) this morning at about 11:05 a.m. PT for a 14 minute segment on SAG-AFTRA merger. Tune in (is that still the verb?) if you have a chance. It'll probably be available archived as well.

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Check out my new book “Hollywood on Strike!,” available on Amazon (also in a Kindle edition). Subscribe to my blog (jhandel.com) for more about entertainment law and digital media law. Check out my residuals chart there too. Go to the blog itself to subscribe via RSS or email. Or, follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook, or subscribe to my Forbes.com or Huffington Post articles. If you work in tech, take a look at my book How to Write LOIs and Term Sheets. 

AFTRA, Networks Reach New Three Year Deal

AFTRA and the television networks reached agreement on a new three-year contract today, with the new pact featuring now-standard 2% annual wage increases and an unusually large 1% increase in employer contributions to health and retirement.

Notably, the union achieved the H&R increase without employers taking a bite out of the annual wage increase. Usually, a tradeoff between the two is required, which could have reduced one or more of the annual increases to a politically unpalatable 1-1/2% level. An AFTRA statement confirmed the issues’ importance, calling the 1% increase the union’s “primary objective” in the bargaining.

Details: The Hollywood Reporter.

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Check out my new book “Hollywood on Strike!,” available on Amazon (also in a Kindle edition). Subscribe to my blog (jhandel.com) for more about entertainment law and digital media law. Check out my residuals chart there too. Go to the blog itself to subscribe via RSS or email. Or, follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook, or subscribe to my Forbes.com or Huffington Post articles. If you work in tech, take a look at my book How to Write LOIs and Term Sheets. 

Health and Retirement are the Hangup in AFTRA Netcode Negotiations (Exclusive)

AFTRA’s negotiations with the networks and television producers resume this week and the big issue, according to a source close to the process, is the same one that’s bedeviled Hollywood labor for the past several years: health and retirement.

Negotiations began November 7 under a press blackout, but haven’t produced a deal yet. The contract under negotiation – AFTRA’s Network Code, colloquially referred to as the “front of book” – is the union’s largest, and generates more than $250 million a year in member earnings. It covers programs in all television day parts, except scripted network primetime and scripted basic cable.

The emphasis on health and retirement is probably heightened by the dynamic of SAG-AFTRA merger.

Details: The Hollywood Reporter.

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Check out my book “Hollywood on Strike!,” available on Amazon (also in a Kindle edition). Subscribe to my blog (jhandel.com) for more about entertainment law and digital media law. Check out my residuals chart there too. Go to the blog itself to subscribe via RSS or email. Or, follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook, or subscribe to my Forbes.com or Huffington Post articles. If you work in tech, take a look at my book How to Write LOIs and Term Sheets.