Post by Moses on Jan 26, 2006 10:15:27 GMT -5
SAG, WGA Heads Eye Product Placement
January 18, 2006
By Lauren Horwitch
Screen Actors Guild National President Alan Rosenberg and Writers Guild of America, west President Patric Verrone on Tuesday reiterated their request to meet with advertisers, networks, and producers to discuss actors' and writers' compensation for product placement written into TV shows and feature films.
Rosenberg and Verrone discussed product placement's impact on their respective members at "The Next Big Idea-west: The Future of Branded Entertainment" conference held at the Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood. Bob Dowling, former editor-in-chief and publisher of The Hollywood Reporter moderated the union leaders' talk entitled "Talent and Story Drive Entertainment - Are They Compensated Properly for their Place in Branded Entertainment."
"We're asking for a discussion with our employers. We're asking for negotiations on a code of conduct or at least a set of rules that would govern whether we get paid for it or whether we can consult on it," said Verrone. He added that almost 80 percent of WGA members recently surveyed said they are concerned about product placement.
"Part of the problem is that we're always the last people to be consulted," added Rosenberg. "We need to be part of the process."
SAG and the WGA previously called for a code of conduct to protect artists' rights with regard to product placement at a Nov. 14 press conference in Los Angeles. That day, the WGA, with the support of SAG, released a policy paper threatening to seek tougher FCC regulation of product integration if producers fail to open negotiations.
During the Jan. 17 talk, both union presidents expressed concern that product integration in scripted TV could open the door for inappropriate integrations. "Someday I can imagine people wanting to hawk a political point of view on a TV show, or a moral or a religious point of view," Rosenberg said. "Once a political candidate offers money to a TV show to advertise, [the writers] might do something that isn't character-based or story-based."
Verrone speculated that product placement could also seep into broadcast and print journalism if unregulated. "What happens when it starts to move into journalism and news media? Every time I've been interviewed on this subject, I'll say to the reporter, 'What if you were asked to work Burger King into this article whether you wanted to or not?,'" he said.
Rosenberg and Verrone said they did not have a fixed dollar amount that should be paid actors and writers asked to comply with product placement. "It will be a balancing act," Verrone opined.
When asked if representatives of advertisers, networks, or producers have responded, Verrone smiled slightly and replied, "They're busy."
"The Next Big Idea-west: The Future of Branded Entertainment" was produced by VNU Business Media, which owns Back Stage.
Find this article at:
www.backstage.com/bso/news_reviews/unions/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001880959
© 2006 VNU eMedia Inc. All rights reserved.