Some of the incumbent members on the SAG board are friends of mine.
We worked together in various soaps. They are smart, sincere
people. So in my book, if they are against merger, then I'm against
merger.

Veleka


Membership First unveils candidates

Board possibilities include Scott Bakula, Joely Fisher

By Leslie Simmons

July 25, 2008, 08:27 PM ET

The controversial Membership First faction of SAG announced Friday a
slate of 33 potential candidates who will vie for openings on the
national and local boards and go head-to-head with the newly formed
opposition group, Unite for Strength.

Among the actors looking to fill Hollywood's 11 national board seats
and 22 local seats are 11 new Membership First candidates, including
Scott Bakula, Keith Carradine, Charles Shaughnessy, and Joely Fisher.
Also on the slate are 22 incumbents to the board, including JoBeth
Williams, Joe Bologna, and Lainie Kazan.

The announcement of the candidates comes a day before a crucial SAG
national board meeting Saturday and two days after Unite for Strength
announced its intention to contest seats held by those in Membership
First. Unite's 31 candidates include Amy Brenneman, Kate Walsh, and
Doug Savant.

Membership First came to power in 2005 and currently dominates the
Hollywood board, holding the majority of seats as well as backing
current president Alan Rosenberg. The group is the controlling voice
in the SAG contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture
& Television Producers, which is currently at a standstill.

Unite for Strength blames Membership First for its hard-line approach
to the negotiations as well as its anti-AFTRA sentiment, which led to
the unsuccessful campaign to get members to vote down the sister
union's primetime/TV deal with the AMPTP.

In its announcement, Membership First said its goals for the coming
year include uniting "all actors under the Screen Actors Guild
banner, protect actors wages and working conditions in all areas,
fight for residuals in all media platforms, protect the right of
every dues-paying member to vote on SAG issues, and to secure
complete jurisdiction in new media."

Unite for Strength's main goal is to merge SAG with AFTRA, something
the Membership First faction has bitterly opposed in the last two
attempts in 1999 and 2003.

The potential Membership First national board candidates are:

Scott Bakula
Joe Bologna (incumbent)
Clancy Brown
Keith Carradine
Joely Fisher
Lainie Kazan (incumbent)
William Russ (incumbent)
Alan Ruck
Charles Shaughnessy
JoBeth Williams (incumbent).
Joe d'Angerio (incumbent)
Jane Austin (incumbent)
Jeff Austin (incumbent)
Renee Aubrey (incumbent)
Steve Barr (incumbent)
Michael Bell (incumbent)
Warren Berlinger (incumbent)
Eugene Bogs (incumbent)
Tom Bower
Anthony Desantis (incumbent)
Ron Harper (incumbent)
David Jolliffe (incumbent)
Russell McConnell (incumbent)
Peggy Miley (incumbent)
Paul Napier (incumbent)
Peter Van Norton
France Nuyen (incumbent)
F..J. O'Neil (incumbent)
Vic Polizos
Yale Summers (incumbent)
Charles Malik Whitfield
Christopher R. Wielh
Scott Wilson (incumbent)

Current Membership First sitting members of the SAG National Board of
the Hollywood Division are:

1st Vice President Kent McCord
Angel Tompkins
Bonnie Bartlett
Justine Bateman
Joanna Cassidy
Seymour Cassel
George Coe
Anne DeSalvo
Frances Fisher
Leigh French
Elliott Gould
Valerie Harper
Sumi Haru
Robert Hays
Anne-Marie Johnson
Diane Ladd
Piper Laurie
William Mapother
Esai Morales
Barbara Niven
Harrison Page
Susan Savage
Nancy Sinatra
Renee Taylor
Angela Watson
Jenny Worman

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/
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