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Equity Ends Discussion with Pro-99 Plaintiffs; Michael Seel leaves Boston Court; Fringe Awards; and CTG’s Festival of Local Companies
By Paul Birchall
Clashing Symbols
NOTE 6/29/ 11 a.m.: The Plaintiffs’ Side in the AEA lawsuit is expected to release a statement today.
UPDATE: 6/29/ 7:40 p.m.: The Plaintiffs’ Statement follows this article.
Unpleasant news emerged Tuesday from the offices of Actors’ Equity Association, as the union unilaterally announced that they are exiting negotiations which had been aimed at preserving the basic constructs of the Los Angeles 99-seat system.
The union’s statement, which may be found here, is short on detail but suggests that the lawsuit filed against AEA by plaintiffs Ed Asner, French Stewart, Amy Madigan, and Ed Harris (amongst others) is likely to proceed to court — a potentially expensive endeavor for both the union and the Pro99 community.
The announcement defers any discussion of why the talks have broken off, instead stating: “Actors’ Equity Association and the plaintiffs in the Asner vs. Actors’ Equity litigation announced today that they were unable to resolve their dispute. Due to previously agreed upon ground rules, both parties are unable to comment on the actual discussions.”
However, the release also notes that “The 99-Seat Transitional Code, which was created to give theaters and producers time to make the transition to one of the contractual agreements or membership rules and was extended while the facilitated discussions with the plaintiffs were underway, will no longer be available, effective December 14, 2016.”
It is interesting — indeed, startling — that the union and Pro99 could not come to some agreement over months of negotiation and discreet discussion, particularly given that the plaintiffs clearly went the extra mile in not serving the suit. It’s fascinating to contemplate what must have been going on behind doors during the talks — and whether it was the union’s intransigence or some other issue that prevented a calm and rational settlement.
The statement goes on to say: “While we are disappointed that this dispute will enter the courtroom, Equity intends to vigorously defend itself against the meritless lawsuit and will file an immediate motion to dismiss. We are fully prepared to defend both the process and the substance of Council’s actions.”
Stay tuned: Stage Raw will be covering updates, including the inevitable release of the Plaintiffs’ response to Equity’s withdrawal from the negotiations.
UPDATE:
Plaintiffs in Actors vs. Actors Equity Association
respond to AEA statement
Dear Equity Member and Los Angeles Theatre Community –
By now you have seen Equity’s Press Release and letter to their members attacking actors for their efforts to preserve intimate theatre in Los Angeles. Equity’s letter is malicious and false.
The Plaintiffs filed this suit on behalf of the entire Los Angeles Theatre Community after Equity ignored a referendum in which the Equity members of this community defeated Equity’s proposed changes by one of the widest margins in Equity’s voting history. We filed our lawsuit because Equity seeks to unilaterally abolish the 99-seat plan that was in place since 1989 by annulling the 1989 settlement agreement and dismantling the Review Committee – the major protection members have from destructive maneuvers by Equity to end intimate theatre.
Over six months we had a series of facilitated discussions with Equity. We hoped to forge a path for financially successful theaters to grow, step-by-step, stage-by-stage, to minimum wage contracts. We agree that theaters should pay artists more when they can. But they should not be closed down if they can’t. We want to see theatre thrive in Los Angeles. We want to see more contract work here. We will continue to urge Equity to reconsider; to gain an appreciation for the importance of small theatre to our City.
We are not New York. We are not Chicago. Models used in those cities, however successful they may be, should not be foisted on us here.
The talks were supposed to be confidential, but Equity, distorting the facts, now discloses that its true “intent,” never before disclosed publicly, was to target only 14% of the small theatres in Los Angeles. But Equity’s final goal is to do much more than that. It intends to destroy volunteer intimate theatre in Los Angeles and force almost all non-membership theatres to a minimum wage regime. We expect Equity, ultimately, to end all special status for membership companies.
If Equity enacts its new rules on December 14th as threatened, Equity members’ ability to work in 99-seat theaters will be almost entirely eviscerated, and many small theatres will be forced to close. We will be preparing and distributing a detailed analysis of how members’ opportunities will become more difficult, costlier and much less available.
If our lawsuit and other efforts are not successful, the era of volunteer small theater in Los Angeles will be over.
Equity paints itself as a victim. Not so. We did not “demand” negotiations. We offered a reasonable approach to resolving our dispute. We did not “blacklist” anyone. We represent a vibrant and creative community that supports the lawsuit and other efforts to preserve small theatre. We are not rigid ideologues. We are flexible and we only wish Equity would be flexible as well.
Our leadership committee worked arduously to try to resolve the dispute. This group and its leaders never acted inappropriately. We call on Equity to retract these malicious and false accusations.
We ask Equity what we have been asking them for three years – to listen to its membership and to be transparent. Instead Equity continues to vilify members who disagree with them, members who have the conviction and the courage to stand up and say “There is a better way.”
Our efforts were unsuccessful. So what happens next? We will serve the lawsuit and defend vigorously against Equity’s efforts to have the case dismissed. We will ask the NLRB to enjoin Equity from putting its new plan into place.
We will rally and we will be heard. “Let LA decide the fate of LA Intimate Theatre.”
Hollywood Fringe Closes with Awards and Prizes!
The cast of ANGEL’S FLIGHT, winner of the 2016 Hollywood Fringe Award for Best Cabaret Performance
This year, the Hollywood Fringe had plenty of competition for our attention: the horror of Orlando, the lunacy of Brexit and (in a more local way) the story out of Chicago concerning abuse at the Profiles Theater and the subsequent shocking implosion of Los Angeles’s Bitter Lemons website.
Despite these distractions, I found theater’s ability to offer balm and comfort never more palpable than in this Fringe season, which furnished a wonderful showcase for plays both sublime and broad, artful and quirky, hilarious and tragic. You wouldn’t want to generalize about any one theme this year: 300 plus plays can’t be quantified, except that each is proof of the art’s vitality.
A list of the winners of the peer-voted Fringe Awards can be found here. My Big Fat Blonde Musical swept the Top of the Fringe, Musical, and Fringe First categories. Although sincere congratulations are in order to the winners, I must confess that the list does not for me fully represent the breadth of the Fringe experience, which ranged from the jaw-dropping bizarreness of Christopher Johnson’s downright psychotic Punch and Judy to Kim Davies’s lusciously creepy sex tale, Smoke. I was also surprised that Janet Miller’s hilarious (and quite tuneful) Toxic Avenger: The Musical didn’t make the list.
Michael Seel to Depart Boston Court
Michael Seel, retiring Executive Director of the Boston Court Performing Arts Center
Startling news out of Boston Court, where managing director Michael Seel has announced his departure after 14 years. Seel has been with Boston Court since its opening in 2002 when he was hired as general manager. He rose to managing director in 2003, then became producing director in 2005 and was named executive director in 2008.
The press release quotes Seel: ““While my 14 plus years associated with Boston Court have been the most rewarding of my lifetime, it is time for me to transition to another phase in my career. Thank you all for the tremendous support and great opportunities Boston Court has given me.”
Under Seel, Boston Court has become the sort of success story that’s often hailed as the reason why Actor’s Equity is wrong to suggest that mandating a minimum wage is no big deal. Their argument ignores the fact Boston Court’s equity-waiver productions make up only a fraction of the Center’s events and activities.
The announcement states that the Board of Directors will perform a national search to find Seel’s replacement.
99 Seat Show Opportunities in Center Theater Group Festival.
Kirk Douglas Theater (photo from Creative Commons)
And here is an intriguing opportunity worth sharing: It’s not exactly brand new news, as the Center Theater Group announced it on June 13, but it just sounds so delightful I didn’t want it to go by unnoticed.
According to the CTG’s Kristi Avila, any theater company that has performed a show in L.A. may apply to participate in the CTG’s “Block Party” celebration of Los Angeles theater. The “Block Party” will consist of three productions (which must have performed between January 1, 2015 and August 12, 2016) from small theaters around the city that will be given productions at the Kirk Douglas Theater.
I reached out to Avila to learn more “We are looking for previously produced shows from 99-seat theatre companies,” Avila noted. “They will be performed using LORT D contracts. Each show will be given two weeks of rehearsal and a CTG rehearsal space to remount the production and adapt the show to the Kirk Douglas space.”
I asked if producers of shows currently performing at the Hollywood Fringe would be good candidates, and Avila replied, “One of the goals of the program is to further support these productions in whatever form that may be. There’s limited rehearsal time for major changes, though we will encourage each company to utilize the CTG resources available to them, such as space, costume, and prop support, technical support, and marketing and publicity.”
Center Theatre Group Associate Producer Lindsay Allbaugh, himself a former co-director and producer on the 99-seat scene, added, “This is a program that has been long in the works and took a small army of dedicated staff and a couple of very generous donors to pull off.” She concluded by noting, “I believe partnerships and collaborations between the 99-seat community and CTG are vital to strengthening the local ecology.”
That said, competition for one of the three berths is clearly going to be intense. For instance, I suggested to one Fringe producer that she be sure to apply to the Douglas program. Her response was, “Oh, I certainly did! Along with 200 other submissions from other small theaters in town!” On the other hand, if you don’t enter, you don’t win. And this just sounds like an incredible, no-brainer career-enhancing move. It’s also a textbook way of growing a show from 99-seat to union scale that rebuffs the AEA plan.
