Producers Sue to Block SAG Takeover of L.A. Extras’ Guild

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers has asked a federal court to bar the Screen Actors Guild from taking over representation of Hollywood extras, court papers revealed today.

A suit filed in Los Angeles on Tuesday claims that SAG’s proposed takeover of the Screen Extras Guild’s union jurisdiction violates SAG’s agreement with the producers’ association.

SAG agreed in its 1989 contract with the producers “that it no longer has jurisdiction over extra work” performed in and around Los Angeles County, according to the suit.

The takeover would cause “substantial and irreparable injury” to the producers’ association, and the court should issue an injunction barring it from taking place, the suit said.

SAG spokesman Mark Locher said SAG officials had not seen the producers’ suit and could not respond to its charges.

Although SAG represents both actors and extras nationwide, extras in the Los Angeles area have been represented by the Screen Extras Guild since 1945, Locher said.

But that guild has fallen on hard times, Locher said. He said it has been unable to negotiate and enforce its contracts with producers and has been unable to pay dues to the Associated Actors and Artists of America, the parent organization of the two unions.

At a January meeting of the parent organization, officials of the extras’ guild sanctioned the proposed takeover. Since then, SAG members have approved the takeover overwhelmingly in a mail-in vote.