Casting and News: Show Business Weekly

Do you trust SAG with your money?

Lawsuit claims 30,000 actors bilked out of residual money

A lawsuit filed last month in the Los Angeles County Superior Court alleges that the Screen Actors Guild has failed to make over $8 million in foreign residuals available to its members. The suit was filed by former child actor Ken Osmond, who played the wisecracking Eddie Haskell on the popular sitcom “Leave it to Beaver.” Osmond has proposed that the case be approved for class-action status, which could potentially affect over 30,000 actors.

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Osmond claims that SAG collected tax revenues earned from “Leave it to Beaver” overseas but has refused to pass this money along to him. Before the lawsuit, the actor says that SAG has effectively “stonewalled” his efforts to seek information about its practices. Before the lawsuit, Osmond tried to examine SAG’s books and determine the union’s policies on the payment of foreign residuals.

SAG recently admitted to its members that it has collected the $8 million from foreign tax revenues but has paid out less than 3 percent of that money. The union says that the foreign residuals, which include money collected from foreign tax on the sale and rental of videos, were originally paid out to studios and producers. SAG has since negotiated to collect this money, but warns its members not to attempt to collect on their own, as they may face lawsuits from the studios and producers.

Osmond and his lawyer, Neville Johnson, have previously filed two similar lawsuits, one against the Directors Guild of America and the other against the Writers Guild of America. These cases are still pending; a hearing is scheduled to determine if the WGA case will be deemed a class-action suit, while the DGA case is said to be in settlement talks.

Osmond, 64, who starred in “Leave it to Beaver” in the 1950s and 1960s and later became a Los Angeles police officer, says he has not received any of the money collected by SAG for the foreign exploitation of the show. -Christina Jacquet

Hotshot Producers Go Directly to Web: In an effort to sidestep the creative power that TV networks hold over any show they air, big-name producers are now bringing their original series straight to the Web. Producers Mashall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick, who were behind such films as “Blood Diamond” and TV shows as “My So-Called Life,” have struck a deal with social networking site MySpace to air their post-college dramatic series “Quarterlife.” The series will run like a traditional TV show, but will originate on MySpace. Producers say this new, more independent type of program opens the door for unknown actors. “Quarterlife,” which already stars unknowns, tentatively plans to use MySpace to find additional actors for the show. -Christina Jacquet

Returning for Part Two? Despite strong opposition from entertainment unions, CBS’s “Kid Nation” may be gearing up for a second season. Producers for the controversial reality show, in which 40 children aged 8 - 15 attempt to create a workable society without adult supervision, are reportedly planning to move the show’s sophomore effort to the Czech Republic. The move is presumably an effort to escape American laws governing how long children can work on the set of a television show. Last month, “Kid Nation” producers came under harsh criticism after a parent complained that her daughter was injured on the show. Both the Screen Actors Guild and the Writers Guild of America issued statements condemning the show’s treatment of children. -Christopher Zara

INSIDE INK
By John Rowell

LOVE LETTERS

Just when you think all the Vietnam War stories have been told, here’s one more: while stationed in Vietnam in 1968, performance artist Taylor Mac’s father, then a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army, placed an advertisement in an Australian newspaper asking women ages 19-26 to write him. He was soon flooded with letters of response from hundreds of young ladies anxious to meet Lt. Mac while he took his leave in Sydney. Now, almost 30 years after his father’s death, his son has unearthed these letters and put them into a multi-disciplinary show entitled The Young Ladies Of, which combines not only Lt. Mac’s letters, but Taylor’s own text, songs and projections — creating a unique theatrical “conversation” that explores patriarchy, war, romance and fatherhood. A co-production of HERE Arts Center and Ethyl Crisp Productions, Ladies opens Sept. 27 at HERE. www.here.org.

WAKE-UP CALL

It’s been running in Chicago for 13 lucky years, yet Flanagan’s Wake, the live interactive show that takes the form of an Irish wake, is only now trying its luck in New York. (Maybe they didn’t want to compete with the nuptials of those other Irish off-Broadway interactive stars, Tony and Tina.) Set in the fictional town of Grapplin, in the real county of Sligo, Ireland, the whole town (read: the audience) has come to good old Flanagan’s favorite pub to mourn (read: sing, dance, drink and celebrate) his passing. Of course it wouldn’t be a wake without a disputed will, and — you know — where there’s a will, there’s a big bottle of whiskey! (Isn’t that an ancient Irish saying?) Amy Binns-Calvey is the director, and performances begin Sept. 27 at SOHO Playhouse. www.flanaganswake.com.

SURRENDER DOROTHY

In 1938, Dorothy Hale, the widow of famous American muralist Gardner Hale, died in New York City after plunging sixteen stories from her apartment window at the Hampshire House on Central Park South. At the time it was ruled a suicide... but the convoluted history of this woman’s life and death — a history that involves such famous folk as Clare Booth Luce, author of The Women, Henry Luce, founder of Time magazine, and Frieda Kahlo, the world-famous painter who was working on portrait of Dorothy at the time of Hale’s death. It’s all very secretive and shadowy, and this intriguing true story is now the subject of The Rise of Dorothy Hale, a new play by Myra Baistow, which opens Sept. 30 at St. Luke’s Theatre in a production directed by Penny Templeton. The cast includes Michael Badalucco, Sariat Choudhury and Sarah Wynter. www.dorothyhale.com.

I HEAR AMERICA TALKING

A few talking heads from contemporary America, in the form of a Waitress, Business Woman, College Girl, Soccer Mom and others take center stage in L.E. McCullough’s Your Basic American Monday, a new drama that begins performances on Sept. 29 at the Bank Street Theater. Set at a standard roadside diner, Monday presents 33 interwoven monologues that offer an enlightening, unnerving slice of contemporary America. A production of 3Graces Theater Co., whose mission is to stage women’s stories and give back to the community, Monday is directed by Kathleen Bishop. Performances run through Oct. 16. www.ThreeGracesTheater.org.

TUTOR KING

What happens when a high-priced SAT tutor is hired to coach a spoiled Upper East Side girl? When both of their futures depend on her success, will she surprise everyone and rise to the occasion or will she fail to make the grade? These are the oh-so-contemporary questions at the heart of Jenny Lyn Bader’s comedy None of the Above, which receives its off-Broadway premiere courtesy of the newly formed South Ark Stage Company beginning Sept. 28. The show is directed by Julie Kramer and stars Halley Feiffer and Adam Green; performances take place at Theatre Row’s Lion Theatre. 212-279-4200.

Her Way or the Highway: Halley Feiffer plays a spoiled Upper East Sider in None of the Above.

INVITATION TO THE DANCE

A man finds himself in a strange nightclub populated by performers who may or may not be fragments of his own splintering mind. As he travels deeper within this strangely intriguing underworld in search of his lost wife, he encounters a Freudian dreamscape that changes him in ways he could never have imagined. That’s the premise behind TraumNovela, a dynamic new alternative dance theater piece conceived by Juan Borona (choreographer), Cris Buchner (director) and Bettina Sheppard (music, lyrics, musical direction.) Opening night is set for Sept. 26 at Barrow Street Theatre.

SHORT CUTS
By Sarah Ricard

IFP DOLES OUT LOOT

Last week, indie film outfit IFP handed out over $100,000 in film grants to some very lucky emerging filmmakers at its annual awards luncheon. The much-hyped Adrienne Shelly Director's Grant of $10,000, given to a female director in honor of the slain actress and director, went to Eunhee Cho for her film “Inner Circle Line.” Cho was chosen by a jury that included Hal Hartley, Bennett Miller, Paul Rudd, Keri Russell and Andy Ostroy. The little-seen film (which played at Rotterdam International Film Festival and South by Southwest Film Festival) was a 2005 Rough Cut Lab pick and has become a true IFP success story, capturing the lives of a fictive man and a woman in the city of Seoul. Other awards of note went to Nir Paniry, the winner of The Rising Star Award for an Emerging Narrative Screenplay for “Kamikaze Dolls,” and Yolanda Pividal, who took the $10,000 Fledgling Fund Award for Emerging Latino Filmmakers for the film “Tijuana, Nada Más.”

Have Some Cash: The indie film “Inner Circle Line” nabbed director Eunhee Cho $10,000 from IFP’s Adrienne Shelly Director’s Grant, which was created in honor of the slain filmmaker.

SAMSUNG BACKS INDIES

Last week, Samsung announced its commitment to independent films and support of independent filmmakers. With its campaign theme “True Vision Should Lose Nothing in Translation,” (kinda wordy, right?) and in conjunction with Landmark Theatres, Samsung has created a three-tiered independent film program with hopes to bring filmmakers’ “true vision” to life for consumers by giving them a behind-the-scenes look into select films. In an effort to further its commitment to independent film, Samsung will launch Truly Indie, a competition for emerging filmmakers whose films do not yet have distribution. Samsung, along with Landmark Theatres’ Truly Indie program, hopes to provide the chosen film with marketing support and distribution in five top markets. As another part of the new plan, Samsung will install fancy-schmancy blue chairs into select theaters, which will represent the clearest line of sight to the screen and the best sound experience. I don’t know about you, but I’d feel a little self-conscious if I got the best seat in house and everyone around me resented me for it. Then again, I’d feel pretty crappy if I didn’t.

TRUFFAUT IS BACK—AGAIN

As is apt to happen in New York City every few years, Francoise Truffaut’s “400 Blows” is returning to the big screen this week at Film Forum. Look: we’ve all seen it. It’s a masterpiece. Yada, yada, yada. (And, really, if you haven’t seen it, sneak to a screening before admitting so to your cinephile friends.) But what is worth noting is that along with “Blows,” Forum will be showing “Antoine and Colette,” Truffaut’s half-hour sketch from the omnibus feature “Love at Twenty: The Further Adventures of Antoine Doinel.” Antoine, the main character from “Blows” and now a young adult, works as an LP presser (what’s that?) in a record factory and is getting nowhere with his girlfriend. It’s a rare must-see and will totally knock out your friends at the next film-school pissing contest.