First, here's the AFTRA's press release with that guild's statement by president Roberta Reardon. Then below it is SAG president Alan Rosenberg's statement. At the very bottom is the AMPTP's statement. (I'll have my own analysis later...)

From AFTRA tonight:

LOS ANGELES (July 8, 2008) – The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) announced today that AFTRA members ratified a new three-year primetime television agreement (Exhibit A of the AFTRA Network Television Code) reached with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) by a 62.4% margin.

AFTRA—the nation’s second largest performers’ union—represents more than 70,000 actors, recording artists, broadcasters, and other talent working in the entertainment and media industries.

AFTRA National President Roberta Reardon made the following statement: “Today’s vote reflects the ability of AFTRA members to recognize a solid contract when they see it. Despite an unprecedented disinformation campaign aimed at interfering with our ratification process, a majority of members ultimately focused on what mattered—the obvious merits of a labor agreement that contains substantial gains for every category of performer in both traditional and new media.

“Clearly, this was not a typical ratification process, and it would be disingenuous to pretend otherwise. To those of us for whom labor solidarity is more than just a slogan, the idea that politically-motivated leaders of one union would use their members’ dues to attack another union is unconscionable. Working people do not benefit when their union is under attack.

"For the sake of our members, organized labor must be united, especially in a world of ever-increasing corporate consolidation. Given this, AFTRA leadership is eager to focus on several important initiatives in the months to come: Building on the suggestion of our valued supporters, we will seek to organize a summit of top actors, performers, and union leaders to engage in a thoughtful, constructive discussion of how we can achieve unity among performers—and ultimately, if feasible, merger of the performers’ unions.

"Given that working men and women accomplish more when we work together with trust and mutual respect, we will ask the leadership of the AFL-CIO AEMI ICC unions, the DGA, WGA and others in the labor community to come together well in advance of the next round of contract negotiations to explore ways of maximizing the leverage of entertainment industry workers.

"Finally, I intend to promptly review with our National elected leadership and the Presidents of all AFTRA Locals the conditions needed to restore trust to re-establish joint bargaining on our respective commercials contracts.

“I sincerely appreciate the committed work of the negotiating committee, elected leaders, the labor community, and individual activist members of AFTRA who worked tirelessly and publicly to secure this solid contract for television industry performers. I am especially grateful for the support of many joint members of SAG and AFTRA—such as those in Chicago, Florida, Houston, Nashville, New York, Portland, San Francisco and Seattle—who displayed courage in the face of potential retribution, by taking a stand against disunity with the power of truth and solidarity.”

Negotiations with the AMPTP over the AFTRA Primetime TV contract began on May 7. They concluded on May 28 with a tentative agreement that was unanimously recommended for approval by AFTRA’s 31-member negotiating committee. The AFTRA National Board of Directors overwhelmingly approved the primetime television contract on June 7 and recommended the deal to members, which was ratified today. The new contract is effective from July 1, 2008, through June 30, 2011.

And here is SAG prez Alan Rosenberg's statement:

Los Angeles, July 8, 2008 -- Screen Actors Guild National President Alan Rosenberg released the following statement today: “Clearly many Screen Actors Guild members responded to our education and outreach campaign and voted against the inadequate AFTRA agreement. We knew AFTRA would appeal to its many AFTRA-only members, who are news people, sportscasters and DJs, to pass the tentative agreement covering acting jobs. In its materials, AFTRA focused that appeal on the importance of actor members’ increased contributions to help fund its broadcast members’ pension and health benefits.Screen Actors Guild is the actors union with more than 95% of the work under this contract, jurisdiction over all motion pictures, and over 4 billion dollars in member earnings under the SAG agreement over just the last three years.

We thank the over 4,500 proud SAG members from all over this country who have signed the “SAG Solidarity Statement,” in support of their negotiators. The Screen Actors Guild national negotiating committee remains committed to our core institutional mission to improve the lives of actors and their families.

We will continue to address the issues of importance to actors that AFTRA left on the table and we remain committed to achieving a fair contract for SAG actors.”

And, finally, this is what the AMPTP has to say:

We appreciate today's vote of confidence by actors in the agreement we reached with AFTRA, and hope that it demonstrates to SAG's Hollywood leadership that there is support for the new economic relationships we have built with writers, directors and actors -- and not much support for a strike, whether de facto or real.With this AFTRA ratification announcement, our industry has now achieved four major labor agreements within the last five months. These agreements -- which offer both meaningful economic gains and groundbreaking new media rights for directors, writers and AFTRA members -- are the result of difficult negotiations and many compromises by all sides. We hope that SAG's Hollywood leadership will allow SAG members to vote on AMPTP's final offer - which would give SAG members more than $250 million in additional compensation and important new media rights.

(See my two SAG/AFTRA/AMPTP articles in LA Weekly: here and here.)

The 26th annual Allen & Co investor conference for monied moguls in Sun Valley, Idaho, hosted by Herbert Allen Jr really kept an unprecedented lid on the identities of the speakers and panelists this year. No doubt that was because of security reasons since I've found out that Jordan's King Abdullah II will speak to the confab. As for Hollywood, Jeff Katzenberg of DreamWorks Animation and Intel's Paul Otellini will make a joint presentation inside the Opera House (so expect a sophisticated dog-and-pony show about the much heralded 4D technology...). Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, round out the list of presenters. There also are several panels (see below). Meanwhile, the Screen Actors Guild placed a full-page ad to run Wednesday in the Ketchum-based Idaho Mountain Express newspaper (see below) to send a message from SAG's’s national negotiating committee to the entertainment industry leaders attending Camp Allen. SAG prez Alan Rosenberg explained why in a statement: "This media conference is the place where significant deals get made. We wanted to remind the entertainment media leaders in attendance that there is another important deal to be made. Actors are the creative heart of entertainment business, and our Screen Actors Guild members want to partner with our industry to invest in and share the rewards of our mutual digital future. Let’s keep talking and let’s make a fair deal.” Of course, the ad may also be seen by all the Wall Street investors and bigwigs attending the conference. (See my previous about past Camp Allens here and here.)Here's what my sources say is the confab sked:

Wednesday, July 9th

-- Presentation by Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos

-- "Gazing Into The Future" panel moderated by The New Yorker's Ken Auletta featuring IAC's Barry Diller, Google's Larry Page and ING's Mark Andresen

Thursday, July 10th

-- "Education Crisis" panel featuring Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education Joel Klein

-- "Global Perspectives" analysis featuring Allen & Co's Don Keough

-- Joint presentation by DreamWorks Animation's Jeffrey Katzenberg and Intel's Paul Otellini

Friday, July 11th

-- "The New Breed" panel including Bill Me Later's Gary Marino, Slide Inc's Max Levchin and WeatherBill's David Freidberg

-- "Where We Are, Where We Should Be" panel featuring New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former U.S. Senator and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sam Nunn

-- Presentation by His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan

Saturday, July 12th

-- Presentation by Microsoft's Bill Gates

-- Presentation by Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett

Here's the SAG ad:

1. Blair & Buffett Will Speak At Camp Allen; Also Time Warner & Microsoft 
2. Finke/LA Weekly: Moguls Will Be Moguls at Camp Allen

EXCLUSIVE: I've confirmed Quentin Tarantino is talking to Brad Pitt to star in Inglorious Bastards, the writer/director's newly unveiled script being shopped right now to 4 Hollywood studios: Universal, Warner Bros, Paramount and Sony. And Harvey Weinstein will produce it with Lawrence Bender... See my previous today, Tarantino Unveils 'Inglorious Bastards' To 4 Major Hollywood Studios.

AFTRA is expected to receive the results of the ratification vote on its primetime contract later today, and should make an announcement after 5 PM PST.

What hath Nielsen Business Media wrought? I'm told that laid off today are Julie Wood, managing editor/international; Karl Gibson, longtime editorial business analyst; Cristy Lytal, editor in special issues (hired in March);  Alex Woodson, editorial staffer in New York; Brooks Boliek, who staffed the Washington bureau which now is evidently shuttered. Other names may be in the offing. "They're no longer just trimming fat but bone and gristle," one insider relayed to me. "Everyone's got the ax poised over their head waiting to see who it falls on next. It's difficult to imagine a more deflating work environment." UPDATE: I'm also hearing that THR advertising account exec Evan Atkinson is laid off. Meanwhile, Victoria Gold, who was just promoted to THR's director of sales for film, is telling people she's leaving soon. So the sales department will soon go from 18 to 4.

1. B&C Steals Vet Hollywood Reporter Editor
2. Say What? Hollywood Reporter Emails
3. THR Rearranges Deck Chairs On Titanic
4. The Hollywood Reporter's Publisher Exits; More Variety-zation Of THR's Nielsen
5. Paula Parisi Exits The Hollywood Reporter
6. A New Boss For HollywoodReporter.com
7. Elizabeth Guider Named New THR Editor: A Get Or A Variety Also-Ran?
8. The Hollywood Reporter vs Variety, Part 2
9. H'Wood Reporter Seeks 'Big Name' Editor
10. H'Wood Reporter Editor Cynthia Littleton Jumps To Variety; Anne Thompson Also
11. Newest Bloodbath At Hollywood Reporter + Here's Why Howard Burns Got Burned
12. New Hollywood Reporter Publisher  

UPDATE: I've just confirmed that Quentin Tarantino is talking to Brad Pitt to star... And Harvey Weinstein will produce it with Lawrence Bender...

EXCLUSIVE: Quentin Tarantino has just gone out with his long-anticipated script about World War II. But here's the weird thing sources are telling me: not only is Lawrence Bender attached to produce Inglorious Bastards, but also Harvey Weinstein who will be producing as well but not financing it. This certainly adds fuel to those rumors that The Weinstein Co is having movie money woes. After all, one of the ways that The Weinstein Co attracted investors was by hyping its creative connection to the Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill 1 & 2 writer/director who has long made a lot of money for a lot of people. But now only Harv, and not his investors, could potentially profit from the connection? Unreal. And let's not forget that The Weinstein Co produced and financed Quentin's last pic Grindhouse/Death Proof that tanked at the box office because of Weinstein's own admission that he erred in releasing it in the U.S. market as half of a too-long 3-hour, 12-minute double-feature. (UPDATE: QT and Harvey Weinstein lunched very visibly at Ago on Melrose today. Just in case anyone thought there was a rift...)

This latest Tarantino epic, originally for Miramax and originally set for 2001, has been so long in the works that some people thought it might never see the light of day. Tarantino himself has described it as a Spaghetti Western meets World II film that's an homage to 1967's The Dirty Dozen and its derivatives with a story about a group of soldiers on their way to be executed who get the chance of a reprieve. I hear it's gone out to Universal, Warner Bros, Paramount (all yesterday) and Sony (today). As usual, there's a lot of secrecy surrounding this Quentin project sent out by William Morris. In a BBC documentary done around the time of Pulp Fiction's release, Tarantino said that he always wanted to do a "guys on a mission" film and thought Where Eagle's Dare was the best of the genre. Some believe that Quentin's latest script is inspired by the 1978 Italian movie Quel Maledetto Treno Blindato which he has gushed over in interviews and is a more extreme version of The Dirty Dozen. Tarantino's script comes out just as the Enzo G. Castellari inspiration is heading to DVD...

1. What The *@#% Did Harvey W Do Now?
2. 'Grindhouse' Drops 63% To Only 10th
3. EXCLUSIVE: Harvey Very Disappointed; May Re-Release 'Grindhouse' As 2 Pics
4. Hyped 'Grindhouse' Is Ground Up At B.O.; Tarantino/Rodriguez Tank
5. 'Grindhouse': Too Much Weinstein Hype?

TUESDAY AM UPDATE: Just as I told you, here's the AMPTP's statement:

"SAG has indicated they need more time to prepare a response to AMPTP's final offer of June 30, 2008 and SAG will respond to the Producers' final offer at AMPTP's headquarters on Thursday, July 10, 2008 at 2 p.m. The Producers remain hopeful that SAG will accept our final offer."

I think it's likely that, whether or not the AFTRA membership ratifies the negotiated contract with the AMPTP or not, the Big Media companies are prepared to play hardball. I forsee a repeat of what happened during the lowest ebb of the writers strike: the AMPTP walks away from the talks and issues an ultimatum to SAG to take certain demands off the table. Whether this speeds up or slows down an eventual contract settlement remains to be seen.

TUESDAY NOON UPDATE: SAG just issued this statement:

Screen Actors Guild will present its response to the AMPTP’s June 30, 2008 proposal at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 10, 2008 at AMPTP headquarters in Sherman Oaks, CA. The Screen Actors Guild national negotiating committee remains dedicated to achieving a fair TV/Theatrical contract for SAG members as soon as possible.The SAG national negotiating committee anticipates an equal effort and commitment by the employers and their representatives to achieve this goal.

MONDAY: "I'm told that SAG and the AMPTP are still exchanging info over that new "last best final" offer submitted by the Big Media companies. But let's not be coy: the Screen Actors Guild seems to be understandably playing for time until the results of the AFTRA contract ratification vote are announced. The counting should be done by Tuesday evening, and an announcement could come close behind or by the latest Wednesday morning. So everyone's watching and waiting for the results that could change the entire nature of these actor-employer negotiations. Stay tuned...

I love anything dealing with Hollywood history, so I enjoy Tom Rothman's historical monologue Fox Legacy on the Fox Film Channel. But, surprisingly, today's New York Times profile on the Fox Filmed Entertainment co-chairman's cable show didn't mention the closing of the 20th Century Fox film research library since it seems relevant. So I've learned the original article did report on the library's fate, but that portion was trimmed for space. The article says, "Mr. Rothman writes the monologues himself, doing much of his own research... For Edward Scissorhands he pored through Fox archival material." So does that mean Rothman uses the film research library, too? If so, sad that it won't be there much longer. Meanwhile, I've heard it costs between $750,000 to $1 million a year to keep the library open. Now let's get creative. Fox Legacy could embrace the facility and maybe even shoot the show there to help underwrite it. That's a win-win situation for all concerned.

1. 20th Fox Responds To Outpour Of Anger: "We Are Passionate About Film History"
2. WHAT A DAMN SHAME! 20th Fox To Close One Of The Last Studio Research Libraries

I'm told she's Kori Bernards, coming over from MPAA where she was VP of corporate communications to become Universal's SVP of media relations. "She impressed all of us. She's the right fit our culture," an insider informs me. She'll flack for all the execs, not just bosses Marc Shmuger and David Linde. She'll report to Michael Moses, EVP of publicity. She replaces Stacy Ivers, who started her own PR biz.

I'm told that Melissa Grego, the editor of the newly revamped THR.com, now becomes executive editor of Broadcasting & Cable responsible for print, online and events. So Reed Business, which owns rival Variety, keeps reducing The Hollywood Reporter to an after-thought. Here's the internal memo by B&C editor-in-chief Ben Grossman:

Hi everyone – I am absolutely thrilled to announce the appointment of Melissa Grego as executive editor of B&C. Based in Los Angeles, she will work directly with me overseeing and executing the continuing evolution of our brand, including both our print and digital businesses as well as our growing event business. Melissa comes to us from the Hollywood Reporter, where she ran their digital business as editor of HollywoodReporter.com, which she led through a very successful re-launch and to record traffic numbers for the company. She also knows the weekly magazine business as well as anyone, having led Television Week as its Deputy Editor prior to joining THR. Her fantastic background even includes a previous stint at this brand.

Much as I do, Melissa will have a byline both in print and online to add even more depth to our fantastic coverage of this industry. And for those of you who were huge fans of her “Mel’s Diner” franchise at TV Week like I and so many others in our industry were, you will be excited to know that it will be coming back and once again making industry observers both better-informed and extremely hungry. Just as important as her dynamic experience, Melissa is one of the most-liked and most-respected people in our business. She’s a perfect fit for our team, which is why I am so happy to have her coming on board. I am sure you will love working with her as much as everyone else has and does.

Melissa marks the first addition to our team since I took over as editor, but will not be the last, as our momentum continues thanks to everyone’s dedication to evolving this brand. She will begin on July 28.

Like there isn't enough media consolidation... News reports say NBC Universal and two partners have reached a deal to buy The Weather Channel from Landmark Communications, ending a long negotiation that had attracted several Big Media companies -- Time Warner and CBS and Comcast. The AP says the purchase price was $3.5 billion in cash. NBC Uni was joined in the deal by private equity firms The Blackstone Group and Bain Capital. The entertainment company picks up The Weather Channel, seen by 97% of U.S. cable subscribers, weather services for newspapers and radio stations, and the widely used Web site Weather.com.

This SAG ad will be running in Monday's trades. It is derivative of the AMPTP ad that ran recently -- but without the strike fear-mongering.

Bernie Weinraub, the retired Hollywood and political correspondent for The New York Times (and my pal), has not one but two plays previewing. His drama The Accomplices about Jewish activists who sought aid from the U.S. government to stop the Holocaust, makes its West Coast premiere at the Fountain Theatre July 12-August 24. The play won a Stellar Network award, which led to its premiere in New York by The New Group in March 2007 and a Drama Desk Award nomination for Best New Play. It had its second production at the Biltmore's GableStage in Coral Gables, Florida. Weinraub's second play, Above the Fold, about journalism, was recently accepted by New York Stage & Film for its 2008 Reading Festival, part of the Powerhouse Theater Festival at Vassar this summer. The reading was directed by Will Frears and starred Famke Jansen. Weinraub, of course, is married to Sony Pictures Entertainment co-chairman Amy Pascal.

Los Angeles super-lawyer Pierce O'Donnell, whom Forbes once called the Perry Mason Of Hollywood, used to go after the sleazy practices of Big Media companies. He represented Art Buchwald in the Coming To America case against Paramount (described in his book Fatal Subtraction about phony studio accounting), me against Disney and News Corp (because I did my job as a journalist), and others. So what does O'Donnell do for a second act? As lead counsel for the 350,000 Hurricane Katrina victims, he goes after the U.S. government and the Army Corps of Engineers for the catastrophic flooding of New Orleans. To keep people informed about the progress of the federal case, O'Donnell has set up this website for breaking news and analysis.

SUNDAY AM: North American numbers show that, thanks to big weekend bounces in 3,965 theaters, Sony Pictures' No. 1 Hancock scored its first 3-day weekend with $66 mil and gave star Will Smith his biggest Independent Day holiday opening ever with a 5 1/2-day cume of $107.3 mil. The PG-13 pic went up 9% from Thursday to Friday for $18.8M, and up 39% from Friday to Saturday for $26.1M. The dark comedy about an unhappy superhero mustered the momentum despite receiving only 33% positive reviews from top critics and only so-so buzz. But Will Smith has traditionally owned the July 4th long weekend based on the past performance of his movies which opened on that holiday like Independence Day, Men In Black, Men In Black 2, and Wild Wild West. All went on to earn $442+M in worldwide gross. Hancock is the 5th film he has opened #1 during the Fourh of July holiday and his 8th #1 opening in a row and his 8th film to gross over $100M in a row since July 2002. Will has 12 #1 films throughout his career and has opened 9 films to opening weekend grosses higher than $40M. Because of that impressive track record from the one actor whom Hollywood considers able to reliably open a movie these days., Sony feels Hancock's franchise hopes are alive because "there is a huge disconnect between audiences and critics when you have big numbers added to the world's most bankable movie star." Demographics were fairly balanced with 52%/48% of the audience male/female, and 52%/48% under age 25 /over age 25.

Overseas, Hancock did an additional $78.3M and was #1 in 47 of 50 territories for a worldwide total to date of $185 million. (And it has yet to open in France, Russia, Belgium, Holland, Mexico, Spain, Sweden, Italy and Japan.)

In second place, Disney/Pixar's Wall-E keeps piling up the dough from 3,992 venues for a $33.4M weekend and new cume of $128.1M. Meanwhile, Picturehouse made a huge mistake by only platforming Kit Kittredge: An American Girl on July 2oth, a week before Wall-E opened, and then waiting for a July 2nd wider release after the Disney/Pixar toon was already a blockbuster. The studio foolishly thought its well-reviewed G-rated pic could counter-program Hancock with kid favorite Abigail Breslin, and also Will Smith's young daughter Willow. (Prompting Smith to tell her, "Daddy loves you sweetie, but I gots to stomp you at the box office."). As an insider explained, "They had the right date all along: the momentum was there, the reviews were there, and Wall-E was not! But then Picturehouse put Kit Kittredge down in the middle of freeway. Suicide." Even with a big kid matinee bump, the pic was only #8 from 1,843 runs for a Friday-Saturday-Sunday of just $3.6M and cume of $6.1M.

At No. 3, Universal's Wanted, the Angelina Jolie-James McAvoy actioner, made $20.6M for the 3-day weekend in 3,185 theaters for a new cume of $90.7M. The 4th slot went to Warner Bros' Get Smart with a $11.1M weekend from 3,574 plays and $98.1M cume. And No. 5 was DreamWorks Animation/Paramount's Kung Fu Panda which squeezed a $7.5M FSS from 3,347 venues and new cume of $193.3M. At #6, Marvel/Universal's The Incredible Hulk ended the weekend with $4.9M in 3,043 dates and a new cume of $124.9M. In 7th place, Paramount's Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull earned a $3.9M FSS in 2,192 theaters and cume of $306.5M. At #9, HBO Films/New Line/Warner Bros' Sex And The City took in $2.3M FSS in 1,275 dates and a new cume $143.8M. And rounding out the Top 10, Sony's You Don't Mess With The Zohan playing in 1,731 venues made $2M FSS and cume $94.7M.

Overall, the holiday weekend total of $155M was down 8% from last year's $170M.

SATURDAY AM: #1 Sony Pictures' Hancock received the bounce it needed, up 9% from Thursday, to make $18.8 million on Fourth of July Friday from 3,965 theaters. That gives the PG-13 dramedy $60.1M from its first 3 1/2 days. The studio expects a 3-day weekend in the low $60sM to put Hancock "comfortably over 100" for the 5 days -- somewhere between $102M-$105M. 

Other films: #2 Disney/Pixar's Wall-E made $9.1M Friday (-61% from its opening day) from 3,992 venues. It should make $38M for FSS and a cume of  $133M. #3 Universal's Wanted $5.3M (-72% from its opening) Friday in 3,185 runs, $22M FSS, cume $92M. #4 Warner Bros' Get Smart $3M Friday from 3,574 plays, $12M FSS, cume $98M. #5 DreamWorks Animation/Paramount's Kung Fu Panda $2M Friday in 3,347 theaters, $8M FSS, cume $194M.

#6 Marvel/Universal's The Incredible Hulk $1.2M Friday from 3,043 venues, $5M FSS, cume $125M. #7 Paramount's Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull $1.1M Friday in 2,192 plays, $3.7M FSS, cume $307M.  #8 Picturehouse's Kit Kittredge: An American Girl made $857K on Fourth Of July in 1,843 theaters, $3.3M FSS, cume $6M. #9 HBO Films/New Line/Warner Bros' Sex And The City $630M Friday from 1,275 theaters, $2.4M FSS, cume $145M. #10 Sony's You Don't Mess With The Zohan, $475M Friday from 1,731 venues, $1.9M FSS, cume $94.7M.

FRIDAY AM: Sony Pictures' Hancock keeps adding to its domestic box office dough. It made $17.1 million from 3,965 theaters for Thursday, down only 2% from its Wednesday opening., bringing its 2 1/2 day total (including Tuesday's evening shows) to $41.3M.

THURSDAY AM: Sony Pictures now has a hefty $24.2 million total domestic gross in 1 1/2 days for its dramedy Hancock starring Will Smith and directed by Peter Berg: $6.8M Tuesday (from two evening shows starting at 7 PM at 3,680 North American theaters) and $17.3M Wednesday (from its full run in 3,965 venues for its official opening). The studio still has its sights set on the Will Smith dramedy earning more than $100M but $115M seems out of reach. Although the poorly reviewed film is doing big business overseas, there's some doubt now whether this can still be Sony's next franchise (or Will Smith's ... remember Warner Bros' Wild Wild West?)