The lot of a struggling actor is never easy, but at this time of year there always has been a reliable perk available to even the most down-and-out thespian: free passes to movies up for big awards.
This year, though, actors are getting another tough break in a tough town, as theater owners apparently have cut off the freebies many of them have traditionally offered to card-carrying members of the Screen Actors Guild.
The reasons for the cut-off are a bit murky, and the exhibitors won't comment. But beyond the complaints from actors themselves, evidence of the change can be seen mostly in the fine print of newspaper movie ads for such films as "The Hours," "Chicago," "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" and "About Schmidt."
The notices say members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Writers Guild of America and the Directors Guild of America will be admitted gratis, along with a guest -- but pointedly left off the list are members of SAG.
One studio publicist, who asked not to be identified, speculated that the sheer size of the SAG membership -- 98,000 strong -- may have prompted the change: "Basically, I think it comes down to how many tens of thousands of members are in SAG. [The exhibitors] don't want everybody with a SAG card running to a theater."
Although most theater chains allowed about 2,100 members of SAG's nominating committee to see movies, the issue is coming to a head as the union prepares to send out ballots to its full membership to vote on nominations for this year's Screen Actors Guild Awards, to be broadcast March 9 from the Shrine Exposition Center.
Union members are upset to find that, if they want to do their duty as voters, they either have to see movies at SAG-sponsored screenings or shell out at the ticket counter of their local megaplex. They contend that they never had problems in years past gaining free admission to theaters during the crucial month after SAG nominations are announced.
Fred Dresch of Eagle Rock, a guild member for the last 1 1/2 years, is among those grousing. "The bottom line is, if [SAG] expects guild members to vote for the awards and don't make it easy for them to attend the screenings ... or attend films themselves, it's silly," he said. Dresch, who acts in commercials, said he fears some guild members who are less well off than others may not see the films -- essentially making the voting process a popularity contest. "I don't think that is in the spirit of how the awards should be given," Dresch said.
