By Michael Rosen-Molina

Daily Bruin Staff

Screen Actors Guild members gathered Wednesday to protest a variety of entertainment issues in front of the Westwood offices of Sprint, Saban and BBDO advertising on Wilshire Boulevard.

Starting at 10 a.m., protesters marched down Wilshire, leaving groups to picket each of the buildings as they passed.

SAG members carried signs with messages such as “Honk for Fair Pay,” encouraging passing drivers to show support by tooting their horns.

Protesters carried signs that called attention to a variety of issues – including affirmative action and representation of women, minorities and seniors – but the main topic at stake was the payment policy of advertisers.

Since May 1, SAG and the American Federation Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) have been on strike against the advertising industry.

“Advertisers want to pay actors a flat rate, instead of paying actors for every time they play the commercial,” said Mark Carlton of the SAG’s National Board of Directors. “That would allow them an unlimited run of the commercials during the 13-week season cycle, without paying the actors anything.”

Carlton said that advertisers are planning to do away with residuals that give the actors more pay per commercial, thus reducing actors’ incomes anywhere between 60 and 80 percent.

“If you divide the flat rate by the 13-week season cycle, that only comes out to about $11 a day,” Carlton explained.

Some advertisers tend to overplay their commercials, added Carlton, leading to the danger that an actor would become too closely tied with the product to be able to easily find other work.

“For example, the Geico commercial is played all the time, so you might think that the guy who plays the Geico Man is getting rich,” said SAG member Jerry Giles. “In reality, he’s only making $11 to be tied to that role.”

Carlton also pointed out that the cost of an actor comprised only 2 percent of the total cost of a commercial.

SAG is also demanding that payment for cable commercial work not drop below 37 percent of what their network counterparts pay.

“This is an especially timely issue as the cable viewership is now surpassing network viewership by 5.3 million,” said Carlton.

The protest began at 10 a.m. and ran until 2 p.m. But the refusal to work began five weeks ago on May 8, and has included protests in cities all over the country, such as New York, Chicago, Miami and San Francisco. In previous weeks, L.A. protests have included a picket of a Texaco location shoot in Malibu and another in front of the Nestle building in Glendale.

“Advertisers refuse to pay fair pay for work,” said Anne-Marie Johnson, SAG member and star of TV’s “In the Heat of the Night.”

“We’re also concerned about work appearing on cable and the Internet,” she added.

SAG member Julie Sanford also emphasized the need for an agreement regarding Internet publication.

“The Internet is taking over, and soon computers and TV will just be the same thing. It’s important that we figure out what to do with this now.”

She explained that SAG also demanded a monitoring system to count the number of times that an ad is played. Under the current system, she explained, companies have the possibility to under-report the run number, and thus pay their actors less.

Besides monetary matters, the organization’s grievances also addressed concerns about using non-union actors.

One protester carried a sign reading “Marcus Nispel: Got Brains?” referring to an ad by commercial director Nispel for RSA USA, Inc., Ridley Scott’s production company, that ran in the May 12 issue of Shoot magazine.

“The ad shows an elderly African woman’s breasts with the caption, ‘In South Africa, this is what SAG means,’ said SAG member Sindy Hawke, “It was very offensive.”

The ad encouraged producers to film commercials in South Africa, using non-union actors. SAG and AFTRA are demanding that RSA USA apologize, sign an interim agreement, and abandon plans to open an office in South Africa for the purpose of shooting non-union commercials. Sprint is a client of Marcus Nispel. Neither Sprint, Saban nor BBDO advertising could be reached for comment.