Wall Street Crisis Begins to Hurt Media Moguls

Geez, it wasn’t long ago that other media moguls were envious of Redstone for having the foresight to invest in video games — which he once boasted were “the hottest part of the entertainment industry” — not for Viacom but for his National Amusements.

And if that’s not enough bad news, Redstone and his wife of five and a half years, former NYC schoolteacher Paula Fortunato, filed for divorce. It was news to everyone but me, since I reported 14 months ago that there was trouble in the entertainment mogul’s marriage. At the time, I was told she’d signed one of those iron-clad prenups and would only get $1 million if the marriage broke up. But now Redstone claims he’ll be more “generous” and everything is friendly between them. Whatever. Normally I don’t delve into the moguls’ personal lives, but Redstone’s train wreck of a family life remains Page One news these days. Is anyone feeling sorry for Sumner now? Anyone? Anyone?

 
The Screen Actors Guild’s National Board of Directors has announced what its next steps will be. The AMPTP immediately said it would not give SAG a better deal than it had made with the other four major unions. But now the SAG National Board is asking for federal mediation because the Hollywood employers are refusing to negotiate. Time will be allowed for that federal mediation to accomplish a breakthrough.

The board is leaving it up to SAG’s national negotiating committee to determine if and when mediation becomes fruitless: If that point is reached, then the referendum seeking a strike authorization goes out to members. This process takes 30 to 45 days, including three weeks for the ballots to come back to SAG. If the vote is yes to empower a strike by at least 75 percent of eligible SAG members who return ballots, this still does not mean a strike will be called. Because then it’s up to the National Board to decide if and when to call for the work stoppage. In other words, Hollywood is still a long way from another strike. But the timing could threaten the Golden Globes and Academy Awards, again.