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Upon separate petitions duly filed under Section 9 (c) of the Na-
tional Labor Relations Act, a consolidated hearing 5 was, held before
Daniel J. Harrington, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings-
made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby-
affirmed.
Upon the entire record in this case, the Board finds :
1. Each of the Employers is engaged in commerce within the mean-
ing of the Act .6
2. The Petitioner and the Intervenors, Television Authority, AFL,T
and Screen Extras Guild, Inc., AFL," are labor organizations claim-
ing to represent certain employees of the Employers.
3. Questions affecting commerce exist concerning the representa-
tion of employees of the Employers, within the meaning of Section-
9 (c) (1) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
4. The appropriate units :
The Petitioner seeks separate multiple-employer units for all mem-
bers of the Association, the Independent, and the Society, respec--
' At the hearing, the Petitioner moved to dismiss the petition as to Television Film
Producers Association and all its members except Jerry Fairbanks , Inc. This motion is-
hereby granted.
z Herein referred to as the Association.
Herein referred to as the Independent.
Herein referred to as the Society.
G The captioned cases were consolidated for hearing by order of the Regional Director-
dated October 16, 1950
6 Various motions to amend the petitions were offered at the hearing by the Petitioner
with respect to the named Employers These motions, based largely upon changes in the-
membership of the three employer associations involved and upon the fact that certain
producers were no longer in business , are hereby granted. Only the Employers listed in,
Appendices A to D are involved in this proceeding.
Herein referred to as TVA.
8 Herein referred to as SEG.
93 NLRB No. 155.
943732-51-60
930 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
tively, and separate units for the individual producers in Case No.
21-RC-1286 , consisting of all actors, including singers and stunt men,
but excluding " extras " engaged in the production of motion pictures
generally . TVA contends that in all cases there should be a separate
unit for performers, including "extras," engaged in the production of
motion pictures for television exhibition , or alternatively , that self-
determination elections be held for such groups of employees 9. SEG
intervened in these proceedings to urge the exclusion of "extras" from
any unit found appropriate ; it argues that current contracts with the
Employers bar any present determinations with respect to "extras."
The Association, the Independent, and Hal Roach Studios, Inc., agree
with the Petitioner's unit contention as to them; the other Employers
take no unit position.
The Employers involved in this proceeding include almost all the
notion picture producers in this country. Although the bulk of
motion picture production is intended primarily for theatre exhibi-
tion, films are also produced for commercial, industrial, and educa-
tional purposes, for use by Government agencies in training and in-
formation programs, and also for exhibition over television. Mem-
bers of the three employer - groups involved produce films chiefly for
the theatre field. Less than 1 percent of the total film footage pro-
duced by association members is released for initial television exhibi-
tion. This percentage is even lower for members of the Independent
and the Society who only occasionally make pictures for television. 10
Members of the Independent specialize in low-budget films. Some of
the individual producers in Case No . 21-RC-1286 are concentrating
on the television market, but others make pictures for commercial,
industrial , and theatre release -as well.
Practically all performers before the motion picture camera are
hired out of an "employment pool," i. e., people with acting talent who
are available for such work . Relatively few actors are under con-
tract with the producer. The same method of hiring is used by all
the Employers irrespective of the market for which the film is to be
made, and the same actors are used for all types of productions. Mini-
mum contract rates must be paid all actors, but higher rates may be
negotiated individually. A large group of actors work at minimum
or near minimum rates in all types of low -budget pictures , including
westerns and films designed for television showing. The same fea-
tured players may be hired by one producer for a picture to be shown
in theatres and by another producer ' for a television film. The same
performers may appear in different films made by an individual pro-
ducer for a variety of markets . It is clear from the record that the
0 Although TVA also maintains that a single Nation -wide unit for all television film
producers is appropriate , it offered no evidence at the hearing in support of such a unit
10 Only pictures released before 1946 for theatre showing may now be used on television.
TELEVISION FILM PRODUCERS ASSOCIATION 931
same technical processes are involved in the production of motion pic-
tures whether the film is produced for the theatre, television, or other
type of market. It is also clear that the acting abilities required of
motion picture performers are the same for all types of productions,
and that there is no separate "pool" of actors which is drawn upon for
the making of television pictures. '
The Petitioner has for many years been the exclusive collective
bargaining representative of actors in the motion picture industry,
and has had contracts with practically all the producers in the indus-
try since 1937. A multiple-employer bargaining pattern has been
established for the membership of the Association, the Independent,
and the Society since 1937, 1938, and 1945, respectively. The Peti-
tioner has negotiated separate contracts for actors with the unaffiliated
producers; in some instances, such producers have voluntarily com-
plied with the minimum provisions of the Petitioner's basic contract in
the industry. All of the Petitioner's contracts expired on December
31, 1950, and negotiations for new contracts were suspended because
of the pendency of these proceedings.
"Extras" 11 have been separately represented by SEG pursuant to
Board certifications in 1946, the Board having clearly recognized the
appropriateness of a separate unit for "extras" in the RICO case. 12
Current contracts between SEG and practically all the Employers in-
volved herein do not expire until 1953.
Both the Petitioner and SEG are chartered affiliates of the Associ-
ated Artists and Artistes of America, AFL (the 4 A's). In 1948 a
movement was started within the 4 A's to form a separate organization
to represent television performers. The Petitioner and SEG refused
to participate in this movement, and in 1949 TVA was organized by
5 other affiliates of the 4 A's as a "trusteeship" within the 4 A's. 13
In addition to the "live" television field, TVA is specificially em-
powered to organize performers engaged in making films for tele-
vision showing.
The principal issue in this case is whether the Board should find
appropriate a separate unit limited to actors engaged in making
motion picture films for television exhibition. TVA seeks to justify
its unit position by testimony designed to show a peculiar community
of interest among actors engaged in making television pictures. These
witnesses emphasized the limited budgets of films intended for tele-
u "Extra " work has best been defined as the human background before which a story
is produced and before which the actor works An "extra" rarely has a spoken part, and
when he does , the part relates to background material and does not involve essential story
dialogue.
12 R K 0 Radio Pictures, Inc , et al, 61 NLRB 112 , supplementing 59 NLRB 132
13 These unions, all in the "live " entertainment field, are Actors Equity Association,
Chorus Equity Association , American Federation of Radio Artists , American Guild of
Variety Artists , and American Guild of Musical Artists.
932 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
With respect to the single employer units, the Petitioner would base,
voting eligibility on a minimum of 2 days' employment during the,
9-month period, while TVA "would require only 1 day's employment.
The Employers took no position on this matter. As the prospect of
employment by the various Employers in the multiple-employer units
is substantially greater, we. agree that the eligibility requirement
should be relaxed in the case of the individual employer units. We be-
lieve, however, that a single day's employment is too casual to establish
the collective bargaining interest of a prospective voter, and we shall
adopt the 2-day requirement suggested by the Petitioner. Therefore,
in the individual employer units found appropriate in Case No.
21-RC-1286, all persons shall be eligible to vote who have had 2 or
more days of employment within any such unit during the 9-month
period immediately preceding the date of this Decision and Direction
of Elections.
Direction of Elections 18
Appendix A
Appendix B
Case No. 21-RC-1491
Members of the Independent Motion Picture Producers Associa-
tion :
Belsam Productions, Inc. Kay Pictures Corp.
James S. Burkett Produc- King Bros., Inc.
tions, Inc. Max M. King Productions
Cathedral Films, Inc. Landres Pictures, Inc.
Chester Productions, Inc. Liberty Productions, Inc.
Continental Pictures Corpo- Monogram Productions, Inc.
ration Martin Mooney Productions,
Emerald Productions, Inc. Inc.
Equity Pictures, Inc. Sigmund Neufeld Produc-
Esskay Pictures Corp. tions, Inc.
Edward Finney Productions Orbit Productions, Inc.
Fortune Film Corporation Lindsley Parsons Produc-
Great Western Productions, tions, Inc.
Inc. Protestant Film Commission
Jan Grippo Productions Sandre Productions, Inc.
A. W. Hackel Jack Schwarz Productions
Hallmark Productions, Inc. Supreme Pictures Corpora-
Hygienic Productions tion
Sam Katzman Productions, Transworld Film, Inc.
Inc. Vinson Pictures, Inc.
Appendix C
Case No. 21-RC-1492
Members of the Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers :
Alcorn Productions, Inc. William Cagney
Irving Allen Enterprises Lester Cowan
Samuel Bischoff Walt Disney Productions
Benedict Bogeaus (Cahuenga Eagle Productions, Inc.
Productions) Federal Films
x.936 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD