SAG's Allen On Firing Line

Doug Allen, SAG's chief negotiator and executive director, could be looking for a new job soon, according to the Los Angeles Times. Some SAG board members, frustrated with the union's leadership, are planning an attempt to jettison the guild's negotiators, including Allen, at today's national board meeting of the Screen Actors Guild. A consensus appears to be have been reached among the union's moderates, who hold a slight majority on the 71-member board, that such an action is necessary in order to reanimate stalled contract negotiations with the studios. However Allen, who has a year remaining on his contract, has many supporters in Hollywood - and his ouster wouldn't come cheap, as the union would have to buy out the remainder of his $500,000-a-year contract.