http://www.studiobriefing.net/2010/05/clooney-proposes-plan-to-rescue-mo%5Ction-picture-fund-home/May 6, 2010 by admin
George Clooney has proposed that the Screen Actors Guild remove its cap on annual dues to pay for the costs of the Motion Picture Fund’s hospital and long-term care facility, which is slated to be shut down. In an interview with Sharon Waxman of TheWrap.com, Clooney noted that the current cap is $6,500 per year for actors earning $1 million or more in a single year. He told Waxman that dues should be raised to $6,500 per year for every $1 million earned by an actor, with the additional funds earmarked for the Motion Picture Fund Home. “And everyone I talked to thought that wouldn’t be that difficult,” Clooney said. “The people who got lucky in the union — the ones who got wealthy, and are paid very well for what they do — most of them would be happy to do that.” He said that he had talked to his Oceans 11 colleagues Matt Damon and Brad Pitt who agreed that his proposal “would make sense.” He did not indicate how much revenue his proposal would raise for the MPF home or even whether it would be sufficient to cover its annual deficit and modernize its inpatient facilities. He said that he he has brought his recommendation to Screen Actors Guild President Ken Howard, who told him that “legal issues” may stand in the way of implementing it. However, he said, “Where people say there’s no legal way to do that, it usually changes when … people say, ‘We can do this.’”