The champagne buzz won't even have worn off when the 120,000 members of the Screen Actors Guild receive a ballot in the mail asking them to authorize a strike. SAG will send the ballots out Jan. 2 and members will have until Jan. 23 to mail them back. More than 75 percent have to approve a strike, but even in the unlikely chance that happens, SAG officials have made it clear that it doesn't mean they'll ask actors to walk out the door Jan. 24. "SAG members understand that their futures as professional actors are at stake," said Alan Rosenberg, SAG's national president, in a release. "A yes vote sends a strong message that we are serious about fending off rollbacks and getting what is fair for actors in new media." Actors are one of the last Hollywood groups trying to get a piece of revenues from new media such as DVDs and the Internet. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the group representing the studios in the negotiations, say they've offered actors a similar package for compensation from new media that other unions such as the Writers Guild of America have accepted in the past despite the failing economy. In a statement, AMPTP said moving to put a work stoppage on the table was the wrong thing to do. "SAG members are going to be asked to bail out a failed negotiating strategy by going on strike during one of the worst economic crises in history," AMPTP said on its Web site. "We hope that working actors will study our contract offer carefully and come to the conclusion that no strike can solve the problems that have been created by SAG's own failed negotiation strategy." SAG, however, is convinced its membership will authorize it to put a potential strike on the negotiating table. "I am confident that members around the country will empower our negotiating team with the leverage and strength of unified Screen Actors Guild members," said Doug Allen, SAG's national executive director and chief negotiator, in a release. "Our objective remains to get a deal that SAG members will ratify, not to go on strike." Express yourself and be part of the news! Leave a comment below or join our rabid discussions on the SyBoards.