Hollywood actors union, studios resume contract talks
6/5/2008 16:35
Talks between Hollywood's major actors union and studios over a new
three-year labor contract entered the fourth week yesterday, three days after
the union backed off some of its demands.
The negotiations earlier had been
scheduled to end Friday, but the two sides agreed to continue to meet this week
through today, in hopes of breaking an impasse. The union's current contract
with the studios expires on June 30.
The extension came after the Screen
Actors Guild (SAG) dropped its demand to double residuals paid to actors from
DVD sales. The guild is instead seeking a 15 percent increase.
Meanwhile, the
Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the
largest movie and television companies in the talks, has refused to change the
decades-old formula.
SAG has also scaled back other demands, including an 80
percent increase in pay for stand-in actors and a 50 percent increase for guest
stars, sources said.
The two sides are still reportedly apart on the amount
of pay for shows streamed over the Internet and what programs created for the
Internet would be covered under the union's contract.
However, negotiators
said they were trying to avoid a repeat of the recent 100-day writers strike,
which crippled almost all new productions in the entertainment
industry.
Xinhua
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