Last-minute Hollywood labor talks break down
Writers and producers are still far apart, making a strike more likely. The current contract expires at midnight.
It's a script many had hoped would not be written: Hollywood's film and TV scribes and their employers failed to reach an agreement on a new contract today, setting the stage for a possible showdown that could ripple across the streets of Los Angeles and into America's living rooms. Despite the presence of a federal mediator and more than a dozen bargaining sessions since July, negotiators for the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers broke off talks before hashing out a last-minute deal on a new three-year contract.
Talks ended after several hours Wednesday, about six hours before the current contract expires at midnight.
In a statement, the alliance said talks broke down after its chief negotiator, Nick Counter, outlined the producers' opposition to raising the pay writers receive when their work is released on DVD -- a key guild demand.
"We want to make a deal," he told WGA negotiators. "We think doing so is in your best interests, in your members' best interests, in the best interests of our companies and in the best interests of the industry. But, as I said, no further movement is possible to close the gap between us so long as your DVD proposal remains on the table."
The alliance said WGA members refused to meet Thursday. "When they were asked about Friday, they advised they would call us."
Guild officials were not immediately available for comment.
The development doesn't guarantee an immediate walkout by writers but certainly heightens the prospect of Hollywood's first major strike in nearly two decades.
Writers could work without a contract until a new deal can be reached, as the guild has done in previous negotiations. If a strike occurs, it would probably happen within a week and possibly as early as Friday, according to people close the guild.
The writers' previous strike, in 1988, lasted 22 weeks and cost the industry an estimated $500 million. Economists estimate that a strike could have a more powerful punch on the local economy this time around because of the entertainment industry's expansion.
Writers Guild members already have voted by a 90% majority to authorize their leaders to call a strike any time after their contract expires. However, the guild was expected to wait to strike at least until after a general membership meeting Thursday night. Guild leaders are expecting a large turnout and have booked space at the Los Angeles Convention Center to accommodate the crowds. About 12,000 writers are covered under the contract, but only a fraction of them work regularly.
The purpose of the meeting is to "update everyone in person on negotiations and what our next options will be from that moment on," President Patric M. Verrone told guild members in a recent e-mail message.
richard.verrier@latimes.com
