Alliance Of Motion Picture And Television Producers

Hollywood writers and studios agreed to hit the pause button Sunday on contract talks, mulling over proposals among themselves before reconvening on Wednesday, the two sides said. The two sides exchanged new proposals Sunday before adjourning negotiations. Key issues being discussed are the sharing of more DVD profits, healthcare benefits and higher pay scales.

Carl Gottlieb, writer-producer, is on the WGA negotiating committee. As a writer-producer in 1988, his first loyalty was to the writers. Perhaps the main reason for the strike of 1988 was that "both sides, the Writers Guild and AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) underestimated the resolve of the other side," Gottlieb said.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on Thursday offered a modified package of proposals in a bid to keep fractious negotiations alive six days before the expiration of the writers contract. The writers and producers have made little progress in negotiating a new contract to replace one that expires Oct. 31, leading many studios to prepare for the first writers strike in nearly two decades.

The nation's three major television networks have abruptly pulled out of contract talks with Hollywood's two actors' unions, creating an impasse that could lead to a crippling shutdown of film production if talks do not resume shortly. Representatives of CBS, NBC and ABC late Wednesday walked out of the bargaining sessions between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the two unions--the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

Writers and studios said Friday that they will continue to negotiate today as the two sides neared a critical point in their talks for a new contract. As of late Friday night, no agreement appeared near in talks between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Talks were still at a delicate stage, said sources in both camps, none of whom would speak for attribution because of the sensitive state of negotiations.

The major Hollywood studios called on the Screen Actors Guild on Thursday to put their final contract offer to a membership vote, a proposal the union rejected, continuing the stalemate in negotiations. As expected, the largest actors union did not accept what the studios called their final offer, which they said contained more than $250 million in improvements over the previous three-year contract, which expired June 30.

Much-anticipated contract negotiations between Hollywood's writers and their employers got off to a predictably contentious start Monday, with each side publicly lambasting the other's proposals. Writers Guild of America negotiators are seeking to double the rate of compensation writers receive from DVD sales, want union pay and benefits for writers working in reality television and on basic cable shows and are proposing a much higher rate of pay when shows are downloaded from the Internet.

Four days after actors called for bringing in a federal mediator to resolve stalled contract negotiations, the studios finally delivered a response: OK, but don't expect much. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which bargains on behalf of the studios, said in a statement Thursday that "we are, of course, willing to meet with a federal mediator in the hopes of achieving our fifth guild agreement this year."

Negotiators representing Hollywood directors reached agreement on a labor pact with studios and networks Thursday that could prompt two other key entertainment guilds to resolve their contract differences. The 12,800-member Directors Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers agreed to a new three-year deal, which includes a boost in healthcare benefits and increases in pay and residuals.

With the possibility of a strike looming this summer, representatives of Hollywood writers and studios finally have agreed to start negotiating a new contract beginning Jan. 22. The Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the industry's negotiating arm, are facing a 12:01 a.m. May 2 deadline on the expiration of their current three-year contract.