Screen Actors Guild

The contract between Hollywood studios and the largest actors union, the Screen Actors Guild, expires at midnight, but don't hold your breath for a last-minute deal. Rather than bargaining feverishly to end an impasse that has already idled thousands of workers, negotiators have been biding their time until July 8. That's when the smaller actors union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, finishes voting on the tentative contract its board overwhelmingly approved this month.

Some actors are lining up behind Tom Hanks. Others are backing Jack Nicholson. No, this is not an Oscar race. It's the campaign over a new contract for Hollywood actors, and the two movie stars are on opposing sides regarding what to do about it. Welcome to the civil war that has turned Hollywood upside down and is fast diminishing the prospects of a peaceful resolution between actors and studios.

Hollywood studios made a "final offer" late Monday to the Screen Actors Guild hours before their labor contract with the largest actors union was set to expire. The offer included benefits similar to those granted to writers, directors and the industry's smaller actors union, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers told Bloomberg News.

A campaign by the Screen Actors Guild to persuade members of a smaller rival union to vote down a new contract has foundered, an outcome that could weaken SAG's leverage in its negotiations with the Hollywood studios. Members of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists on Tuesday approved a new three-year, prime-time TV contract, dealing a blow to SAG leaders who had gambled heavily on defeating a contract they blasted as bad for actors.

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.

Hollywood's long, hot summer does not appear to be ending any time soon. The talks between the major studios and the largest actors union are at a stalemate. And neither side professes to be in a hurry to break the logjam. A meeting last week failed to bridge the significant gaps between the parties and yielded only further sniping between the warring sides.

Seeking to fend off a challenge to its leadership in the Screen Actors Guild, the group known as Membership First on Friday declared its own slate of candidates who will run in an upcoming board election. The election, which will be decided Sept. 18, could be pivotal in charting the union's course and determining whether, and how soon, the stalemate with the studios ends.

SAG: A July 20 Op-Ed article said a group of actors petitioned the Screen Actors Guild board to require a minimum number of days worked to maintain voting eligibility. The petition would have affected only votes on the TV-theatrical contract and included other ways to qualify.

The fight for control of the Screen Actors Guild took a dramatic turn Wednesday with Tom Hanks, Alec Baldwin and Sally Field joining other high-profile actors in endorsing a group of dissidents to lead Hollywood's largest union. The group, known as Unite for Strength, said that more than 35 well-known actors have backed its slate of candidates for 11 Hollywood division seats on the 71-member national board. The slate also includes candidates running for 22 seats as alternate board members.

Seeking to jump-start stalled contract talks with the studios -- and to hang tough at the same time -- Screen Actors Guild leaders called on News Corp. President Peter Chernin and Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger to revive formal bargaining. But the request was rebuffed by the studio executives, ending prospects of a resolution any time soon in the months-long stalemate. In a letter sent Monday that was also addressed to the studios' chief negotiator, J.