HOLLYWOOD studios, facing an expiring contract and what they declared to be a "de facto strike" as film and television production slow, made a final offer to the largest actors union and ended negotiations, Bloomberg News reported.
The proposal is worth US$250 million to Screen Actors Guild members and is similar to agreements reached with directors, writers and a smaller actors union, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the studios' negotiating agent, said on Monday in an e-mailed statement.
"Our final offer to SAG represents a final hope for avoiding further work stoppages and getting everyone back to work," according to the statement from the alliance, whose members include Time Warner Inc, Walt Disney Co, News Corp, General Electric Co's NBC Universal, Viacom Inc, CBS Corp, Sony Corp and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.
The move signals studios, threatened with a second work stoppage this year, are determined to resist guild demands for a bigger share of DVD revenue and payments for shows on the Internet. Actors also want the option of refusing to use branded products in films and TV shows. Use of so-called product placement has increased to offset higher production costs and to counter the ability of consumers to skip TV commercials.
Studios began curtailing new productions in April to avoid having casts walk out before films are finished, said Jonathan Handel, an entertainment attorney at TroyGould in Los Angeles.
The cutbacks will add to an estimated US$2.1 billion in economic losses caused by a three-month strike by television and movie writers, according to a study by the Santa Monica, California-based Milken Institute.
Filming on current productions will continue "for now" to allow the guild to consider the proposal, the alliance said. Studio negotiators agreed to meet with the union today only to answer questions about the offer, AMPTP spokesman Jesse Hiestand said.
The 43-page offer fails to address union concerns such as residual payments for content made for the Internet, the guild said in an e-mailed statement. Union members were urged to report to their jobs and auditions until further notice. "The union is reviewing the complex package and will prepare a response to management once that analysis is complete," the union said in the statement.
The outcome of the stalemate may hinge on voting on a separate proposal members of the rival American Federation of Television and Radio Artists reached with studios in May. Actors Guild leaders, whose membership overlaps with Aftra, have urged a "No" vote, saying that would strengthen their own position in negotiations. Results of the vote are scheduled to be released next Tuesday.
Aftra deal
"We really won't know the lay of the land until the ratification vote comes in," Handel said. "If SAG manages to defeat the Aftra deal, which I think is unlikely, the studios may have to modify their proposal."
The Aftra agreement, negotiated in May, provides wage increases and payment for the use of actors' work on the Internet. It contains no increase for DVD sales.
The guild has about 120,000 members who perform in movies and in prime-time television shows.
Aftra has about 70,000 members and jurisdiction over daytime soap operas, talk shows and a few prime-time dramas and comedies. About 40,000 actors belong to both unions.