Irate Directors Leave Producers’ Office With No Word on Offer

Directors Guild of America negotiators angrily walked out of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers’ Sherman Oaks headquarters Sunday, after getting no response to the contract proposals they submitted last week.

But guild President Gilbert Cates said the union did not plan to strike before 6 p.m. Friday, which guild negotiators set as a “deadline” for a reply by the producers.

“I’m just . . . outraged,” Cates said in an interview minutes before leaving the alliance offices at 3 p.m.

Given No Reply

“They asked us to come here at 10 o’clock (in the morning) for a reply, and they still haven’t seen us.”

“The producers have continued analyzing the directors’ very complex proposals,” explained Carol Akiyama, senior vice president of the alliance, which represents about 200 movie and TV producers.

Akiyama said she could “understand” the guild negotiators’ frustration at the lack of progress Sunday. But she said the producers’ delay meant they were taking a “very serious” look at the proposals.

The two sides agreed to meet at 10 a.m. Thursday, Cates said. But he added that guild negotiators would be available for talks before then if the producers came to a decision.

Separate guild negotiations with the three major television networks are set to resume in New York on Tuesday, according to both Cates and Irv Novick, a negotiator for the broadcasters.

Proposals Rejected

Guild members last week voted overwhelmingly to reject contract proposals from both the producers and the networks. The votes empower the national board of the 8,500-member union to call a strike that could shut down most movie and TV filming and some live shows. The national board is set to meet Saturday, Cates said.

The guild president declined to discuss details in the directors’ proposals, which were given to producers on Wednesday. But a union spokesman has said they would result in a major overhaul of the residuals payment system--something the producers have insisted on in the ongoing negotiations.

The guild’s previous three-year contracts with the producers and networks expired Tuesday, but union leaders have urged members to continue working as talks continue.