Local News in Brief : Writers’ Talks Continue

Negotiators for the Writers Guild of America and TV and movie producers met for a seventh straight day in Los Angeles Thursday, with both sides denying a union report that major progress had been made toward ending the writers’ 14-week-old strike.

The meeting at the headquarters of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers followed nearly 12 hours of talks that Cheryl Rhoden, a WGA spokeswoman, described as intense.

WGA sources close to the negotiations said Wednesday night that progress had been made on crucial issues, including creative rights for writers in production decisions and residuals paid for one-hour television programs.

But Herb Steinberg, a spokesman for the 200-member producers alliance, said reports of major progress “were really erroneous.”