Progress Being Made, but Some Issues Remain

Writers and studios are expected to take their talks to the wire today on the final day of their contract, as sources continued to report the two sides are still inching toward a settlement.

While saying progress is being made, sources close to both the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers acknowledged that some issues continue to bog down the talks.

One still-open issue they cited is what writers will be paid when fledgling video-on-demand systems now being developed, such as Sony Corp.’s Moviefly and Disney’s Movies.com, become a reality. Writers want assurances they will be adequately compensated when those systems start generating significant revenue.

Both sides could stop the clock and continue talking beyond the contract’s expiration at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, which is not unusual in labor negotiations. But sources on the studio side insist that companies will be reluctant to do that unless clear progress is made toward a settlement.

Even if talks break off, any potential walkout won’t happen immediately because writers must first hold a strike authorization vote. It would take a minimum of two days and as many as five to organize and hold a vote.

Both sides continued to adhere to a self-imposed news blackout and declined to comment.

In a message e-mailed to writers Sunday, the guild’s leaders sought to calm members, saying, “We are working hard in the hope we will not have to ask you to make a decision to authorize a work stoppage.”

The message also instructed writers to continue working as if they are employed unless a strike is both authorized and called. It added that by today the guild committee will decide on its recommendation on the final offer from studios, which is expected to be presented at the eleventh hour.

The e-mail was signed by John Wells, guild president in the West, and Herb Sargent, its Eastern president. Also signing was chief negotiator John McLean and Mona Mangan, the guild’s Eastern executive director.

Elsewhere, Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan once again sternly urged the two sides to avoid a strike, calling the contract expiration “a deadline of profound importance to the people of Los Angeles.”

“The clock is ticking,” Riordan said during a noon news conference at City Hall, part of a two-week full-court press he launched to pressure both sides into a settlement.

The mayor acknowledged that it’s been 10 days since he talked to either of the two sides. He has received some supportive e-mails, he said, but was unable to reach negotiators by phone Monday morning because they already were involved in the talks.

Riordan was flanked by nine representatives of business associations and chambers of commerce from the Los Angeles area. Their refrain: Any strike would drain millions, perhaps billions, of dollars critical to Los Angeles’ economy.

Riordan said much of the effects of a strike would be felt by people who aren’t represented at the bargaining table: waiters, caterers, truck drivers, real estate agents, accountants and props people.

“They are real people with real families and real mortgages and real expense accounts, contributing to our economy,” Riordan said. “I am optimistic that a strike will be averted. I have participated in enough negotiations to know that successful bargaining means that neither side gets everything they want, but both sides get something.”

Greg Lippe, an accountant and a member of the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn., said a strike could prompt more production companies to leave Los Angeles.

“We don’t want anything that’s going to push production out of California and the United States,” Lippe said.

Jack Srebnik, president of the Westside chapter of the California Restaurant Assn., said the restaurant industry would feel the sting.

“It also means that your waiters won’t be able to pay for their acting classes,” Riordan said.