Studios and Actors May Extend Labor Pact

Actors and studios are considering extending their labor agreement for one year to avoid a potential work slowdown, the two sides said Sunday.

Discussions between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and Hollywood’s two actor unions, the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, started Tuesday and recessed Friday.

They are expected to resume in the next few days. The agreement being discussed would extend the current three-year contract, set to expire June 30, by an additional year.

Studio and labor officials fear that if talks extend beyond April 1, Hollywood will suffer another work slowdown similar to what the industry experienced in 2001.

Although a strike ultimately was averted that year, studios nonetheless slowed production to a trickle as the contract expiration date neared. Studios took that precaution against a possible walkout because films require months to shoot, and pulling the plug is costly.

Sources, who say a pact is uncertain, said actors have been open to the extension provided that studios address several issues, including bolstering the health and pension plans and increasing pay levels.

Actors also want digitally shot shows to be covered by contracts more in line with SAG’s better-paying scales, rather than by AFTRA’s levels. The two unions tried to address that issue through a merger that was narrowly defeated last year. Sources said an extension would give union officials more time to push again for a merger.

For studios, an extension also would allow them to focus on negotiating with writers, whose contract expires May 2. That contract is expected to be more difficult because writers have made getting more money from DVD revenue a cornerstone issue. Studios are expected to resist such a proposal.

Also affecting talks is the current turmoil at the Writers Guild of America, West, where Victoria Riskin resigned as president after it was found she was ineligible to run for reelection. Some writers also have launched a recall against Riskin’s replacement, Charles Holland, after questions were raised in a Times article about statements Holland has made about his military and college athletic career.