Studios offer to start talks with actors soon

In a move to defuse labor tensions, the chief negotiator for the major studios Wednesday offered to begin contract negotiations with Hollywood’s actors March 31.

The current contract expires June 30, but leaders of the Screen Actors Guild have faced intense pressure from A-list members to begin immediate negotiations to avert another costly strike after the 100-day walkout by writers that ended last month. Fears of an actors strike also have held up a number of film projects.

Nick Counter, president of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios, made the offer during a meeting with leaders of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists at SAG’s headquarters in the Miracle Mile district, a spokesman for the alliance said.

In a statement, SAG Executive Director Doug Allen said union leaders would first need to consult with their respective boards, which are scheduled to meet March 29 to draft bargaining proposals.

Allen and his counterpart at AFTRA, Kim Roberts Hedgpeth, already have held informal discussions with top studio executives. The two unions had sparred over terms of their 27-year partnership, but this week put aside their differences to focus on the negotiations.

--

richard.verrier@latimes.com