(AFP) – Jun 30, 2008

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — The US Screen Actors Guild and movie and television producers were in the midst of last-gasp negotiations in California Monday, as a contract with the studios was set to expire at midnight.

"We're having a negotiation session today," a source close to the talks told AFP, without providing further details of the meeting taking place near Los Angeles.

The talks between the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), Hollywood's major employers, aimed to thrash out new terms to a triennial labor contract before the previous deal expires midnight Monday (0700 GMT Tuesday).

With more than 40 days of bargaining without reaching a deal, the threat of a work paralysis hung over the multi-billion-dollar industry, but on Sunday SAG president Alan Rosenberg stressed there were no immediate plans to strike against Hollywood studios.

"We have taken no steps to initiate a strike authorization vote by the members of Screen Actors Guild. Any talk about a strike or a management lockout at this point is simply a distraction," Rosenberg said Sunday.

The two sides appeared to have options to continue cooperating even if the midnight deadline were to pass without a new contract.

SAG said in a statement Monday that "all members should continue to report to work and to audition for new work past the expiration date until further notice from the guild.

"Such work will be covered under the terms of the expired television and theatrical agreements."

The industry daily Variety reported Monday that "talks are likely to continue for at least another week while most production stops due to the uncertainty of whether SAG will make a deal any time soon."

Variety said that with passage of the deadline, the contract's no-strike, no-lockout provisions will no longer be in effect. But neither the 120,000-strong SAG or the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), with its 70,000 members, have indicated they would strike.

The situation is complicated by the fact that SAG and AFTRA are at odds over the contract; AFTRA has given its green light to a version of the text proposed by the AMPTP, while SAG has rejected it.

SAG leaders said AFTRA has weakened its negotiating position and is asking its 44,000 members who are also AFTRA members not to ratify the text.

The discord is pitting some well-known actors against one another: Tom Hanks, Kevin Spacey and Alec Baldwin support AFTRA's position, while Jack Nicholson and Ben Stiller are lined up behind SAG.

Last Thursday, actor George Clooney called for the two groups to unite, maintaining that the split only reinforce the position of the studios.

The screen actors are holding out for higher pay for "middle-tier" actors, artists earning less than 100,000 a year, and are seeking a greater cut of profits from sales of DVDs and new-media sales.

Studios have said the new actors' deal must follow a framework similar to agreements hashed out with screenwriters and directors unions earlier this year, and have accused SAG of making unreasonable demands.

On Monday the AMPTP bought pages of advertising in the Hollywood press, telling actors that a strike would be "harmful and unnecessary."

"Enough is enough.... Let's keep working," it said.

Last winter, a strike by screenwriters paralyzed Hollywood for 100 days and was the US entertainment industry's most damaging dispute for 20 years, costing an estimated two billion dollars.

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