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Hollywood plows ahead cautiously amid labour uncertainty

03.07.2008 21:01 Arts - Source: cbc.ca

Cameras are still rolling and productions seem to be proceeding cautiously ahead despite uncertainty amid current labour negotiations between Hollywood's actors and its major studios.

The current contract between the Screen Actors Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers expired on Tuesday. The two sides met for several hours on Wednesday to discuss the latest offer from the studios.

According to the studios, the proposed plan would add $250 million US in compensation to the guild's 120,000 members over the next three years. It also said that the offer to SAG was its final one.

Guild officials, who had initially suggested the latest offer did not go far enough, asked to examine the proposal until Monday, when they pledged to contact the studios again.

There are no further meetings scheduled.

Because the SAG leadership did not call a strike vote and vowed to remain at the bargaining table, productions are proceeding, albeit on a reduced basis. In anticipation of a possible labour stoppage, many studios and filmmakers have factored in a hiatus or had planned to end filming in July.

Cary Tusan, a senior research editor at the industry newspaper The Hollywood Reporter, leads a team that compiles a list of movies in production. Many movies now in production will wrap up soon, he said.

Still, while some studios have been reluctant to set start dates on upcoming films, a number of productions are ready to begin if the labour uncertainty clears up.

"They do seem to be hedging their bets," Tusan said. "It seems as if they are waiting to see what to do."

In the meantime, the smaller American Federation of Television and Radio Artists is waiting for its members (about 70,000) to ratify the tentative deal it reached with the studios in late May. The results are due July 8.

With files from the Associated Press

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