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Hollywood Wars: The Actors' Union Strikes Back?

By Garrett Godwin

At the request of the actors' union, a meeting between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) took place Wednesday for "a final offer". The contract expired midnight on June 30, as SAG pleads for more time to look at the latest deal.

Both sides discussed the offer AMPTP has made: $250 million in additional compensation for SAG members during the next three years. After four hours, SAG asks for a few more days, and resume on Monday to reach a conclusion. However, according to the AMPTP, nothing has been written in stone yet.

Still, despite ongoing threats from Hollywood studios over a possible actors strike, film production will resume, as several upcoming blockbusters such as The Da Vinci Code sequel Angels & Demons was still rolling the other day.

"Severe periods of labor", Alliance spokesman Jesse Hiestand said, "uncertainly have a powerfully depressing impact on the amount of capital that people are willing to invest in major projects. The longer the uncertainly continues, the more severe the economic impacts will be."

The threat of an actors' strike didn't look to interfere with producing television shows. The difference between film and TV production is that the latter shoots 22-24 episodes a year for 10 months, and is easy to closed shop. Movies, on the other hand, shoots for 3 months (sometimes over a year or two if doing back-to-back sequels), and the setting is exotic locales or elaborate sets. The increased workload came, as networks strived to make up for 100-day writers' strike that ended this February, as shows like Heroes, Chuck, and Private Practice have just started shooting this summer.

The complete majority of both film and TV projects are covered within the contracts of SAG.

Cary Tusan stated that studios are reluctant to plan the dates for upcoming films, but there were productions that are prepared to start shooting if labor is unknown.

"They do seem hedging their bets" the senior research editor for the Hollywood Reporter continued. "It seems as if they are waiting to see what to do."

Source: TV Guide and Yahoo! News

Garrett Godwin writes for NewsBlaze from Michigan. Contact him by writing to NewsBlaze.