Hollywood film and television writers are back at the table with representatives of US TV networks and movie studios for last-minute talks on Sunday, according to US media reports.
The Hollywood screenwriters' union declared Thursday that they would embark on an industrywide strike against TV networks and movie studios over a bigger slice of profits from DVDs and shows offered on the Internet.
If union leaders and producers fail to reach a contract agreement by midnight Sunday, the strike would begin at 12:01 AM Monday morning.
The first picket lines would be seen at New York's Rockefeller Center, followed by picket lines at various locations in Los Angeles.
The two sides have been locked in talks over a new contract for months but have neared an impasse primarily over demands by writers for higher fees, or "residuals."
Their prior contract expired last week, and the Writers Guild, or WGA, voted unanimously Friday to begin the strike unless studios offered a more lucrative deal.
"The studios made it clear that they would rather shut down this town than reach a fair and reasonable deal," Patric Verrone, president of the western chapter of the guild, said at a news conference, according to media reports.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers previously called a writers' strike "precipitous and irresponsible."
Producers believe progress can be made on other issues but "it makes absolutely no sense to increase the burden of this additional compensation," J. Nicholas Counter, the producers' chief negotiator, said.
It would be the first strike by the members of the Writers Guild of America in almost 20 years. The last strike lasted 22 weeks in 1988, with industry losses calculated at roughly US$500 million.
(Agencies via Xinhua November 5, 2007)
