Actor Negotiations Near Contract Deadline

L O S  A N G E L E S, June 29 -- As the contract deadline nears for Hollywood actors, negotiators for performers and studios are trying to resolve key issues that include residuals and pay for middle-class actors, the majority of guild membership.

Both sides maintained a news blackout as the 12:01 a.m. Sunday deadline approaches. While the state of the talks isn'tpublicly known, a breakdown could devastate the Los Angeles-areaeconomy, costing billions in lost revenue.

The Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation ofTelevision and Radio Artists have not called for a strikeauthorization vote, but a breakdown in talks could trigger one.

"People in Los Angeles should be very concerned," said RossDeVol, a chief analyst with The Milken Institute, an economic thinktank in Santa Monica. "There appears to be a false sense ofcomplacency, with many people believing a deal is a foregoneconclusion. It's not."

Among the guilds' top concerns is increasing residual paymentsfor shows rebroadcast on cable and in foreign markets. They alsowant higher initial pay for screen work and assurances that studioswill limit the number of productions filmed outside the UnitedStates.

Middle-Income Actors Looking for Better Pay

SAG negotiator Brian Walton said a new deal also must improvethe lives of middle-income actors whose earnings have been reducedby inflated special-effects budgets and salaries for big-namestars.

"This is really a blue-collar union, and stars now won't alwaysbe stars tomorrow," Walton said before the news blackout. "Theseactors need to know they will be able to pay their rent, theirmortgage and buy their kids school clothes."

Of the nearly 135,000 performers the two guilds represent, onlyabout 2 percent earn more than $100,000 a year, includingmultimillion-dollar celebrities such as Tom Hanks, Julia Robertsand Harrison Ford.

About 75,000 actors earn between $30,000 and $70,000 ayear, and nearly half of the guilds' members are unemployed.