Studios, actors remain at odds in labor talks

By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - With two days left before a self-imposed deadline in contract talks with actors, major Hollywood studios said on Wednesday the two sides remained far from a deal and that excessive union demands were to blame.

The statement from the studios' bargaining agent, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, or AMPTP, stoked concerns about renewed labor strife in the aftermath of a 100-day strike by screenwriters that ended in February.

The current three-year contract covering 120,000 film and TV actors expires on June 30.

The AMPTP statement also marks the most extensive public comment by either side since the Screen Actors Guild and the studios opened their negotiations on April 15 under what had been a strict media blackout.

Among the stumbling blocks the studios cited were SAG's demands for a doubling of the residual fees actors earn from DVDs, as well as changes the union sought in a new-media pay structure already embraced by writers and directors.

Those demands "would result in enormous cost increases that we are not willing to accept," the studios said.

Last week, the parties agreed to extend their initial two-week window for negotiations by a third week, until May 2, in hopes of closing what the studios described then as "significant gaps" between them.

The extension was seen as a hopeful sign that a settlement was within reach. But in Wednesday's updated notice to member companies posted online, the AMPTP said little additional progress had been made.