UPDATE 1-Hollywood writers resume talks amid strike fears

(Talks adjourn for day; adds statement from producers)

By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES, Sept 19 (Reuters) - With strike jitters running high in Hollywood, screenwriters and studio executives reopened contract negotiations on Wednesday, after a nine-week break, but there was little sign of progress as talks adjourned for the day.

The six-hour round of bargaining on a three-year labor pact covering 12,000 members of the Writers Guild of America ended with the studios accusing the union of intransigence.

"With two months to respond to our proposals, we were once again rebuffed with little or no explanation," said Nick Counter, the chief negotiator for the industry as head of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

He also criticized the guild for what he called "a total disregard for the true state of the industry and its fundamental economics."

A guild spokesman declined to comment. Both sides said talks would resume on Thursday at the guild's headquarters.

The outcome of negotiations, which began in mid-July with a two-day exchange of proposals before breaking off for nine weeks, is expected to hinge on issues related to how the Internet has altered the economics of show business.

Renewed talks came a day after the West Coast wing of the guild announced its members had overwhelmingly re-elected a slate of officers led by its president, Patric Verrone, who first won control in 2005 promising a more aggressive stance in labor negotiations.

In published remarks, Verrone said he was hopeful the union could reach a "reasonable deal" with producers by Oct. 31, when the current contract expires.

Verrone's statement contrasted with sharply with comments on Tuesday from one leading Hollywood executive, DreamWorks Animation DWA.N Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, who said he was "fearful" that the gap between the two sides would prove insurmountable to avoid a strike.

Although no strike threat has been issued by the union, film studios and TV networks are treating Oct. 31 as a de facto deadline as they stockpile scripts and speed up production on some projects as a precaution.

"We've been preparing since May," one industry insider told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

The guild in turn has been mobilizing its rank and file to make strike preparations and has set up a command center in the lounge of the WGA West headquarters, a spokesman said.

Hollywood screenwriters last walked off the job in 1988 in a 22-week strike that delayed the fall TV season and cost the industry a reported $500 million.

Many in Hollywood, however, have expressed greater concerns about the possibility of a strike by unionized actors, whose contract with producers expires and the end of June 2008.