Hollywood writers and studios resume contract talks

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Striking screenwriters resumed contract talks with major film and TV studios on Monday for the first time since trading pens for picket signs three weeks ago in the worst Hollywood labor clash in two decades.

The 12,000-member Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the studios' Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers returned to the bargaining table at about 10 a.m. at an undisclosed, neutral location in Los Angeles, a studio spokesman confirmed.

But in a departure from the public rancor that has marked the labor talks since the first session back in July, the two sides adhered to a strict media blackout.

They adjourned for the day about eight hours later without a word on how much, if any, progress was made. The talks were expected to resume on Tuesday morning.

The WGA also renewed picketing outside about nine studios around town after a five-day break in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday.

The renewed talks offered the biggest glimmer of hope for resolving the dispute, which has centered on the question of how much money film and TV writers should earn when their work is distributed via the Internet.

The last major Hollywood strike, a 1988 walkout by the WGA, dragged on for 22 weeks and cost the entertainment industry at least $500 million. Economists have said that figure could double if the current strike lasts as long.

"Both sides realized that unless they sit down and start talking to each other, this situation is going to get a lot worse," said longtime media lawyer Howard Fabrick, a veteran of numerous Hollywood labor talks.

The parties reported some progress in their last 12-hour session on November 4 and could probably clinch a deal with another week's worth of serious bargaining, Fabrick said. But he said negotiators would need some time to regain that momentum.

"When you have that cooling-off period, both sides rethink things that they've said and positions they've taken," he said. "It's not starting over again from scratch, but it's not starting off from where you left off, either."

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The writers' previous three-year contract with the major film and TV studios expired on November 1, and the WGA launched its strike four days later even as the two sides were still negotiating.

When studio executives asked the writers to put their walkout on hold while negotiations continued, and union leaders refused, the producers left the bargaining table.

The strike immediately threw the TV industry into disarray, as several late-night talk shows, including those hosted by Jay Leno and David Letterman, were forced into reruns. Work has since halted on dozens of prime-time comedies and dramas, idling hundreds of non-writing staffers.

One industry expert estimated last week that 10,000 people directly employed on TV series could be jobless by month's end as projected losses in production spending on those shows reached $21 million a day.

The movie industry also is feeling the squeeze, with studios postponing production on at least four feature films because striking writers were not available to finish work on their scripts in time.

The WGA and the producers agreed to renew talks after coming under mounting pressure to seek a settlement, including back-channel overtures from California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and some of Hollywood's leading talent agents.

A new survey of nearly 1,000 Daily Variety subscribers found public opinion heavily favoring the writers, with more than two-thirds of those polled saying the WGA presented its views more forcefully and clearly than the studios.

But 44 percent of the respondents believed the strike ultimately would be settled "in favor of the companies," while just 20 percent felt the writers would come out on top. Thirty-seven percent thought it would be settled in a way that is "mostly fair" to both sides.

(Editing by Arthur Spiegelman and Philip Barbara)