Talks stall as actors reject 'final' offer from Hollywood studios
Unable for weeks to agree on terms for a new contract, Hollywood studios and the Screen Actors Guild have now found themselves unable to agree on whether negotiations will continue.
The guild rejected the latest offer yesterday, turning down a deal producers insisted was their last.
“We made it clear our final is our final and that we’re not interested in further counterproposals,” said Jesse Hiestand, a spokesman for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
SAG continued to claim it was willing to negotiate and presented a counterproposal despite producers’ seemingly firm stance.
Doug Allen, SAG’s executive director and chief negotiator, said the guild made a “comprehensive counterproposal that adopted some of their proposals and offered alternatives on others”.
SAG committee members are scheduled to meet today to discuss the situation and said they will contact producers in the afternoon.
The two sides met privately for more than five hours yesterday before the AMPTP released a statement saying the guild was “unreasonably” seeking more than other unions. The session came as actors continue to work under a contract that expired last month.
The studios made their final offer last week, saying it provided $250m (€157m) in additional compensation over three years. The studios said they will not make any pay increases retroactive to July 1 if the deal is not ratified by August 15.
