Writers and studios may restart talks
Published 11:20 pm Tuesday, January 22, 2008
LOS ANGELES — Officials with the striking writers guild held informal talks Tuesday with Hollywood studios that could lead to the resumption of negotiations, a person familiar with the bargaining strategy said.
The talks preceded an expected guild meeting later in the day that was to address the union’s next step as it seeks a new contract, said the person who was not authorized to publicly comment and asked for anonymity.
The Writers Guild of America did not immediately respond to e-mail and phone requests for comment.
Bargaining between the writers guild and the studios’ trade group, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, broke down Dec. 7 after the alliance demanded the guild take a half-dozen issues off the table, including unionization of reality TV shows. The guild refused.
The informal meetings held Tuesday were designed to lay the groundwork for a return to formal bargaining.
The approach mirrored a series of meetings held by the Directors Guild of America and studio heads before they began formal negotiations and reached a tentative deal last week after less than a week of bargaining.
