The clips issue still headlines the negotiations, and rightly so.

Veleka


AFTRA, studios nearing deal

SAG set to resume feature-primetime talks

By DAVE MCNARY

With SAG anxiously waiting in the wings, AFTRA and the majors are
believed to be near a tentative deal on the union's primetime contract.

Amid a news blackout, neither side issued any official announcement
as of Monday evening, but it was understood that AFTRA and the AMPTP
had entered the final stages of reaching a three-year agreement.
Monday marked the 16th day of negotiations between the two orgs.

AFTRA leaders, who have touted their pragmatic approach, had been
widely expected to make a deal before the Screen Actors Guild did.
SAG is scheduled to resume its talks with the AMPTP on Wednesday.

In agreeing to negotiate over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, both
AFTRA and the AMPTP had started sending strong signals that they were
closing in on a deal. Monday's session marked the eighth consecutive
day of bargaining over the contract, which covers a handful of
primetime shows including "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Reaper," "Rules of
Engagement" and "'Til Death."

In a message to members, AFTRA president Roberta Reardon indicated
Sunday that the two sides were making progress. She singled out the
issue of actor consent for online clip use as the toughest hurdle but
noted both sides were seeking a "creative solution."

The SAG and AFTRA deals expire June 30 -- and the lack of resolution
has unnerved Hollywood in the wake of the 100-day writers strike,
with major studios refusing to greenlight features until the SAG deal
is done.

SAG, which covers all features and most of primetime, negotiated for
18 days before talks recessed May 6 despite guild objections it was
near a deal. The AMPTP insisted it was obliged to launch twice-
delayed talks with AFTRA the next day.

SAG leaders have insisted they don't want to strike and have not
asked members for strike authorization. Such a move would require 75%
support among those casting ballots.

SAG president Alan Rosenberg has asserted the guild was "within
hours" of making a deal May 6, even though SAG leaders have said
subsequently that major gaps remained on clip consent, DVD, force
majeure, product integration and budget thresholds on made-for-
Internet projects.

A key question once SAG starts bargaining: Will the terms negotiated
by AFTRA be acceptable to SAG? And that's uncertain for two reasons
-- SAG's insisted repeatedly that the new-media terms in the DGA and
WGA deals are inadequate; and SAG's recent relationship with AFTRA
has been near toxic.

AFTRA split from joint negotiations with SAG in late March following
a bitter jurisdictional dispute, and the union then spurned SAG's two-
pronged request May 6 to either step aside for a third time or go
back to joint bargaining. It's the first time in three decades the
two sides have negotiated separately on the primetime contract.

As with the negotiations that led to the DGA and WGA deals, AFTRA has
indicated that much of the focus in talks has been on new media.

"In addition to seeking improvements in compensation, coverage and
health and retirement benefits, we are also confronting a number of
tough challenges involving new media," Reardon said in her Sunday
message to members. "Because many of the issues we face in this area
are completely unprecedented -- most notably, the knotty problem of
clip consent -- we are trying to think out of the box in order to
reach pragmatic resolutions."

The majors have asserted they may be able to start a viable business
in clips if the unions relent on the consent issue.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117986448.html?categoryid=18&cs=1