FEARS OF ACTORS' STRIKE GROW AFTER FAILURE IN STUDIO TALKS

The potential for a new Hollywood strike has increased after the actors' union failed to reach a deal with studio representatives.

The Screen Actors' Guild (SAG) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) came to blows last week after the studio heads criticised the SAG for 'unprecedented' pay increases.

And with the two sides having failed to come to an agreement after some 18 days of talks, concern is growing in Hollywood that when the SAG's contract with the AMPTP expires on June 30th, there will be a repeat of the three-month industrial action that blighted Hollywood late last year following similar demands from the writers' union.

While SAG president Alan Rosenberg told the Daily Variety trade newspaper that the two parties had been close to an agreement on Tuesday, a statement from the AMPTP told a different story.

"Under these circumstances, with SAG's continued adherence to unreasonable demands in both new and traditional media, continuing negotiations at this time does not make sense," their statement read.

"In the end, this round of SAG negotiations ended without an agreement because SAG simply refused to recognise the fundamental business and labour principles that have already been accepted by directors, writers and producers."

The AMPTP avoided strike action by the Directors' Guild of America (DGA) and the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists (AFTRA) by signing interim agreements regarding the royalties paid when their work was distributed on new media, including DVDs and the internet.

The deals with the DGA and the AFTRA eventually resulted in the conclusion of a three-month strike by the Writers' Guild of America (WGA).