Hollywood Writers, Producers Talk

Tuesday, January 23rd 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LOS ANGELES (AP) â€” Fears of a Hollywood strike sent studio chiefs to the bargaining table with screenwriters, but nobody was predicting an early agreement even though the fall TV schedule and thousands of jobs are at stake.

Disney President Robert Iger and DreamWorks studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg took part in the opening session of contract talks Monday with the Writers Guild of America.

Both sides called the talks cordial.

The Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers, which represents the major studios and independent companies, made a gesture of cooperation by including studio heads in the first meeting.

The WGA contract with producers expires April 1 and both sides are mindful of the chaos that resulted in 1988 when a 22-week writer's strike delayed the fall TV season.

``We're here today to show respect for the writers and respect for the process, a process that for the last 12 years has resulted in labor peace in Los Angeles, not labor conflict,'' said Barry M. Meyer, Warner Bros. chief executive, who was involved in the opening discussions.

The talks, which were to resume Tuesday, have a two-week limit imposed by the WGA. But the limit is flexible, said John Wells, creator of TV's ``ER'' and president of the WGA's West Coast branch.

``Nobody's going to walk away from the table if we've made some more progress,'' he told reporters.

Writers are demanding increased TV and movie residual payments and ``creative rights'' intended to give them more prestige and control of projects.

That includes eliminating the so-called possessory credit for film directors â€” the ``A film by ...'' designation â€” that writers contend minimizes their importance.

Wells acknowledged a difficult negotiation is ahead, citing issues that he said have gone unaddressed for more than a decade.

``Those issues are painful for the companies to deal with,'' Wells said.

A new militancy by Hollywood unions has both sides preparing for a walkout, prompting studios to accelerate movie production and lay in TV ``reality shows'' that don't require scripts.

Los Angeles County businesses could lose an estimated $2 billion a month during a walkout. Some observers also worry a prolonged strike could increase so-called ``runaway production,'' sending more film work to Canada.

If the WGA talks succeed, the next round of negotiations will involve acting unions, whose work agreements end this summer.

Last year, the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists staged a six-month strike against the advertising industry, the longest talent walkout in Hollywood history.