Contract Talks 2001

July 16, 2001

Casting the Leads in SAG a Challenge

Warren Beatty once toyed with the idea of running for president of the United States. Now, some people in Hollywood have suggested the veteran actor and filmmaker consider another high-profile office: president of the Screen Actors Guild.

July 4, 2001

Studios and Actors Agree on Contract

Negotiators for studios and 135,000 actors agreed late Tuesday on a new film and TV contract, ending one of Hollywood's longest and most tense periods of labor unrest.

July 4, 2001

NEWS ANALYSIS

Complex New Media Issues Are Put Off Until Next Time

Although Hollywood averted actor and writer strikes this year, maintaining labor peace will only get harder amid rapidly changing technologies, huge media mergers and shrinking film and TV profits.

June 30, 2001

Contract Expires Today for Actors

With their contract expiring at midnight tonight, negotiators for Hollywood studios and actors guilds continued marathon talks to close in on a new three-year deal that would end the threat of a crippling strike.

June 27, 2001

Company Town

Frustrations Grow in Talks Between Actors and Studios

Residuals paid for programs shown on cable TV remained a major obstacle Tuesday as contract talks between Hollywood studios and actors unions continued to creep toward a midnight Saturday expiration date.

June 16, 2001

COLUMN ONE

A Tough Scene for Actors

Matt Kimbrough, a burly 49-year-old Silver Lake actor, can run through the highlights of his two-decade Hollywood career in a few minutes of scattered videotape.

May 14, 2001

Writers, Studios Were Ready to Make a Deal

Ultimately, the very people who sell words for a living didn't need any to convey to Hollywood's studios that there would be no strike this year by TV and film writers.

May 14, 2001

Outlook for SAG Talks Optimistic

Intermission in Hollywood's spring labor drama ends Tuesday afternoon when actors sit down to negotiate a new TV and movie contract with the major studios.

May 4, 2001

Writers Close to Clinching New Contract

Barring a last-minute glitch, Hollywood studios and writers are expected to sign off on a new three-year contract today that would head off a potentially disastrous strike, according to sources close to both parties.

May 2, 2001

Pact Expires; Studios, Writers Still Talking

Hollywood studios appeared within reach of an agreement with television and film writers late Tuesday on a new three-year contract that could avert a crippling strike for the entertainment industry and the Los Angeles economy.

May 1, 2001

NEWS ANALYSIS

Hollywood 'Balkanization' Makes Contract Talks Ever More Complex

As Hollywood holds its breath over the possibility of a writers strike, ongoing internal struggles within the writers and actors guilds and at the studios are making this year's negotiations the most complex ever.

April 20, 2001

Study Estimates $6.9 Billion as Cost of Strike

A prolonged strike by writers and actors this year could result in the loss of 81,900 jobs and $6.9 billion in income for Southern California, which "could plunge our city and our county into recession," Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan warned Thursday.

April 17, 2001

Pressure Against Hollywood Strike Grows

The chief Teamsters Union official in Hollywood suggested Monday that his members will continue working if the Writers Guild of America strikes, a development that brings new pressure on television and film writers to settle their contract dispute with the studios.

April 9, 2001

Mayor Takes the Stage in Hollywood Strike Scene

Fearing that a strike by writers and actors against Hollywood studios could cripple the Los Angeles economy, Mayor Richard Riordan plans to wage a city-funded public relations blitz aimed at pressuring both sides into settling.

April 1, 2001

Hollywood's Labor Battles Blindsided by a Downturn

Uncertainty over the nation's slowing economy and layoffs by major entertainment companies are pressuring both sides in Hollywood's labor dispute to move quickly to resolve their differences in a way unforeseen just a few weeks ago.