Writers, studio execs to meet informally Tuesday

BEIJING, Jan. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- In the latest effort to end the ongoing Hollywood writers' strike, the leadership of the Writers Guild of America's West Coast branch will meet informally Tuesday with two top studio executives to discuss the framework of a return to the bargaining table, according to people familiar with the negotiations.

The meeting between WGA West President Patric Verrone, Executive Director David Young and Bob Iger, chief executive of the Walt Disney Co. and Peter Chernin, president of News Corp., comes less than a week after the Directors Guild of America agreed to a tentative three-year contract with the major movie studios and broadcast networks.

The DGA deal was struck after less than a week of formal negotiations. As a precursor to that contract, Iger and Chernin spent a few months with DGA leaders to iron out the ground rules of the negotiations.

For the nearly 12,500 striking members of the WGA, Tuesday's scheduled meeting could be the first sign of a thaw between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which negotiates on behalf of the major studios.

The WGA went on strike Nov. 5 after talks broke down between the union and the AMPTP largely over issues surrounding how to compensate writers for use of their work on the Internet and via other forms of New Media. The two sides met again briefly in early December, but talks again collapsed on Dec. 7. No talks have been held since. The WGA contract expired Oct. 31.

Spokesmen for the WGA and the AMPTP had no comment.

As it has in the past, the directors negotiated a new contract months before their current deal expires on June 30. That, in turn, has put tremendous pressure on the WGA to closely examine the directors' deal and decide whether it's an agreement that could be acceptable to its members. If the writers do not reach a new contract with the major studios in the coming weeks, it's possible that they could remain on strike through June, when the Screen Actors Guild contract also expires.

(Agencies)