No Evidence of Settlement in Writers’ Strike as Talks Go On

Striking scriptwriters ended a 19-hour bargaining session with producers Friday morning but declined to say whether they were nearing settlement of the 14-week-old strike.

The latest negotiations, which began at 11 a.m. Thursday, ended at 6:30 a.m. Friday, said Cheryl Rhoden, a spokeswoman for the Writers Guild of America.

Another round of bargaining was scheduled for Friday afternoon. The talks Friday would mark the eighth straight day writers have met with representatives of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

Neither Rhoden nor Herb Steinberg, a spokesman for the producers alliance, would comment further on the status of the bargaining sessions.

“It was decided by both sides when these ongoing discussions began that it would be in the best interest of furthering the talks that no direct comment on the negotiations would be made,” Rhoden said.

Rhoden justified the news blackout by citing a 1985 writers’ strike that resulted in conflicts within the guild after elements of negotiations were leaked.

“It was a difficult period and we have avoided that this time around,” she said.

The entertainment industry trade magazine Hollywood Reporter said, “It is widely believed that this tack--scaling back the rhetoric outside the negotiating room--marks a new and more serious phase in contract talks.”

‘Still Meeting and Still Hopeful’

“We are still meeting and still hopeful this thing will come to a conclusion and we can get back to work,” Steinberg said. “Both sides are committed to getting things resolved.”

Facing both sides is the start of the fall television production season, which usually begins the last week in June and first week of July. The CBS network has already announced a two-month delay in the debut of its new shows, blaming the strike.

ABC Entertainment President Brandon Stoddard told affiliates in Los Angeles on Wednesday that the network plans to begin its season in October.

ABC-TV Network Group President John Sias denied that the writers’ strike had any effect on his network’s decision to open the season later than usual. He cited the Summer Olympic Games and the World Series, both on No.1-rated NBC, as the chief reason for the move.

Hundreds of clerical and part-time employees have been laid off at production companies because of suspended projects.

In its only accounting of losses, the alliance estimated that studios and production companies lost an estimated $15.75 million because of layoffs and production delays through mid-April.

Scriptwriters called the industrywide work halt on March 7, when contract talks broke down over the issues of creative control on the set and payments made for TV residuals, or reruns.

The only exceptions to the television and movie production shutdown are the few independent producers that have signed independent contracts with the WGA.

The 9,000-member guild has signed full-term contracts with about 80 independent producers, but the alliance contends that none of its large members have signed and the producers who did defect employ only a fraction of the 3,000 active writers.