Hollywood writers resume talks amid strike fears

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.reuters.com/article/industryNews/idUSWRI00779020070920

Wed Sep 19, 2007 10:54pm EDT

By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - With strike jitters running high in Hollywood, screenwriters and studio executives reopened contract negotiations on Wednesday, after a nine-week break, but there was little sign of progress as talks adjourned for the day.

The six-hour round of bargaining on a three-year labor pact covering 12,000 members of the Writers Guild of America ended with the studios accusing the union of intransigence.

"With two months to respond to our proposals, we were once again rebuffed with little or no explanation," said Nick Counter, the chief negotiator for the industry as head of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

He also criticized the guild for what he called "a total disregard for the true state of the industry and its fundamental economics."

A guild spokesman declined to comment. Both sides said talks would resume on Thursday at the guild's headquarters.

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