LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Labor negotiators for the major Hollywood studios presented striking screenwriters on Thursday with a new set of proposed pay formulas for digital media, but the writers' union immediately rebuffed the offer as far too stingy.þþBreaking their silence after a four-day round of talks conducted under a strict media blackout, the two sides resumed their public relations duel as the studios unveiled what they called a ÿnew economic partnershipÿ and the writers shot it down as a ÿmassive rollback.ÿþþThe latest offer was disclosed in a brief statement issued by the studios' bargaining entity, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), on the 25th day of a strike by 10,500 film and TV writers.þþThe Writers Guild of America launched its work stoppage on November 5 after months of rancorous on-and-off negotiations with the studios collapsed, triggering the worst labor crisis to hit Hollywood in nearly 20 years.þþThe talks have foundered largely on the failure to reach accord on writers' demands for a greater share of revenue for film and TV work distributed over the Internet and wireless devices, such as cell phones.þþThe new offer presented by the studios, according to the AMPTP, sought to address those issues with ÿgroundbreaking moves in several areas of new media.ÿþþÿThe entire value of the New Economic Partnership will deliver more than $130 million in additional compensation above and beyond the more than $1.3 billion writers already receive each year,ÿ the statement said.þþBut the proposal met with a chilly reception from the union, which outlined its objections to the studios' offer in its own point-by-point critique.þþFor example, the union said the studios had offered a single, fixed payment of less than $250 for a year's reuse of an hourlong TV program when streamed over the Internet, which the WGA said compared with ÿover $20,000 payable for a network rerun.ÿþþThe union also faulted the studios' offer for failing to establish a payment scheme for original content created especially for the Internet, and for refusing to go beyond management's initial proposal to pay the same rates for digital downloads as for DVDs.þþThe guild said its own proposals would cost the film and TV industry $151 million over three years, amounting to a 3 percent increase in writers' earnings annually, while ÿcompany revenues are projected to grow at a rate of 10 percent.ÿþþBoth sides said they would resume bargaining next Tuesday, and the union said the studios have promised to present additional unspecified proposals at that time.þþThe latest four-day round of talks marked the first formal negotiations since the strike began.þþThe screenwriters' walkout has hit the television industry the hardest so far, throwing late-night talk shows into immediate reruns and bringing production to a halt on dozens of prime-time comedies and dramas.þþThe strike has also forced movie studios to postpone several high-profile big-screen projects, including a planned sequel to the box-office blockbuster ÿThe Da Vinci Code.ÿþþThe last Hollywood strike was a 1988 walkout by the WGA that lasted 22 weeks and cost the entertainment industry an estimated $500 million.þþ
Source: NY Times
