So the rumors were true, the Screen Actors Guild’s (SAG) negotiations with the studios are really going nowhere. The studios just slammed the SAG by saying they are being ‘unresponsive, unreasonable and unrealistic.’ You’re not making a public statement like that when there are deals lying ready on the table.

“Although both parties have spent considerable time in the negotiating room, we are not yet close to an agreement,” the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers (AMPTP) said. Basically they say the SGA doesn’t want to follow the pattern the Directors and Writers Guild of America set earlier. One of the main disputes is still the compensation for DVD sales, which the SAG wants to double. But the AMPTP isn’t ready to give in, since it will naturally cost them major revenue.

The SGA’s current contract expires June 30, after which the second strike this year could follow.

If you are currently working on a movie in Los Angeles, how did you find the time to read this post? According to an agency that tracks on-location filming, production in LA is up 11%. Every company is in a hurry to get their movies made before the potential actors’ strike in July, because stopping production would be a ‘very expensive proposition.’

The Screen Actors Guild has been very tightlipped about the outcome of the current negotiations. Some sources say it isn’t looking good and the studios want to move on, to talk to the AFTRA (TV and radio). In a way, daring the actors to strike.

You have to question if the boost is actually because of the potential strike. Or is it because the lack of production during the earlier writers’ strike?

The Screen Actors Guild and Hollywood studios aren’t ready to give up their pre-strike talk. The studios were going to talk to the AFTRA (TV and radio) next week, but the SAG has asked for a one week extension.

“We owe it to our entire industry to give the current . . . talks every opportunity to result in an agreement,” they reasoned. The two parties seem to have a better understanding than the WGA and the studios had last year. But there is still a lot to talk about. For example, the actors want double the amount of money for DVD and media sales. And a strike could potentially be way more costly than the writers’ strike from last winter.