Though big gaps remain between SAG and the majors, negotiators have made enough progress toward a feature-primetime deal to keep negotiations going for an extra week until May 2, Variety reports.
Wednesday’s announcement – the first substantial positive sign from eight days of talks – came a few minutes after AFTRA disclosed that if had agreed to postpone next week’s start of its primetime negotiations unitl May 5, in response to a request by the AMPTP.
“We made our request because we owe it to our entire industry to give the current SAG-AMPTP talks every opportunity to result in an agreement,” the AMPTP said in a posting on its Web site. “At this time there remain significant gaps between the two parties and we hope to use the extra time to narrow these gaps.”
The AMPTP didn’t elaborate as to where the gaps lie but the move by the majors to seek another week of negotiating time with SAG should serve to cool down the town’s fears of a SAG strike this summer.
The moves came a few hours after SAG and the AMPTP launched an eighth day of negotiations at AMPTP heaquarters in Encino. Unitl Wednesday’s announcement, both sides had adhered to an unofficial news blackout that had served as a stark contrast with the vitriolic atmosphere of attack during last year’s WGA negotiations.
