A second strike in Hollywood became increasingly unlikely Wednesday when the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists announced a tentative agreement with movie studios.
The agreement must be ratified by the members of the federation before it can become official and serve as the group’s contract for the next three years.
Studios quickly resumed talks with the federation’s sister union, the Screen Actors Guild, in hopes of reaching an agreement before that guild’s contract expires June 30.
Many are hoping that the contract will serve as a blueprint for the talks between studios and SAG.
“I hope SAG can use this as a template,” Roberta Reardon, the federation president, told The Associated Press. “Actors want to work. This town wants to work.”
Many in Hollywood have been speculating and hoping for a possible deal between the federation and the studios throughout their nine days of negotiations, primarily because an agreement would allow studios to reignite discussions with SAG, the largest actors union in the film industry.
“I don’t think there will be a strike. I think SAG will come to an agreement without a strike. That’s just my prediction,” said Professor Richard Walter of UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television. “Membership is really not in a strike mood.”
The federation covers select television shows, including “Rules of Engagement” and “Reaper,” and the guild covers all feature film actors as well as the majority of television and commercial actors.
The federation’s agreement is very similar to the deals studios made with the directors’ and writers’ guilds earlier this year in terms of the compromises concerning new media.
With reports from Bruin wire services.