SAG disappointed talks called off

LOS ANGELES, May 7 (UPI) -- The Screen Actors Guild said it was disappointed a group of Hollywood TV and film producers suspended their contract talks.

SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers spent 18 days trying to hammer out a new contract. The current pact expires in about seven weeks.

The SAG-AMPTP talks ended Tuesday with no deal and the AMPTP declined to extend the negotiations, citing as reasons the lack of progress made, as well as AMPTP's need to begin bargaining with American Federation of Television and Radio Artists as scheduled Wednesday.

"It is unfortunate and deeply troubling that the AMPTP would suspend our negotiations at this critical juncture. We have modified our proposals over the last three weeks in effort to bargain a fair contract for our members," SAG National President Alan Rosenberg said in a statement on the guild's Web site. "We are committed to preserving rights that have been in place for decades and not giving the studios the right to use excerpts of our work in new media without our consent and negotiation. Our negotiating team is prepared to work around the clock for as long as it takes to get a fair deal. We want to keep the town working."