SAG, AMPTP reps meet with mediator

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Representatives for the Screen Actors Guild and a group of Hollywood TV and film producers met with a federal mediator Thursday to discuss a new contract.

SAG and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers negotiating committees had previously met for 44 days of formal negotiations, but didn't reach a successor agreement to the TV/theatrical pact that expired June 30. AMPTP has repeatedly said a package it presented that day was its final offer and the two parties had not met since then, apart from one sidebar session during the summer.

SAG, which has been holding out for a better deal, last month asked that a federal mediator be used to help jump-start contract talks.

Both sides subsequently met with the mediator separately.

Variety.com said Thursday's joint meeting does not appear to have yielded any obvious results and neither SAG nor AMPTP offered an immediate comment.

Sources familiar with the sit-down told the entertainment industry trade newspaper all that really happened at the meeting was each side repeated its argument.

The federal mediator reportedly stated at the beginning of the session that its content would be confidential.