EDITORIAL HOLLYWOOD'S HAPPY ENDING SETTING THE STANDARD FOR LABOR NEGOTIATIONS.

HOORAY for Hollywood's peaceful resolution of contract talks between screenwriters and studios!

Through diligence and compromise, both sides apparently will spare the region from an economically crippling strike. Like a good thriller, this story had its ups and its downs, but ends happily - assuming writers approve the pact.

Both sides made plenty of concessions and worked hard to achieve a compromise. The studios agreed to some $41 million worth of raises, plus numerous creative-rights considerations that give writers more control over the fruits of their labor.

The writers, in turn, gave in on demands for higher residuals on video and DVD sales, and are letting directors keep their ``a film by'' credits.

Never mind its reputation for ``Hollywood egos.'' Screenwriters and studios alike were willing to share the money and the credit. They also gave in to each others' reasonable demands, with some help from the civic boosterism of Mayor Richard Riordan, who helped educate everyone on just how economically disastrous a Hollywood strike would be to the whole city.

Now it's up to the studios to produce a successful sequel in their upcoming talks with the Screen Actors Guild.

And actors now have a game plan that should seem familiar to them: Follow the writers' script.

The new writers' contract has provided a blueprint for how to cut a deal even during times of economic uncertainty.

By treating each other respectfully, by keeping private negotiations private, by acting prudently and by bending but not breaking, both sides set a precedent for how all such negotiations should be handled.