SAG TALKS STILL IN LIMBO ACTORS, PRODUCERS TO RESUME THEIR NEGOTIATIONS TODAY.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand Staff Writer

ENCINO - Hollywood's actors and studios plan to resume negotiations today after letting a midnight deadline pass as they seek to reach a new contract that would spare the industry a damaging work stoppage.

After a week of tense negotiations, the two sides recessed Saturday three hours before the deadline, but officials said that was no indication of how far apart they are on the issues.

``It's not a signal of any kind of impasse or breakdown,'' said Pamm Fair, spokeswoman for the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists. ``We'll just take it day by day at this point.''

Despite a strict news blackout, sources close to the talks said resolution has already been reached on some of the estimated 36 demands of the Screen Actors Guild and AFTRA.

It's now ``more details,'' a source said, than serious disagreements that have kept the parties talking. ``They still have a ways to go on some things.''

The talks meandered through several long breaks between May 15 and June 24. That is when the actors' unions and Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers began steadily trading counteroffers and assessing the proposals in their respective negotiating committees.

SAG and AFTRA's 135,000 members will continue to work under a temporary extension of the old contract.

A strike is not imminent because union leaders have not readied the authorization process. It would take a month to get members' approval for a walkout.

A prolonged strike could cost Los Angeles' economy as many as 54,000 jobs and $3.2 billion in income, according to the Milken Institute and Sebago Associates, who revised earlier estimates of damage expected from a combined writers/actors strike. Even a one-month actors strike would cost more than 21,000 jobs and $1.3 billion in income.

Optimism abounds that a strike will be averted because the AMPTP and Writers Guild of America resolved similar issues in May, albeit three days past the deadline. WGA's new contract gives writers $41 million in raises.

The amount sought by actors has not been revealed, but they traditionally get three times that of writers because TV and film residuals are split by a cast. By that reasoning, some $120 million may be at stake at AMPTP's Encino headquarters, where the two sides are meeting, often with more than 50 people huddled around the chief negotiators.

The gains sought by actors include an increase in the minimum paid for speaking parts, now at $617 per day or $2,142 for a week. SAG and AFTRA are said to want 5 percent in each of the three years of the contract, while the producers are offering the same 3.5 percent given to writers.

Actors are also demanding higher residuals for work reshown on basic cable, foreign TV, video/DVD and video on demand.

Actors want Fox Network's residual formula to be brought to parity with ABC, CBS and NBC. Fox currently pays about two-thirds of the other networks, a concession made years ago when Fox was launched. That was an issue writers fought for, and won.

SAG is also said to be seeking a ``sweetener'' for actors who appear in guest spots on TV shows or in limited film roles. In a similar vein, writers negotiated a one-time $5,000 payment for video and DVD releases.

Leaders of SAG and AFTRA said their focus is on improving conditions for ``middle class'' actors, the 6 percent who earn $30,000 to $70,000 a year and are said to be endangered by ``salary compression.''

Union leaders believe this group of working actors is being squeezed out of the business by residual formulas that have changed little during the past 20 years and a reluctance of many production companies to pay more than minimum for guest-star roles that in the past would earn $10,000 or more.

With almost 90 percent of actors earning less than $30,000 annually, union leaders worry about a widening gulf between part-time, aspiring and struggling actors and the 5 percent who make more than $70,000 a year.

Producers say it is that elite group of highly compensated actors who are driving up production costs to such a degree that it leaves little left over for their fellow actors. Just recently, Kelsey Grammer became the highest-paid actor in television history by signing a two-year deal with NBC to earn $1.6 million per episode for ``Frasier.''

One thing neither side expected was the squeeze the slowing economy would put on this and the WGA talks, forcing the industry and unions to reconsider the wisdom of taking a hard line and risking a strike when media companies are already being hit by an advertising slump.

At the same time, a UCLA study released this week estimated there is an 80 percent chance the nation will slip into a recession.

``This is probably any type of union's worst nightmare,'' said Jack Kyser, chief economist of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. ``It's always better to negotiate in a strong economy where everybody feels there's a few extra bucks out there.''

Just the fear of a strike is having its own economic impact, as TV programming and feature films rushed into production earlier this year sit stockpiled, leaving little work for crews, support services and production companies.

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees said an informal poll shows work for grips, prop makers, electricians and others has fallen by 50 percent in the past 30 days. In some cases, members cannot get the hours needed for benefits eligibility.

``It's going to take some time before the volume of business is where it used to be - and needs to be,'' said Jeffrey Thomison, an entertainment analyst for Hilliard Lyons brokerage firm in Louisville, Kentucky.

The recovery may take between six and 12 months, he said.

``Business is really drying up there,'' Thomison said.