STILL TALKING ... WRITERS, PRODUCERS WORK THROUGH NIGHT TOWARD ACCORD.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand Staff Writer

Hollywood's writers and producers pushed their negotiations past the midnight expiration of their contract today, keeping hopes alive that a devastating strike can be averted.

``It's a huge responsibility,'' said Bryce Zabel, a board member of the Writers Guild of America. ``It's tremendously important to the town and our members. We want to feel good about what we've done.''

Writers can keep working as usual, at least until a strike is called, but members could be called on to authorize a walkout within 48 hours. First, negotiators must reject the producers' offer and recommend a strike vote to the WGA board's West Coast and East Coast councils. They, in turn, would ask members to approve a strike, most likely in regional meetings. About 6,500 of the guild's 11,000 members live in Los Angeles County.

The negotiations have been conducted at WGA headquarters in Los Angeles under a news blackout, and guild members know little more than the general public about what sort of give and take has transpired since negotiations resumed April 17.

Earlier in the talks, negotiators for the Encino-based Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers offered to raise the minimum fee paid by 3 percent per year over the pact's three-year term. They say the writers' demands, including a 13 percent overall increase in minimums, would prompt at least five other unions to demand similar raises, costing the studios $1.6 billion in profits, a figure they claim could push them toward bankruptcy.

One of the most contested economic issues is residuals. Writers want higher percentages for shows and films played on secondary outlets such as home video, DVD, network reruns, foreign TV and the Internet, noting that the formulas for some of those areas have not changed in 30 years.

The WGA broke off talks March 1 after 30 days of negotiations failed to close a $100 million gap in their financial proposals.

Over the subsequent five weeks, the writers and producers separately pleaded their cases in the media, illustrating a division so deep they could not agree on basic numbers.

The WGA said its pay package totals $99.7 million, including an additional $60.9 million in residuals. Using different math, the AMPTP put the writers' demands at $227.4 million, compared with its counteroffer of $115.9 million.

The writers accuse the studios of proposing rollbacks and a freeze on network residuals that would effectively reduce the amount writers are paid by $2.7 million over the three-year contract.

There also are a number of creative-rights matters on the table, notably the WGA's demand for reduced use of directors' possessory credits - the ``a film by'' notation that precedes nearly every feature and many made-for-TV movies. The writers say it would help them earn more respect for their work.

The last writers strike, in 1988, endured 22 weeks, throwing the fall TV scheduled into chaos and disrupting film production.

For Hollywood, the biggest concern is that separate contract talks for writers and the 135,000 performers covered by the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists will both stall, leading to concurrent strikes that could idle one of the region's key industries. Last year, SAG actors struck major advertisers, putting a dent in SAG's total income and hurting many small businesses for whom commercial production is vital.

Economists have warned that the Los Angeles County economy could lose up to $2 billion a month. Another study put the potential job loss at 81,900 by September, provided a combined writers/actors strike ends by then. A work stoppage would hit especially hard in the San Fernando Valley, home to several studios, production houses, support services and industry workers.

SAG and AFTRA, whose work agreement expires June 30, have postponed their contract talks with the AMPTP, yielding to the writers' earlier deadline.

The actors' contract proposal, still under wraps, was finalized just last week and has yet to be presented to the producers alliance. Talks are not expected to begin until May 10 or later.

There has been speculation in the industry that the WGA would put off its own settlement for a month or more, forging a united front with the more powerful actors union against the studios.

Staff Writer Valerie Kuklenski contributed to this report.