Digital News Report- The Screen Actors Guild announced on Saturday that it will ask its members to authorize a strike after its first contract talks in four months with Hollywood studios failed. A federal moderator, Juan Carlos Gonzalez, adjourned the talks after two marathon segments failed to produce an agreement.
The talks were about royalties from the sale of films distributed through new media methods, such as the Internet. The WGA held a strike about similar issues last year, which halted the production of numerous TV shows.
SAG represents over 120,000 actors across film and television, as well as other media around the world. It was founded in 1933 in an effort to end the exploitation of workers in Hollywood.
SAG plans to send strike authorization ballots to more than 100,000 union members on January 2, which could mean that the Oscars could be used as a bargaining chip during strike talks. Currently, many actors are divided on the issue. Mel Gibson, Martin Sheen, and Holly Hunter have signed a “Statement of Support.”
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