Studios, actors union reach pact

The deal raises pay for Internet-accessed entertainment.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hollywood producers and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists announced a tentative three-year contract deal Wednesday that puts more pressure on a larger actors union to do the same and avoid a crippling strike.

AFTRA said its deal establishes higher fees for downloaded content and residual payments for ad-supported streams and clips while preserving actors’ right of consent to online use of clips containing their images or voice.

“This was a tough negotiation,” Roberta Reardon, president of the 70,000-member union, said in a statement. “We focused on creating a framework that would allow union members to participate fully in the emerging new media marketplace.”

The deal came after the second late-night session in a row since bargaining began May 7.

The agreement involves a handful of prime-time TV shows such as “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Rules of Engagement.”

It will last through June 2011 if it is approved by AFTRA’s board at a meeting June 6-7 and then ratified by members.

The larger of the two actors unions, the 120,000-member Screen Actors Guild, was set to resume its stalled talks with the studios on Wednesday.

SAG is negotiating on many of the same issues, with the use of online images a key sticking point. The current contracts of both actors unions are set to expire June 30.

SAG represents actors in movies, TV and other media. The TV and radio federation represents, among others, actors, singers, announcers and journalists. SAG and AFTRA share 44,000 dual members.

Jonathan Handel, an entertainment lawyer who formerly represented the writers’ guild, said he expected SAG to resist pressure to sign a deal similar to the one cut by its smaller counterpart.

“This is not going to be another two days of negotiations and we’re done,” he said. “This is still a long process.”

The producers, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, hailed the AFTRA deal and said they looked forward to negotiating with SAG, “and to reaching an agreement that will prevent another harmful and unnecessary strike.”

The possibility of a walkout by actors had sent some film producers rushing to finish shooting or to delay projects for fear they would be shut down before filming was complete.

The alliance has said it was burdensome to gain consent from each actor for every online clip. It said it worked with AFTRA to “fairly and sensibly” create a new way to handle online content.

“As a result of compromise and creativity by both parties, we reached an agreement that makes the new media framework work for all actors,” the alliance said.