Producers, WGA End Talks at Deadline; Strike Looms

The WGA and studios failed to reach an agreement before their contract expired at midnight Wednesday.

Despite the presence of a federal mediator this week and more than a dozen bargaining sessions since July, negotiators for the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers broke off talks six hours before the deadline.

A strike could be called as early as Friday, industry analysts said.

The producers said WGA members refused to meet today. "When they were asked about Friday, they advised they would call us," the statement added.

Writers Guild officials said it was the alliance that brought negotiations to a halt.

"Every issue that matters to writers, including Internet reuse, original writing for new media, DVDs and jurisdiction, has been ignored," the guild said in a statement. "This is completely unacceptable."

11/01