By Bob Tourtellotte

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Film and television writers on Sunday prepared for a looming strike as last-ditch contract talks with producers went late into the afternoon in Hollywood with no word on whether progress was made in averting a work stoppage.

The Writers Guild of America (WGA), which represents roughly 12,000 screenwriters, has called for its members across the United States to stop working as of 12:01 a.m. Monday morning.

Earlier in the day, WGA members loaded trucks with picket signs, bottled water and tables to prepare for demonstrations before 9 a.m. on Monday in New York and Los Angeles.

Picket lines would go up at New York's Rockefeller Center, the home of the NBC TV network, and in Los Angeles at 14 major film and TV studios including Disney, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, CBS, ABC and Fox.

Spokespeople for the Writers Guild confirmed Sunday's talks, which were sought by a federal mediator, but neither disclosed details of the discussions.

A spokesman for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents the studios, was not immediately available to comment.

The two sides have been mired in contract negotiations for months but have neared an impasse primarily over demands by writers for higher fees, or "residuals," derived from the sale of movies and TV programs on DVDs and the Internet.

A federal mediator was brought in just before the contract expired last week. The WGA said on Friday it would begin to strike if no progress could be reached over the weekend.

In the past, both sides have accused the other of stonewalling and refusing to budge from proposals.

On Friday, AMPTP president Nick Counter called the WGA's strike plan "precipitous and irresponsible." WGA negotiator John Bowman countered: "We have to inflict as much damage as quickly as possible in order to get this thing over."

The last major Hollywood strike was a Writers Guild walkout in 1988 that lasted 22 weeks, delayed the start of the fall TV season and cost the industry an estimated $500 million.

Los Angeles economist Jack Kyser said a similar strike now could result in at least $1 billion in economic losses.

The talks and a new contract also have implications for other entertainment unions such as the Screen Actors Guild and Directors Guild of America which, in the past, have used the WGA contract as a guide for striking their own deals.

Both the actors and directors will see their current contracts expire next year.

Reuters/Nielsen
© Copyright 2007 Reuters.

Photo:
A sign marks the location of the Writers Guild of America's contract headquarters where negotiators are meeting to strategize, at the Writers Guild offices in Los Angeles, October 10, 2007. ilm and television writers and representatives of U.S. TV networks and movie studios met on Sunday in a final effort to try to agree on a new contract and avert a planned strike, a spokeswoman for the writers said. REUTERS/Fred Prouser