LATEST: The internet will be one of the major issues surrounding the upcoming talks between acting unions and film bosses. The SCREEN ACTORS' GUILD (SAG) and the AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TELEVISION AND RADIO ARTISTS (AFTRA) are preparing to enter into joint contract negotiations. The move follows the tentative conclusion of talks between the WRITERS' GUILD OF AMERICA (WGA) and the ALLIANCE OF MOTION PICTURE AND TELEVISION PRODUCERS (AMPTP) on 5 May (01). A last minute $41 million (œ27. 33 million) pay increase settlement was reached, averting planned strike action by scriptwriters. Now attention is turned to SAG's demands - believed to be similar to the WGA's, which included securing a clause in its contract for provisions to pay writers for work distributed on the internet. SAG is likewise expected to seek cash for work that appears on the internet or through planned interactive services known as video on demand. As yet the use of the web to distribute films and television programmes is an unknown quantity, but the big studios are already planning new ventures offering hit movies and library titles either to computers or to television set-top boxes. (KW/WNWCCB/ES)

Source: WENN