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Hollywood movie studios are preparing to go into shutdown here Monday, when a contract with the top actors union expires, raising the grim possibility of another crippling strike.
Negotiations to renew the contract between the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) have so far been deadlocked, echoing the build-up to this year's screenwriters strike.
Entertainment industry press have said most major movie studios had already planned their schedules to complete filming on existing projects by Monday.
However television studios were reportedly set to carry on filming episodes for as long as possible to stockpile material in case of a strike.
Neither SAG nor the other actors union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), have taken a strike authorization vote yet, and both unions have indicated a willingness to negotiate into July.
Complicating the issue is the fact that the 120,000-member SAG and 70,000-strong AFTRA are bitterly divided after the smaller union gave tentative approval to a deal proposed by the AMPTP.
SAG's leaders say the agreement undermines their own negotiating position, and are aggressively lobbying 44,000 guild members who also belong to AFTRA, urging them to reject the deal when it goes to a vote.
The spat between the two unions has pitted A-list actors against fellow stars, with the likes of Tom Hanks, Kevin Spacey and Alec Baldwin siding with AFTRA and Jack Nicholson and Ben Stiller supporting the guild.
The disagreement prompted George Clooney to issue a statement on Thursday calling for unity, saying a split between the unions would only strengthen the position of the studios.
"The one thing you can be sure of is that stories about Jack Nicholson vs. Tom Hanks only strengthens the negotiating power of the AMPTP," Clooney said.
"Rather than pitting artist against artist, maybe we could find a way to get what both unions are looking for."
The screen actors are holding out for higher pay for "middle-tier" actors, artists earning less than 100,000 a year, and are seeking a greater cut of profits from sales of DVDs and new-media sales.
Studios have said the new actors deal must follow a framework similar to agreements hashed out with screenwriters and directors unions earlier this year, and have accused SAG of making unreasonable demands.
Janet Wasko, author of "The Contemporary Hollywood Film Industry" and "How Hollywood Works", said the studios would be able to withstand the shock of an actors walkout. "The industry is able to withstand these things because they're often part of huge conglomerates," Wasko told AFP.
"But it just seems like every time new technologies come along, there's a struggle. Eventually they are going to make money via these new outlets, but there is always a resistance on the part of the producers to share that."
The impasse in negotiations has already affected production on several big-budget projects, most notably "Angels & Demons," Sony Pictures' sequel to 2006's "The Da Vinci Code." According to reports, the studio sought to pre-empt a strike by completing filming on location in Europe by the end of June.
Meanwhile, rank-and-file actors are bracing for the possibility of another entertainment industry strike, hard on the heels of the writers dispute, which by estimates cost more than 2 billion dollars in losses and some 37,000 jobs.
"I think a lot of actors are kind of terrified," television actress Sandra Dee Ferguson told the Wall Street Journal. "Last year was really difficult for a lot of people and I'm sensing overwhelming fear in the community."
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