The U.S. Screen Actors Guild (SAG) officials and representatives of Hollywood studios and networks resumed talks on Monday in a bid to reach a new labor contract.

The talks involving SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents the Hollywood studios and networks, were designed to revive the contract which expires June 30.

The guild's demands include:

-- Increasing minimum pay scales, residual payments for home video, pay for television programs and movies shown on the Internet;

-- Increasing pay for featured actors, guest stars and weekly players;

-- Increasing employer pension and health contributions, and improvements and protections for young performers, stunt performers, dancers and performers with disabilities.

In an "open letter" posted on its website, the AMPTP said it is" committed to creating a genuine economic partnership with the talented men and women who help us create entertainment."

The alliance also pledged to "share fairly in the revenues we generate, including new revenue from the emerging areas of new media," and to "continue to work as hard as we can -- and make the reasonable compromises that are necessary -- to avoid any additional, needless work stoppages."

The alliance hopes that the provisions related to so-called new media in recently reached agreements with the Directors Guild of America, Writers Guild of America and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists will allow it to reach an agreement with the SAG without a strike.

(Xinhua News Agency April 22, 2008)