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Well, at least the cast of Reaper won’t go on strike!

AFTRA and AMPTP burned the midnight oil Tuesday into Wednesday and today announced they had reached a tentative three-year deal on the dozen or so prime-time and cable shows over which AFTRA has jurisdiction.

The deal sees AMPTP giving way to AFTRA on the “actor’s consent” stipulation for use of movie clips online, which was also a stumbling block in SAG negotiations. While this clearly will put pressure on SAG to make a deal rather than strike, SAG’s fate is still up in the air as AMPTP and SAG are scheduled to resume negotiations this week.

For more details, I’ll be posting about this topic again, later tonight, in greater detail, over on my writing blog, ScriptSuperhero.com.

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Despite pre-negotiation predictions that AFTRA would come to a quick deal with the AMPTP, to leapfrog SAG in making a primetime network deal for programming, in order to sign some shows away from SAG in order to keep those shows in production, is a scenario that has failed thus far to materialize.

AFTRA and AMPTP remain deadlocked over the issue of online clips licensing, with the key issue being over having to secure actors’ permission for the use of clips in which they are featured, an issue SAG also tangled with the AMPTP over. While the fees involved are not at issue as prominently, producers want to be able to use such clips online without first securing the permission of actors for each and every use; both AFTRA and SAG oppose producers on this issue, wanting to retain permission-granting powers for their members.

With the end of May approaching, time is growing short. Both actors unions have agreements that expire on June 30, and if agreement is not reached by then, Hollywood could be hit with a second production strike, this time by actors. The WGA writers strike shut down Hollywood for 100 days and robbed the entertainment industry of at least $1 billion in revenue, cost many people jobs, and the post-strike effect has depressed Neilsen ratings even after fresh programming returned to the air in April.

A second strike, by actors, could prove to be an industry-crippling blow, especially if it drags through the summer and postpones the start of the fall TV schedule, currently already regarded by many industry analysts as being essential to relaunch the network TV schedule in the hearts of viewers; if that relaunch is delayed, depressed Neilsens could linger well into the 2008-09 TV season and may never return to pre-WGA-strike levels.

If this labor dispute cannot be worked out without a strike, it could require a lot more than Austin Air air purifiers to remove the stench from the entertainment industry.

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The inter-union rivalry between AFTRA and SAG reached a new high yesterday as AFTRA once again denied a request by SAG to hold off on negotiations with producers (AMPTP) on a contract. That’s not to say AFTRA’s being difficult; they twice postponed their own negotiations with producers in favor of giving SAG more time to hammer out an agreement.

But after two delays and no resolution in sight, AFTRA’s ready to go and get their deal done before time runs out and they are forced to be part of a work stoppage against their will. Depsite two previous delays, SAG is blaming AFTRA for being unreasonable, which tells me that perhaps SAG reps need a little drug treatment center vacation before resuming their talks anyway.

“While some have questioned the decision to negotiate apart, know that the decision was not taken lightly,” AFTRA president Roberta Reardon said. “Through a constant barrage over the past 15 months, our once-positive relationship with SAG deteriorated, making it impossible now to continue joint bargaining. The AFTRA national board decided on March 29 to suspend joint bargaining because the first and foremost expenditure of AFTRA’s resources must be deployed in facing down management in negotiations, enforcing members’ contracts and caring for members’ interests.”

AFTRA has a two week timetable in which to reach negotiations with the AMPTP; SAG will get its next turn at bat on May 28.

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