Talks continue Sunday June 29.

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SAG, studios to talk Sunday
Bargaining recessed early Saturday evening
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Bargaining recessed early Saturday evening at the headquarters of the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers and will resume Sunday. Saturday's talks marked the 40th session between the two sides since talks launched in mid-April.

Though there's no official news blackout, both sides adhered to the usual no-comment policy about the substance of the talks.

SAG's deal expires at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, which means that the no-strike and no-lockout provisions of the contract are no longer in force. However, the companies are not expected to lock out actors and guild still hasn't asked its members for a strike authorization.

Instead, talks are expected to continue though July 8, when results of the ratification vote on AFTRA's primetime deal will be announced. SAG's campaigned actively against the AFTRA pact, contending that the gains in salary, new media residuals and jurisdiction and retention of online clip consent are not sufficient to support the deal.

SAG has 44,000 members who also belong to AFTRA so the results of the ratification vote should provide significant insight into whether SAG's 120,000 members would be willing to go strike. A SAG strike authorization would require 75% approval to go into effect.

In the meantime, the uncertainty over the SAG deal has resulted in studio feature production halting although SAG's granted waivers to over 350 indie features. Series TV production has also ratcheted down but not stopped completely.

AFTRA, which has 70,000 members, has been campaigning actively for its deal and warning that voting it down could lead to a strike by SAG. And it's emphasized that its gains in new media are in line with the DGA and WGA contract advances.

As of Saturday, over 3,000 SAG members had backed a "solidarity" endorsement of its negotiating committee's goals, which include the assertion that the terms of the AFTRA deal aren't sufficient.