Negotiations between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers will reconvene in Los Angeles on April 17, the union announced today.

Talks will be held at the Writers Guild of America West headquarters.

The negotiations will be watched closely. Speculation over the possibility of concurrent strikes by writers and actors continues, although it has been tempered by recent considerations about the slowing economy.

In addition, last weekend, a Screen Actors Guild plenary at the Sheraton Universal in Burbank, Calif., resulted in a delay on reducing the size of the guild’s board of directors. Certain political rumblings were also heard there concerning the Los Angeles-based Performers Alliance and its future influence in the guild. There were also calls for serious reform, with stars like Kevin Spacey and Richard Dreyfuss suggesting greater transparency in guild proceedings; Spacey even mentioned that the press could be invited to attend certain meetings.

Betting that some studios want some form of strike--if only to initiate force majeure clauses that would allow employers to cut costs by terminating certain contracts during a labor action--actors have been scheduling their work in theatre and film with an eye towards some form of strike this summer. —By Murdoch McBride