LOS ANGELES -- Hollywood actors and producers have agreed to extend negotiations over a new contract after more than a fortnight of talks ended in a stalemate, union officials said Friday.

A joint statement from the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) said talks would continue until May 6, as both sides attempt to avert a repeat of the devastating writers strike.

The existing agreement setting wages for actors in the film and television industry expires on June 30.

The SAG, the biggest actors union in Hollywood, and the AMPTP have declined to brief media on the talks. A statement on the alliance's website earlier this week indicated a quick resolution was unlikely.

"Although both parties have spent considerable time in the negotiation room, we are not yet close to an agreement," the AMPTP said.

Earlier this year a long strike by the screenwriters guild paralyzed Hollywood and led to hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.

The US entertainment industry's most damaging dispute in 20 years pitted the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and AMPTP in a tussle over payments for content broadcast free or bought over the Internet.

A new deal finally drew up a scale of royalty payments for writers whose work is sold over the Internet or streamed for free. Previously writers received nothing for online sales.

Compensation for new media is believed to be at the heart of the negotiations between actors and the AMPTP, with the SAG seeking greater royalties from video and increased pay for television programs and movies shown on the Internet.

The producer's alliance has said actors are seeking to double the existing scale of royalty payments for DVDs, which has been ruled out as unacceptable.

"We cannot responsibly accept the unprecedented, double-digit increases in DVD residuals and conditions being sought by SAG, or wage hikes that in some cases reach 200 percent," the AMPTP said in a statement to members.

"As a result, we have made little progress in narrowing the significant differences with SAG on these critical traditional media issues," it added.