Key Players in the Talks

Warner Bros. Chairman and Chief Executive Barry Meyer, right, was the backroom business brain behind the studio’s television operation before being catapulted to the front office 18 months ago. He has built a reputation as an astute deal maker.

Paramount Pictures Chairwoman Sherry Lansing is the highest-ranking woman in the movie business and a former producer whose credits include “Indecent Proposal” and “Fatal Attraction.”

Jeffrey Katzenberg, along with film director Steven Spielberg and music industry mogul David Geffen, created DreamWorks SKG seven years ago to be a full-service entertainment company.

Warner Bros. President Alan Horn was a partner with Rob Reiner in Castle Rock Entertainment, before taking the helm of the movie studio.

After rising through the ranks to president of ABC Inc., Walt Disney Co. President Robert Iger was named to the No. 2 job at the parent company last year.

Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers President Nick Counter is a seasoned labor negotiator for the studios.

President of the Writers Guild of America, West, John Wells, right, next to John McLean, executive director of the Guild. Wells is one of the highest paid TV writer-producers in the industry. McLean is a former labor negotiator for CBS.