Daily Digest: International Writers Join Day of Solidarity
Meanwhile, scripted TV production remains at a standstill in L.A.
I’m back from the Banff World Media Festival in Canada, and I see that well into Week 7 of the writers strike, Los Angeles has been a dead zone for scripted TV production for two consecutive weeks now. There are zero scripted series with permits to film this week, per FilmLA, the county’s official non-profit film office.
For the week ended June 11, permit counts plummeted 63.2 percent to 128, down from 348 in the same week last year, the group’s spokesperson told me. That total number of productions, of course, includes reality TV series and non-union indie films, which aren’t impacted by the ongoing WGA work stoppage.
On the opposite coast, picketers effectively shut down production of the Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell film Good Burger 2 for the day in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, according to local news station ABC6.
And across the globe, various unionized groups threw their support behind the WGA today in what was monikered the International Day of Solidarity. Nearly two dozen other countries outside the U.S. hosted events for local screenwriters, from Canada to Mexico to South Korea to the U.K.
Spotted in London by Variety were Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker and Succession’s Jesse Armstrong, while in Paris, Lupin’s Marie Roussin and Plus Belle la Vie’s Olivier Szulzynger were out there in support.
Today in Strike News
After repeated stops and starts thanks to targeted picketing, both The Penguin and Daredevil: Born Again have ceased production until after the WGA strike is settled. (Deadline)
Unions outside of entertainment have been picketing alongside the WGA throughout the strike, including AFL-CIO, the U.S.’s largest labor union. “Can you hear us Jeff Bezos?” shouted Liz Shuler, president of AFL-CIO, outside Amazon studios on Monday in New York City. “We’re not gonna take it anymore. We’re here in force, not just the Writers Guild, we’re here with the labor movement in this country standing strong in solidarity.” (NPR)
Sharon Horgan, creator and star of the Apple TV+ series Bad Sisters, says that the second season of the black comedy is still being written right now as a result of its European-set location. “We just had to down tools on all of our U.S. projects, and yeah, I feel kind of guilty I still get to make a show in the U.K.,” said Horgan. (Variety)
Pattern bargaining — the strategy the studios have used several times to get the writers to concede to an unfavorable deal — has all the hallmarks of occurring right now given the DGA’s recent deal, but the WGA says this time around will be different thanks to an unprecedented amount of labor solidarity. (Variety)
With just a week and a half to go until this year’s BET Awards, the status of the show is up in the air, as no host has been announced yet, and nominees might skip the ceremony in protest. (Uproxx)
Picket Sign of the Day
Die Hard writer Steven de Souza outside Nakatomi Plaza itself…
Additional reporting by Matthew Frank