Hollywood Studios’ WGA Strike Endgame Is To Let Writers Go Broke Before Resuming Talks In Fall

A writer from The Witcher is facing backlash online.

2023 Emmy Awards are no longer taking place on Monday, Sept. 18, as was originally planned.

2023 Emmy Awards are no longer taking place on Monday, Sept. 18 as was originally planned.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Daytime soap opera “General Hospital” is using temporary writers while the WGA remains on strike, Variety has confirmed with sources. News that the soap was employing writers despite the ongoing strike was brought to light by “General Hospital” writer Shannon Peace, who shared the news on her Instagram account, revealing that the last episode of the show that she wrote prior to the strike would be airing. “Starting next week, the show will be written exclusively by scab writers, which is heartbreaking,” Peace wrote.

The ongoing writers’ strike has now impacted Port Charles: Deadline has confirmed that temporary writers have been hired by General Hospital to keep the daytime drama in production.

Selome Hailu “Jeopardy!’s” Tournament of Champions has a bigger problem on its hands than trivia this year. Starting with a Reddit post made on Friday by 13-time “Jeopardy!” winner Ray Lalonde, several prominent contestants have pledged not to return to the series to compete in the Tournament of Champions in solidarity with the Writers Guild of America, as the series employs WGA members.

George R.R. Martin gave fans an update on where his numerous projects stand amid the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes — and there’s still some reason to be hopeful.

General Hospital episodes might look and feel a little different this week, and the reason why is all due to the WGA Strike.

As the SAG-AFTRA strike begins its second week, there’s no indication that negotiations will resume between that guild or the WGA with AMPTP any time soon. And that’s bad news for studios, as actors on strike will begin not only to affect the production of new work, but the premieres of upcoming schedule films.

Fran Drescher became the "it girl" in Hollywood from the beginning of her career. From dancing with John Travolta in her first film, to creating and starring in her own, award-winning television sitcom, and then pivoting into becoming one of the most powerful people in the industry – Drescher kept her eye on the prize: success.  The New York-native had big dreams as a kid, and wanted to be a writer, hairdresser, actor or politician.

On-location television production in Los Angeles declined 36.4% year over year during the second quarter of 2023 as the Writers Guild of America put pencils down and went on strike after contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers fell apart. Television production had an aggregate total of 2,630 shoot days, according to FilmLA, a partner film office for the city and county and other local jurisdictions.

On-location filming in Los Angeles has plummeted during the ongoing Writers Guild strike to levels not seen since the dog days of the Covid pandemic, according to FilmLA, the city and county film permit office.

Ron Perlman is walking back some heated comments he made about an anonymous Hollywood executive who told a news outlet that the studios’ plan is to let the strike extend for so long that writers and actors feel real financial pain.

Fran Drescher, president of the actors trade union SAG-AFTRA, defended a photo she took with Kim Kardashian in Italy around the same time negotiations between actors and production companies began to break down. Drescher was in Italy to attend Dolce & Gabbana’s Alta Moda despite the union facing the strike deadline. She defended the outing as "absolute work" during Thursday's press conference announcing SAG-AFTRA would be going on strike.

Fran Drescher boarded the bus and has landed at her first picket line on the first day of the actors strike.

Hollywood Studios outlined the deal they offered SAG-AFTRA in negotiations, which gave way to a strike beginning at midnight Thursday.The elements offered included historic pay, audition protections and an AI proposal protecting actors’ digital likenesses for SAG-AFTRA members, among others.“A strike is certainly not the outcome we hoped for as studios cannot operate without the performers that bring our TV shows and films to life,” the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers said in a statement.

Leaders of a Hollywood’s actors union voted Thursday to join screenwriters in the first joint strike in more than six decades, shutting down production across the entertainment industry after talks for a new contract with studios and streaming services broke down.Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, executive director of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, said at a news conference that the union leadership voted for the work stoppage hours after their contract expired and talks broke off with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers representing employers including Disney, Netflix, Amazon and others.“A strike is an instrument of last resort,” he said. Union leaders said at a news conference that they voted unanimously for a strike to begin at midnight.

performers to join film and television writers on picket lines as early as Thursday.The SAG-AFTRA actors union, which represents 160,000 members, said its national board would vote on a strike order on Thursday morning. If approved, Hollywood studios would face their first dual work stoppage in 63 years and be forced to shut down production across the United States.Both SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) are demanding increases in base pay and residuals in the streaming TV era plus assurances that their work will not be replaced by artificial intelligence (AI).Fran Drescher, former star of “The Nanny” and the president of SAG-AFTRA, said studios’ responses to the actors’ concerns had been “insulting and disrespectful.”“The companies have refused to meaningfully engage on some topics and on others completely stonewalled us,” she said in a statement.

Besides TV Academy Chairman and CEO Frank Scherma’s brief reference to “the ongoing guild negotiations” at the top of the nominations announcement, today has been mostly Emmy business as usual, with television industry types and fans celebrating the ones who landed nominations and lamenting those who were snubbed.

In Hulu’s Tiny Beautiful Things, Kathryn Hahn plays Clare, a reimagined version of Cheryl Strayed from Strayed’s memoir of the same name. Working on the story, which examines grief and family close-up, has left Hahn “forever changed” she said on Tuesday morning, shortly after receiving an Emmy nomination for her role.