L.A. TV Production Drops Sharply Amid Strike Fears

Earlier this week, the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) announced that Hollywood writers would go on strike.

continuing on for the time being. As Whoopi explained on Tuesday, “We did the show anyway, because we want to keep everybody employed, and we want to do our best, and we support our writers ’cause we know what they’re going through.”She noted at the top of that show that the lack of writers, for them, means that “you’re gonna hear how it would be when it’s not, you know, slicked up.” In each episode since, she has begun each show by reminding viewers that those writers are still on strike, so she and her co-hosts are essentially improvising the entire show.Such was the case on Thursday, as Whoopi noted that they’ll likely remind audiences that the writers strike is happening at the start of each episode for as long as the strike continues.

Shangela, an actor and former RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant who also co-hoststhedocuseries We’re Here, is being sued by a former production assistant on the latter show who says he was raped by the star after a wrap party in February 2020. The actor denies the allegations.

While numerous daytime and late-night shows have already gone dark within days of the Writers Guild of America going on strike, fans of “House of the Dragon” can rest assured that the strike won’t be delaying the arrival of the second season.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer To a lot of people outside the negotiating room, a strike by Hollywood writers felt inevitable. But it didn’t feel that way inside the room. Until the last day or two, negotiators for both labor and management believed that the other side would give, and that a deal would be reached at the last moment. But picket lines in Los Angeles and New York this week tell a different story. The conflict that led to the breakdown of talks on the night of May 1 began the day before. On April 30, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers delivered a 40-page package of proposals to WGA’s negotiating committee. It did not include key elements that the Writers Guild of America has insisted are essential to sealing a new three-year contract, including a mandatory minimum number of weeks for TV writers and a minimum staff size for writers rooms.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director As Warner Bros. gears up to release “The Flash” in theaters this summer, many moviegoers are wondering how star Ezra Miller’s history of legal troubles and alleged abuse might impact the release and press tour. The film’s production designer, Oscar winner Paul Austerberry (“The Shape of Water”) isn’t sweating it. During a recent interview with CBC, Austerberry said “people will forget” Miller’s history when the film releases. As reported by the CBC: “Austerberry says he’s not too concerned about how the stories surrounding Miller will affect the film. ‘People will forget that,’ he said, noting that Miller did a superb job playing the titular hero as two distinct characters, which required production to shoot the film in ‘two different chunks,’ with Ezra switching roles every few days.”

New York lawmakers finally signed off on Gov. Kathy Hochul’s state budget including significant sweeteners for film and TV production in a package that now runs through 2034 — the day after the WGA went on strike, ushering a period of grave uncertainty for the entertainment industry.

EXCLUSIVE: Oscar winner Fisher Stevens has today announced the launch of Highly Flammable, a new director-led production company that will focus on setting up premium unscripted stories for streamers across various series and feature formats, operating out of both New York and Los Angeles.

EXCLUSIVE: Jon Stewart is the latest star to cancel promotional duties as part of the writers strike.

Unlike Covid, which forced a sudden and immediate shutdown of feature film productions that ultimately cost the studios anywhere north of $30 million per pic, the Hollywood majors have been planning and bracing for the WGA strike that began today since last fall.

Toni Braxton has signed an “all-encompassing” production deal with US TV network Lifetime.Last week (April 26), it was announced that the R&B singer’s Braxtoni Productions will oversee and executive produce multiple projects for the network. Its headquarters will also reside at Lifetime’s Los Angeles offices.“Lifetime has been home to my film and TV projects for the past decade,” said the 55-year-old in a statement.

EXCLUSIVE: The current Writers Guild of America contract expires in just over 48 hours, and the scribes and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers are taking it down to the wire in hopes of reaching an agreement.

It might sound cliché, but Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is literally out of this world.

Is all well over at Apple TV+‘s “Severance“? Not according to Puck News, who report that Season 2 of the hit show has run into some roadblocks, including scrapped scripts and showrunner who hate each other. That’s not exactly what Apple wants from a show that nabbed 5 Emmy noms in its first season.

Big improvements to New York’s film and and television production incentives, included in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s budget proposal are still in place as lawmakers reached a handshake deal today, according to people familiar with the bill. The legislature is expected to vote formally next week to approve the budget.

Naman Ramachandran “Luther” star Idris Elba has joined the team at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre as an associate producer for the U.K. production of “School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play” by Jocelyn Bioh, in association with Mark Gordon Pictures and Francesca Moody Productions. The play is set in Ghana’s prestigious Aburi Girls Boarding School in 1986, and follows Queen Bee Paulina and her crew as they await the arrival of the Miss Ghana pageant recruiter. It’s clear that Paulina is in top position to take the title until her place is threatened by Ericka – a beautiful and talented new transfer student. The cast includes Heather Agyepong, Bola Akeju, Deborah Alli, Francesca Amewudah-Rivers and Jadesola Odunjo, with further casting to be announced.

EXCLUSIVE: Toni Braxton is extending her decade-long relationship with Lifetime and A+E. The Grammy-winning singer, actress, executive producer and entrepreneur has entered into a production deal, in which her Braxtoni Productions will oversee and executive produce multiple projects for the network. The production company will be headquartered at Lifetime’s LA offices.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Toho, Japan’s most powerful movie studio, is launching a production services offshoot intended to assist and grow foreign film and TV shoots in the country.Toho Tombo Pictures is a joint venture with Japan-based producer Georgina Pope, who has worked with the top entertainment companies around the globe for more than 30 years. The new company will be headed by Shimada Mitsuru, who currently serves as president of Toho Studios, as representative director of Toho Tombo Pictures. Pope, Ueda Koji and Toho Studios executive Sudo Tetsushi will serve as directors. Ueda is GM of international business of Toho and VP of U.S. subsidiary, Toho International, Inc.

First Look At Nicola Coughlan & Lydia West In ‘Big Mood’

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor CNBC has lost some of its avarice for the long-running primetime series “American Greed.” The documentary program, which examines white-collar crime, scams and embezzlement, among other business-focused wrongdoing, has been running on the NBCUniversal business-news channel since 2007, completing 15 seasons and 222 episodes, along with three spin-offs. In 2023, however, the series order was significantly smaller than those in the past, according to two people familiar with the matter, and production of original episodes has ceased for the moment. “CNBC has not canceled ‘American Greed,'” the network said in a statement. Six new episodes ran between January 24 and March 7 of this year. Past seasons have included 12 episodes or more, according to one of the people familiar with the program