Netflix Shareholders Reject Execs’ $166 Million Payday in Rare Dissent Amid WGA Strike

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Meredith Stiehm will seek a second two-year term as president of WGA West in the fall election, and the other top officials of the guild will also seek reelection. Justine Bateman, the writer-director and former “Family Ties” star, is running for a spot on the WGA West board. Bateman has become outspoken on the need for tight regulation of artificial intelligence. The guild announced its preliminary list of nominees on Wednesday. Stiehm, who has been active in both the agency campaign and the current strike, will run against challenger Rich Talarico, a “Key and Peele” writer who has faulted the guild for not doing more to fight back against the release of free clips of the show on YouTube.

The Writers Guild of America West is holding officer and board elections in the middle of its ongoing strike, which is now in its 51st day. Incumbent president Meredith Stiehm is seeking reelection and will face off against Rich Talarico – both of whom were selected by the guild’s nominating committee.

The WGA Strong March and Rally for a Fair Contract has kicked off in LA with thousands of members of the guild including Damon Lindelof and Boots Riley taking to the parks and streets.

Editor’s note: Part 2 of two-part series about the writers strike crossing the 50-day mark.

Editor’s note: Part 1 of two-part series about the writers strike crossing the 50-day mark.

For the second week in a row, no scripted TV series were shooting on location in Los Angeles due to the Writers Guild strike, according to data compiled by FilmLA, the city and county film permit office.

Massive release date changes were fairly commonplace over the past few years, as we watched the COVID pandemic shift entire distribution strategies for film studios. Now, it appears the WGA Strike has finally shown its impact on film releases, at least over at Disney, as the studio delays some of the biggest films on its schedule including new “Avengers,” “Star Wars,” and “Avatar” films.

EXCLUSIVE: Filming on Disney+’s Daredevil: Born Again has been shut down for today, sources tell Deadline. The new season of the Marvel series was supposed to shoot at its New York home base of Silvercup East, which has been a main picketing location for striking WGA members.

Amber Dowling As the WGA strike continues, Canadian broadcasters are conducting business as usual—at least in front of the cameras. Bell Media and Corus Entertainment launched upfront presentations for advertisers and media buyers in Toronto last week, while Rogers Sports & Media opted for a virtual presentation. (Public broadcaster CBC skipped the traditional industry-facing event in favor of a series of meetings, but is planning a launch event in late fall.) Over the week, company leaders laid out 2023-24 broadcast schedules anchored by American acquisition programming. They boasted Canadian originals and specialty content. Rogers announced the buzzy new “Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent.” Bell Media upped its original library to more than 1,000 hours and revealed the upcoming launch of ad tiers to its streaming service, Crave. And Corus confirmed 25 new and returning original titles.

Ariana DeBose is working without a script for the 2023 Tony Awards, so she kicked off the show with a dance number!

pic.twitter.com/5UJ3Ddm0TkTV writer Tom Smuts, who is married to WGA president Meredith Stiehm, said he was there when the incident occurred.“In the past five weeks coordinating production pickets in Los Angeles and Georgia, no one else has treated us like that,” he tweeted. “And we in the WGA and Teamsters will stay here in solidarity – in Los Angeles, New York, New Mexico, Georgia and wherever else we need to be – until our labor and dignity are respected again.”A Lionsgate spokesperson told TheWrap that the company takes “acts of intimidation and threats of violence seriously” and that they are investigating the incident “thoroughly.”“As we continue to investigate, we have sent home the individual involved,” the studio added. A WGA spokesperson told TheWrap it is “working closely with members who were endangered during this incident to hold this individual accountable.”“Workers should not be threatened with physical harm when exercising their right to publicly protest and picket against unfair wages and working conditions,” the guild said.

IATSE’s general executive board has unanimously approved $2 million to be distributed to the union’s members who are in need of financial assistance due to the Writers Guild strike, which is in its 39th day.

The number of shooting permits issued by New York City fell sharply in May from previous months, and from the year earlier amid a WGA strike and uncertainty over contracts for other guilds.

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix’s upcoming high-profile limited series Zero Day, starring and executive produced by Robert De Niro, has become the latest project whose production has been impacted by the ongoing writers strike.

On-location production of scripted TV series has ground to a complete halt in Los Angeles due to the five-week-old Writers Guild strike, according to data compiled by FilmLA, the city and county film permit office.

behind only Simon Property Group, which was among the 1.5% of companies who asked shareholders to weigh in on executive compensation packages having rejected the “Say on Pay” proposals.The pay packages included total compensation for co-CEO Ted Sarandos, former co-CEO Reed Hastings and Greg Peters, who was elevated from COO to co-CEO earlier this year. In 2022, Hastings earned $51.1 million in total compensation last year while Sarandos brought in $50.3 million and Peters received $28.1 million. Last week’s rare dissent came days after WGA West president Meredith Stiehm sent an open letter to Netflix and Comcast shareholders urging them to reject the pay proposals ahead of the votes, pointing to the intensifying impact of the guild’s strike, which recently entered into its second month.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Filming permit requests for TV and film projects in New York City were down 13% in April and 31.5% in May as the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike raged on, Variety has confirmed. According to information obtained by Variety, 760 requested shooting permits were issued to 177 projects by the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment in 2022, and 801 permits were granted to 227 projects in May last year. Comparatively, only 662 shooting permits were issued to 187 projects this April and 549 permits to 181 projects in May. The writers strike began May 2, following the WGA’s inability to ink a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) before the previous agreement expired May 1. Between April and May, the filming permits requested for shoots in NYC fell 17%, while in 2022 they had increased just over 5% between the two months.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor In a symbolic rebuke of Netflix’s top executives, company shareholders voted against approving the compensation packages of leaders including co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters. At the streamer’s June 1 annual shareholders meeting, investors failed to approve the proposed exec pay packages for 2023. But the vote was a non-binding “say on pay” measure, meaning Netflix’s board can disregard the result. The vote came after the WGA had urged investors to vote against Netflix’s exec compensation measures in a letter Tuesday. “While investors have long taken issue with Netflix’s executive pay, the compensation structure is more egregious against the backdrop of the strike,” WGA West president Meredith Stiehm wrote in the letter to Netflix shareholders.

Netflix shareholders declined to support a proposal affirming the pay packages for top executives during a vote at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on Thursday.

was one of the first such films to be brought to a standstill two weeks ago. The true-story drama “Unstoppable” features Jerome — Emmy winner for Ava DeVurnay’s acclaimed Netflix miniseries “When They See Us” — as Anthony Robles. Robles was a three-time All-American wrestler born with one leg who nonetheless won a national championship at Arizona State.