Out In Hollywood Releases 2023 Out Loud List With Best Unproduced TV Pilot Scripts By Queer Writers

officially went on strike after they were unable to reach an agreement with major Hollywood studios and streamers by the July 12 deadline. Because of this, nearly all productions in Hollywood have been forced to shut down, which have already had an immediate impact in the industry with canceled premieres, axed publicity tours, delayed projects and abandoned sets.Actors like Jason Sudeikis, Susan Sarandon, Olivia Wilde, Allison Janney, Josh Gad, Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Dallas, Mandy Moore, Ben Schwartz and Sharon Lawrence were among those joining the writers — who have been on strike since May 2 — on the picket line beginning July 14.

The netherworld has arrived in Hollywood!

Ted Lasso star Jason Sudeikis and other top actors joined picket lines alongside screenwriters on the first full day of a walkout that has become Hollywood's biggest labour fight in decades.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer As the clock ticked toward midnight on July 12, SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher addressed the group of negotiators from the major studios. “You’re sitting on the wrong side of history,” she told them. “Shame on you.” It had been clear for some time that Drescher’s union would go on strike. A final day of talks with two federal mediators had done nothing to bridge the gaps between the two sides. Drescher’s speech served as the exclamation point — a dramatic flourish from a born performer — casting the dispute over business models and residual formulas in Manichean terms.

Watch video of the press conference here.They were referring to a wave of sudden exits of executives that kicked off June 20 when Disney’s chief diversity officer and senior vice president Latondra Newton, left, according to Disney to pursue “other endeavors.” Then on June 28 Netflix announced that Vernā Myers, head of inclusion strategy, will leave the role in September after five years in the job in order to focus attention on her consulting company, The Vernā Myers Company.The next day, Warner Bros. Discovery laid off SVP of diversity, equity and inclusion Karen Horne, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science’s EVP of Impact and Inclusion Jeanell English stepped down.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor A group of state legislators representing the California Legislative Black Caucus are calling on film studios to meet with them regarding the sudden removal of Black female executives over the past few weeks. A mass exodus of Black women from senior leadership posts — Vernā Myers (Netflix), LaTondra Newton (Disney), Jeanell English (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) and Karen Horne and Terra Potts (Warner Bros. Discovery) — has raised questions about the depth of the film and television industry’s commitment to diversifying the top ranks of the entertainment industry. The CLBC held a press conference on Thursday, citing the executives’ resignations and removals after the State Legislature approved the $1.6 billion Film Tax Credit initiative to provide tax incentives for the film studios.

Cillian Murphy and Emily Blunt left the London premiere of Oppenheimer today (July 13) as a Hollywood actors’ strike was called.According to director Christopher Nolan, the actors left the premiere as the strike began (via BBC), after the event was brought forward by an hour so the cast could walk the red carpet.The national board of SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) – Hollywood’s largest union, which represents 160,000 actors and performers – voted unanimously today to strike, according to The Los Angeles Times.SAG-AFTRA was seeking better pay and working conditions in the age of streaming, while other negotiations related to safeguards against the unregulated use of artificial intelligence in the industry.Following a breakdown in negotiations between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), SAG-AFTRA members were told to be prepared to strike as they awaited the outcome of today’s vote.The Hollywood shutdown is first time in 63 years that actors and writers have gone on strike simultaneously. Actors will reportedly be on the picket line from Friday (July 14).“What’s happening to us is happening across all fields of labor,” said SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher.

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.

The Los Angeles Times.It will mark the first time in more than 60 years that actors and writers have gone on strike simultaneously.Here is everything we know about why actors are poised to strike this week.SAG-AFTRA – is Hollywood’s largest union, which represents 160,000 actors and performers – and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) are seeking an increase in base pay and residuals in the age of streaming, while other negotiations relate to safeguards against the unregulated use of artificial intelligence in the industry.The WGA strike, which began on May 2, occurred following unsuccessful negotiations with AMPTP, who represent major Hollywood studios like Netflix, Disney, Apple, Amazon, Paramount, Warner Bros. and others.Since the strike was announced, a number of films and TV shows have shut down production in solidarity.

Reese Witherspoon said filming her sex scene with Mark Wahlberg in the 1996 movie Fear was a “not a particularly great experience.”

Reese Witherspoon is cringing at a past role early in her Hollywood career. Witherspoon, 47, reflected on an uncomfortable sex scene she had with Mark Wahlberg in the 1996 thriller "Fear," directed by James Foley, and said it was not a "great experience." "I didn’t have control over it," Witherspoon explained during a cover interview with Harper’s Bazaar.  "It wasn’t explicit in the script that that’s what was going to happen, so that was something that I think the director thought of on his own and then asked me on set if I would do it, and I said no.

Ellise Shafer During an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Thursday morning, Disney CEO Bob Iger said that the writers and actors unions going on strike in Hollywood are not being “realistic” with their expectations. Speaking to CNBC’s David Faber from the Sun Valley Conference in Idaho, Iger commented on the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike and imminent decision for SAG-AFTRA to join them. “It’s very disturbing to me. We’ve talked about disruptive forces on this business and all the challenges we’re facing, the recovery from COVID which is ongoing, it’s not completely back. This is the worst time in the world to add to that disruption,” Iger said. “I understand any labor organization’s desire to work on behalf of its members to get the most compensation and be compensated fairly based on the value that they deliver. We managed, as an industry, to negotiate a very good deal with the directors guild that reflects the value that the directors contribute to this great business. We wanted to do the same thing with the writers, and we’d like to do the same thing with the actors. There’s a level of expectation that they have, that is just not realistic. And they are adding to the set of the challenges that this business is already facing that is, quite frankly, very disruptive.”

The biggest names in sports and entertainment came together on Wednesday night to honor the year’s best, most influential and inspiring athletes at the 2023 ESPY Awards.

Alix Earle and Braxton Berrios are red carpet official!

Some of the biggest names in sports are expected to take home a silver statue at this year’s ESPY Awards.  

Padma Lakshmi is having an “otherworldly and amazing” morning, after pulling her latest set of three Emmy nominations for the culinary competition show Top Chef, which she’s long hosted and exec produced, and her newer Hulu series Taste the Nation, examining cuisine from coast to coast.

The 75th Annual Emmy Awards season is officially getting under way.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Rome’s iconic monuments are getting lots of mileage in Hollywood movies this summer. Since May, the Eternal City has hosted the world premieres of “Fast X” and “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One,” two blockbusters that burned rubber and wreaked havoc on its cobblestoned streets. Universal held its “Fast X” red carpet in the Roman Forum’s Temple of Venus, with the Colosseum as a backdrop, in early May. Weeks later, Paramount descended for the June premiere of “M:I 7,” with Tom Cruise prancing down the same Spanish Steps that serve as the setting for spectacular car chases in both movies.

It’s always a strange time in Hollywood, but it’s an understatement to say everything is really off-kilter right now. Obviously, the Writers Guild strike has brought a majority of television and film production to a halt.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer In a display of pink visible from outer space, Greta Gerwig’s  “Barbie” held its lush world premiere on Sunday in Los Angeles. The Shrine Auditorum, located smack in the middle of the USC campus, was hosed down in colors of blush and bashful for the anticipated Warner Bros. release (as in, the security guards wore pink polo shirts), which drew the film’s stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.  One notable absence was Noah Baumbach, the film’s co-writer and Gerwig’s partner. “My co-writer and co-creator, my partner in love and art, Noah Baumbach is not here. He is passionately supporting the fight of the Writers Guild of America,” Gerwig said. “He is a Barbie girl. Nothing in ‘Barbie’ happened without him, and nothing in Hollywood happens without writers.”