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A group of top showrunners met today to discuss the WGA strike – a day after it emerged the studios told writer/producers were not excused from producing duties during the labor action.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The organization that represents major Hollywood studios issued its first detailed response on Thursday to a series of issues raised by the Writers Guild of America in its three-day-old strike. In a four-page document, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers pushed back on the guild’s claim that the studios are seeking to force writers into a “gig economy.” The AMPTP argued that writers enjoy fringe benefits and guaranteed employment terms that have “almost nothing in common” with standard gig jobs. The AMPTP also rejected the need for a “hiring quota” for TV writers, saying it is “incompatible with the creative nature of our industry.” The guild is proposing a staffing mandate that, for most shows, would require a writers room of at least six to 12 writers.

Outside the Fox lot in Century City this afternoon, WGA Negotiating Committee Co-Chair Chris Keyser appeared amongst over 150 members who were on site to picket following the breakdown of negotiations with the Alliance of Motion and Television Producers and the expiration of their contract.

Writers Guild of America leaders are saying Monday night that the guild was forced to go on strike at midnight PT because their proposals to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on core contract issues “fell on deaf ears.”

Negotiations for a new WGA contract have made “a little bit of progress” on feature films, but otherwise the two sides remain “far away” from a deal.

Leaders of SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood’s Teamsters Local 399 showed their support for the WGA on Monday, posing with WGA leaders shortly before the 11 a.m. start of the Writers Guild’s contract negotiations with producers at the AMPTP’s headquarters in Sherman Oaks.

EXCLUSIVE: There was “fire and brimstone” at tonight’s WGA membership meeting – the last to be held before the start of contract negotiations with the AMPTP on Monday. The meeting, held via Zoom, was led by the co-chairs of the guild’s negotiating committee: former WGA West presidents Chris Keyser and David A. Goodman.

Leaders of the Writers Guild of America won’t discuss the specifics of the contract proposals they’ve exchanged with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers. But in an interview with Deadline on Tuesday ahead of next week’s start of negotiations, they made it perfectly clear a deal can be reached without a strike if the companies take the needs of writers seriously.

The WGA East and WGA West have appointed the members of their negotiating committee for upcoming contract talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers – a showdown that could trigger the first writers strike since 2008. The guilds’ current contract expires May 1, 2023.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Rachel Bloom has joined the cast of “Julia” Season 2 at HBO Max, Variety has learned exclusively. The series is inspired by the life of Julia Child and her long-running cooking show “The French Chef.” The first season debuted in March 2022 and the show was renewed in May. Bloom will appear in a recurring role as Elaine Levitch. The character is described as “a dynamo who comes to WGBH by way of CBS to work with Julia on ‘The French Chef.'” Bloom will next be seen in the Steve Levitan Hulu comedy series “Reboot,” which premieres Sept. 20. She is best known for her work on the CW musical dramedy series “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” which she co-created and executive produced in addition to starring. She received five Emmy nominations and two Golden Globe nominations for her work on the series, winning one of each. Her recent credits include the Disney+ film “Chip ‘N’ Dalel: Rescue Rangers” and the upcoming Netflix film “The School for Good and Evil.” She published the book “I Want to Be Where the Normal People Are” in 2020.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorFrom the very start, “Julia” producer Chris Keyser decided there wouldn’t be any shortcuts when it came to creating the food scenes for HBO Max’s origin story of the famous TV chef. It had to taste good and look even better to honor the spirit of Julia Child.Production designer Patrizia von Brandenstein and food stylist Christine Tobin threw themselves into making sure all the ingredients were perfectly combined, and the result was a delicious-tasting menu of scenes spotlighting the mouth-watering dishes and the Childs’ enjoyment of eating.

Wilson Chapman editorSPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you haven’t watched “Chocolate Souffle,” the Season 1 finale of “Julia,” now streaming on HBO Max.Season 1 of “Julia” on HBO Max ends on a cozy scene of domesticity emblematic of the show itself: After a series finale in which main character Julia Child (played by actor Sarah Lancashire) suffers a crisis of confidence and backs out of her popular cooking show “The French Chef,” she is ultimately convinced to return to the show by her husband Paul (David Hyde Pierce). Once a snob who tried to forbid Julia from participating in public television, Paul has since gone through a transformative arc, learning how to support his wife while still being his own person.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“Julia” has been renewed for Season 2 at HBO Max.The series is inspired by the life of Julia Childs and her long-running cooking show “The French Chef.” Through Childs’ perspective, the series explores the emergence of public television as a new social institution, feminism and the women’s movement, the nature of celebrity and America’s cultural evolution.Sarah Lancashire stars as Childs. The cast also includes David Hyde Pierce, Bebe Neuwirth, Brittany Bradford, Fran Kranz, and Fiona Glascott.

HBO Max has unveiled the first trailer for “Julia,” an upcoming series about the life of beloved culinary icon Julia Child.Created by Daniel Goldfarb (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”), “Julia” focuses on Child (played in the series by Sarah Lancashire) during the years following the publication of her iconic cookbook “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” The series sees Child kickstarting her first television series, “The French Chef,” at the public television station WGBH.

HBO Max has unveiled the first footage for its upcoming Julia Child drama series Julia, starring Sarah Lancashire as The French Chef creator and host herself.

HBO Max will serve up its Julia Child drama series, Julia, this March.

HBO Max has picked up to series drama pilot Julia, giving an eight-episode order to the project based on the life of world-renowned chef Julia Child, from Chris Keyser (The Society, Party of Five), Lionsgate Television and 3 Arts Entertainment. The series, starring Sarah Lancashire and David Hyde Pierce, is scheduled to resume production late spring in Boston, where the pilot was filmed.

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVEXCLUSIVE: Party of Five co-creator Chris Keyser is returning to broadcast with Summer, a drama which has been put in development at NBC. It hails from Lionsgate TV and 3 Arts Entertainment.Your Complete Guide to Pilots and Straight-to-Series ordersWritten by Keyser, in Summer, four different families return each summer to the same idyllic seaside town on Cape Cod.

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVDavid Hyde Pierce is set to star opposite Sarah Lancashire in Julia, HBO Max’s drama pilot about the famous chef, trailblazing cookbook author and TV personality, from Chris Keyser and Lionsgate Television. Pierce is joining the project in recasting.

By Nellie Andreeva

By Will Thorne

By Denise Petski

By Nellie Andreeva