Showrunners on Strike Say There’s No Debate: Producing is Writing

Sam Levinson‘s latest series “The Idol” hit HBO two weekends ago after its world premiere at Cannes in May, and the critical response is …not good. In fact, most critics think it’s a trainwreck of a show, which isn’t surprising given the stories that leaked during its production.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International The next season of “Bad Sisters” is slowly taking shape, even amid a writers strike. Creator Sharon Horgan confirmed that she’s currently writing Season 2 of the hit Apple TV+ series “Bad Sisters,” which will continue the story of the Garvey sisters after they successfully got rid of their toxic brother-in-law Jean-Paul (played by a deliciously evil Claes Bang). Horgan, who was speaking at the Banff World Media Festival, is likely able to continue working on the U.K.-filmed show — which she writes alongside Brett Baer and Dave Finkel — because she has a local contract in place with Apple TV+ for “Bad Sisters” rather than a WGA-governed deal. Under the current rules, U.K. writers can continue working on existing projects (under the jurisdiction of non-WGA contracts) with “struck” companies such as Apple, but can’t take on new work.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The Emmys have been here before. In 1980, the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (back then, they were two separate unions negotiating a joint contract with the studios but are now the combined SAG-AFTRA) went on strike for three months. That year’s Emmy telecast happened to fall right in the middle of it. Actors boycotted the ceremony, but for some reason, the TV Academy went ahead with the Emmy telecast anyway. Famously, only one out of 52 nominees attended: Powers Boothe, who said when accepting his trophy for playing cult leader Jim Jones: “This is either the most courageous moment of my career or the stupidest.”

Naman Ramachandran BBC director general Tim Davie has called for a “transparent” hiring process for the next chair of the corporation. The previous BBC chair Richard Sharp resigned over his role in a 2020 loan to then U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Elan Closs Stephens has been appointed temporary acting chair. Davie appeared before a U.K. Culture Media and Sport Committee parliamentary inquiry on the workings of the BBC on Tuesday and was asked what qualities and skills BBC needs for the new chair. “This is an incredibly precious institution, globally admired complex, right in the heart of the public eye. It needs a world class chair and we need an outstanding candidate to do that,” Davie told the committee.

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Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large When I arrived in Los Angeles and first started covering television, it was summer 1996. I was a young 22-year-old kid suddenly thrust into reporting at events like the Television Critics Association press tour, where nearly everyone else around me was a crusty newspaper journo twice my age. (And lying to network execs by telling them I was 25 — apparently, I thought that made me sound seasoned?) That first TCA was a boot camp in learning how new TV shows are launched, and I still vividly remember that freshman crop of fall 1996 series. In those hopeful months before September premieres, anyone has the chance to break out and go the distance. One of those sitcoms was ABC’s “Life’s Work,” starring a promising, brash, hysterical comic named, you guessed it, Lisa Ann Walter. She had already starred in a short-lived comedy for Fox, a midseason entry that didn’t get much attention. But this was the one that was going to be a hit, inspired heavily by her own routine as the working mother aiming to “have it all.”

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Gordon Ramsay’s team has been inundated with emails from C-suite execs at food businesses across the U.S. over the past week, following the premiere of his latest Fox competition series, “Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars.” With the unscripted series having already shot its first season in its entirety, these people are already itching to get on a potential second season of “Food Stars,” which, in a twist for Ramsay isn’t a show about how well you cook, plate or serve — it’s ultimately about how you play the business game. And the winner gets $250,000 investment from the celebrity chef himself. “As you know, 68% percent of businesses fail in the first 18 months. And so I have to judge this on the business acumen, but more importantly, the decisions and the quickness of how decisive they need to be in the cutthroat business world,” Ramsay told Variety ahead of Episode 2 of “Food Stars” airing Wednesday at 9 p.m. on Fox “So I need to get behind the character to understand the business. And then as always, stress test those businesses and look for weaknesses. I’ve made mistakes in business, but I’ve never made that same mistake twice. Everything I’ve learned and the restaurants I’ve opened, and the huge success and the issues I’ve had to deal with, across the whole sector, has gone into this shows. It’s been fascinating, because the feedback has been extraordinary. Just on LinkedIn alone, the amount of CMOs and CEOs and COOs in the first 24 hours that my team was inundated with, thousands of requests. It’s been pretty incredible.”

Elizabeth Taylor Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ spoke out about the pending SAG-AFTRA strike authorization during the New York premiere of her new film “You Hurt My Feelings.” When the Emmy winner was asked if she will join the picket lines if the union calls for a stike, she told Variety on the red carpet, “You bet your fucking ass.” “I voted yes for the strike authorization,” Julia Louis-Dreyfus further explained before entering the screening at the DGA theater in Manhattan. “By the way, that doesn’t mean we’re striking. It just gives the board the ability to strike if they need to and I’m in favor of that. The issues that the Screen Actors Guild is facing are very similar to what the Writers Guild is facing; and even the DGA for that matter to certain extent…it’s time for us to stand up and get what we so rightfully deserve, which is a living wage, and particularly for the middle class in the Screen Actors Guild not to be squeezed out of the system all together.”

Saying that “acting careers are at stake,” SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher has sent an audio message to the guild’s members urging them to vote “Yes” for strike authorization.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Last year, Jesse Collins won an Emmy. This year, he’s producing the Emmys. Fox and the Television Academy are set to announce on Thursday that Jesse Collins Entertainment has been tapped to serve as producers of this year’s landmark 75th edition of the Primetime Emmy awards. No host has been named as of yet, and there are still a lot of questions to be answered as to how the writers strike may impact this year’s Emmy Awards, or if the calendar might shift. But for now, the main event is still scheduled to air on Monday, Sept 18 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Fox. Jesse Collins Entertainment takes over from Done+Dusted and Hudlin Entertainment, which had jointly produced the Emmys in 2020, 2021 and 2022, the first two of which were COVID-impacted events. D+D had actually produced the Emmys for five consecutive years, having already been producing the Emmys telecast for two years when it was paired with Hudlin in 2020 to handle the unconventional, no-audience COVID-impacted Emmys. At the time, Hudlin made history as the first Black executive producer of the Primetime Emmys.

Michelle Yeoh finally became an Oscar-winning actor just two months ago for “Everything Everywhere All At Once.” Yeoh says Asian performers were ignored for far too long, but she is hopeful for the future. Speaking during the Kering Women in Motion talks at Cannes, Yeoh reflected on the first time she came to the prestigious festival with “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” more than 20 years ago. Yeoh says “it’s quite obvious” that Hollywood was not ready to recognize Asian actors at that time. The Ang Lee film was a box office success, making more than $200 million worldwide and garnering 10 Oscar nominations, including best picture, best director and screenplay. But none of the actors were nominated.

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Sean Penn strongly backed the current Hollywood screenwriters strike while speaking at the Cannes Film Festival on Friday, saying the dispute over artificial intelligence is “a human obscenity.”

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Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large As TV Academy members toasted the stars of “Ted Lasso” on May 1, things were about to change dramatically in the Emmy campaign space. Apple TV+ was celebrating the opening of a “For Your Consideration” activation at Goya Studios, where it erected a massive tent to showcase its bevy of contenders. It’s a well-appointed and pristine space, with an almost Apple Store-meets-Emmys vibe. Displays celebrating Apple TV+ shows were front and center, along with an open bar, passed bites and a theater room for screenings and panels for celebrated shows like “Ted Lasso,” “Shrinking,” “Bad Sisters,” and more. But now here’s the problem with FYC: The writers strike has upended everything. The clouds were already forming at that “Ted Lasso” event, as the strike was called at the same moment co-creator/star Jason Sudeikis and team were celebrating the show’s Season 3 on stage. Many of the “Lasso” stars double as writers — Sudeikis, Brett Goldstein and Brendan Hunt included — so the power and importance of writers was on everyone’s minds. Sudeikis even remarked on how surreal it was to be there on stage talking about writing “Ted Lasso” just as the issues facing the town’s scribes took center stage. “Shout out to the writers,” he said. “What a day to be doing this.”

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The Producers Guild of America will hold its next PGA Awards at the Fairmont Century Plaza hotel in Los Angeles on Sunday, February 25, 2024, presidents Stephanie Allain and Donald DeLine announced on Wednesday. The 2024 installment will mark the 35th annual PGA Awards ceremony. Here is this year’s PGA Awards calendar: Eligibility Period for 2024 Producers Guild Awards Notice of Producing Credits Form Deadline

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Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The Daytime Emmys are once again planning to pivot, as next month’s awards show to won’t go forward as previously planned. With the ongoing writers strike, the National Academy of TV Arts & Sciences confirmed on Tuesday that this year’s 50th Daytime Emmys would move from its planned June 16 ceremony to an undetermined later date. “The 50th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards planned for Friday, June 16 on CBS is postponed due to the WGA strike,” NATAS president/CEO Adam Sharp said in a statement obtained by Variety. “In addition, the Creative Arts & Lifestyle ceremony, planned for Saturday, June 17, has been postponed pending a strike resolution. We look forward to our community gathering together as one to celebrate our Golden Anniversary and all of the talented nominees and honorees at a later date.”