Studios Call Strike Authorization Vote Ratification “Inevitable”, Stress That Goal Is To “Reach Fair & Reasonable” Deal

The writers strike, so far, has not affected production on Amazon series Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and HBO’s House of the Dragon, both of which are currently shooting in the UK.

Elizabeth Olsen and husband Robbie Arnett are enjoying a day out together.

walked off the job Monday night in the entertainment industry’s first strike in 15 years, after the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers failed to reach a deal.WGA said the decision to strike was made after six weeks of negotiations with the umbrella organization that is representing Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney, Discovery-Warner, NBC Universal, Paramount and Sony. But it’s the studios themselves where writers and supporters will carry signs and march. Picketing it set to take place from 1 p.m.

Deadline has obtained a list of the locations being targeted by the WGA West and WGA East in Los Angeles and New York for potential strike actions and picketing.

Writers Guild members “are preparing to picket studio headquarters and production sites in the event the AMPTP refuses to make a deal that fairly addresses the concerns of our members,” the WGA said in a statement to Deadline on Friday.

If you’ve been paying attention to all the online chatter around Warner Bros.’ “The Flash,” you know there have been a lot of changes to the film, and it’s been an evolving movie as the DCEU has tried to evolve and figure itself out in the last two years. Because as you know, “The Flash” started production when the DCEU was in full swing—replete with cameos like Henry Cavill’s Superman—but the film is now under the aegis of James Gunn’s DC Studios, and it’s been reported that Cavill’s cameo was nixed and some of the other connective tissue to the past has been purportedly scrapped.

The Directors Guild said today that it supports the WGA in its ongoing negotiations for a new film and TV contract. The WGA’s contract expires on May 1, and the DGA will begin bargaining with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers for its own contract on May 10. The DGA’s contract expires June 30.

Activision Blizzard have accused the company of losing workers and “creating crisis maps” of what it can release, due to issues with the company’s remote working policy.In a series of tweets posted yesterday, World Of Warcraft game producer Adam ‘Glaxigrav’ claimed he has lost “yet another” employee this week.“Blizzard is losing amazing talent because someone in power doesn’t listen to the game directors who make his products,” wrote Adam, who said Blizzard can’t “make better Dragonflights […] If we get rid of everyone who made it”.“‘Some talent’ is undermining the point,” he continued. “We are creating crisis maps of what we can or cannot ship.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain says it’s ready to stand “shoulder to shoulder” with its U.S. counterpart if a strike goes ahead. “Many of their issues are our issues,” said WGGB chair Lisa Holdsworth in a statement shared with Variety. “Their fight is our fight. We hope that the WGA reaches a deal but we are ready to stand shoulder to shoulder with our sister union and their members in support of every writer’s right to be paid a decent rate for their work, to be treated with respect and to be financially rewarded for the success of their work – including subsequent use and sales.”

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The Writers Guild of America has passed a strike authorization vote with 97.85% voting in favor, giving union leadership the power to call a strike once the contract expires on May 1. In an email to members, the guild said that 78.79% of eligible members had cast ballots. “These results set a new record for both participation and the percentage of support in a strike authorization vote,” the guild said. “Our membership has spoken. You have expressed your collective strength, solidarity and the demand for meaningful change in overwhelming numbers. Armed with this demonstration of unity and resolve, we will continue to work at the negotiating table to achieve a fair contract for all writers.”

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Jio Studios, the content arm of Reliance Industries Limited, has unveiled a huge slate of 100 new films and TV shows that will play on Reliance’s streaming platforms. They range from the previously-announced Shah Rukh Khan-starring Bollywood movie project “Dunki,” through Adil Hussain’s Bengali-language art-house picture “The Storyteller,” which appeared at the Busan Film Festival last year, to a range of web originals and mini-series. Contents are made as originals in a range of local languages including Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati and Bhojpuri. Genres range from action, drama, thriller and romance to horror and musicals.

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.

EXCLUSIVE: Amazon Studios has signed a first-look deal with actor, writer, and filmmaker Sylvester Stallone and his company Balboa Productions.

The WGA has called on its members to save television and feature writing as its strike authorization vote opens.

Marvel films have attracted many Hollywood talent but don’t expect Bob Odenkirk to appear in the MCU anytime soon. The Better Call Saul actor recently opened up about what type of characters he likes to play and how it doesn’t align with what Marvel Studios produces.

EXCLUSIVE: Academy Award-winning filmmaker Tom McCarthy’s production company Slow Pony has inked an exclusive first-look film deal with Concordia Studio, the talent-first studio whose most recent production, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, world premiered to critical acclaim at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and will bow on Apple TV+ on May 12th.

EXCLUSIVE: A+E Studios is getting into business with Curate Management and its founder Britton Rizzio. The studio has signed a first-look deal with the company to develop scripted series for broadcast and streaming in the U.S. and international space. Curate says the deal reinforces the company’s commitment to producing content that reflects unique perspectives and stories. 

Ryan Martinez, formerly a staff writer on Netflix’s Manifest and a graduate of the Warner Bros Television Writers’ Workshop, is a Harvard grad, a lieutenant in the U.S. naval reserves, and a combat vet who served in the war in Afghanistan. But now he says he’s returning to active duty in the Navy this summer “just to pay the bills,” which is why he’s voting “Yes” to authorize a WGA strike.

Activision Blizzard has detailed recent changes to its Ricochet anti-cheat system, including developer-side match replays and a number of creative ways to frustrate Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 cheaters.In a blog, posted yesterday (March 5), Activision Blizzard confirmed that its kernel-level anti-cheat software Ricochet had been updated with “several new layers of security and detections” to battle cheaters.One such feature is a new replay investigation tool, which will allow teams at Activision Blizzard to watch any completed match to review its footage for signs of cheating.At the “highest tiers” of ranked in Modern Warfare 2, Activision has shared that matches will be automatically recorded in case they need to be investigated for cheating.“Though it’s a new tool for Team Ricochet, Replay has already helped with investigations into suspicious accounts resulting in permanent bans,” shared the company.Additionally, Ricochet has been updated with new software to detect third-party hardware, which can be used to minimise recoil for users. Anyone caught using this sort of hardware will first receive a warning about their device, but continued use can lead to suspensions or even bans.Elsewhere, a number of creative in-game solutions from Call Of Duty: Vanguard have been implemented in an attempt to frustrate cheaters during matches.

UPDATED with latest: Talks between the WGA and AMPTP will continue on Wednesday. As Deadline revealed on Friday, the two sides were scheduling more conversations during their previously planned two-week break. This comes as the guild scheduled its strike authorization vote earlier this week after saying said the studios “failed to offer meaningful responses on the core economic issues in any of the WGA’s primary work areas” and admitted that they have made “small moves” towards an agreement.