Studios Ignore Specific Demands for Abortion Safety Protocols in Collective Response to Showrunners’ Letters

K.J. Yossman Amazon boss Jeff Bezos (pictured above, left) thanked “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” showrunners Patrick McKay and John D. Payne at the U.K. premiere of the Amazon Prime Video series on Tuesday night – for ignoring his notes on the show. “Every showrunner’s dream – and I mean every showrunner – their dream is to get notes on scripts and early cuts from the founder and executive chairman,” Bezos quipped while introducing the first two episodes of the series at the Odeon Luxe cinema in Leicester Square. “They loved that. I need to thank you both for listening whenever it helped but mostly I need to thank you for ignoring me at exactly the right times.”

Discussions stalled once again between the Motion Picture Association and Hollywood labor unions following a bid for a new law to protect cast and crew on production sets with firearm safety requirements following the fatal "Rust" shooting in October. Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed on the New Mexico set of the Western film and director Joel Souza was wounded by a bullet when live ammunition was accidentally loaded into a weapon fired by Alec Baldwin while rehearsing a scene in a church.The actor has since denied he pulled the trigger of the gun that killed Hutchins.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Talks between the Motion Picture Association and the Hollywood labor unions have failed to produce an agreement on a new law that would address firearm safety on movie sets. The two sides backed competing proposals earlier this year in Sacramento in response to the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of “Rust” in New Mexico last October. Both bills would have established a training standard for film armorers — a job that is currently almost entirely unregulated. The union proposal would have been more sweeping, however, establishing the role of a “set safety supervisor” who would have the power to shut down productions. Both bills stalled in the legislature in May, but the two sides continued to talk in hopes of reaching an agreement before the Aug. 31 legislative deadline.

To the moon, Alice. No, Ralph Kramden isn’t involved, but that’s where NASA is headed, as it prepares its long-awaited launch of Artemis 1. That’s the renewable vehicles program that is the great hope for sending future manned missions back to the moon and potentially Mars.

Former top current executive at Apple TV+ and Sony Pictures Television Kim Rozenfeld has been tapped as SVP Current Television for Paramount Television Studios. He will oversee scripted projects for both the television studio and for Paramount +, reporting to Cheryl Bosnak, EVP and Head of Current for Paramount Television Studios and Paramount+.

Ezra Collective have shared a new collaboration with Sampa the Great and announced their new album, ‘Where I’m Meant To Be’, will arrive in November.On the new single ‘Life Goes On’, which nods sonically to Fela Kuti’s ‘Shakara Oloje,’ Sampa fires off rapid verses over horns, keys and bass, buoyed by particularly lively percussion courtesy of bandleader (and touring Gorillaz drummer) Femi Koleoso. The song arrives alongside a video directed by Nathan Miller and shot on location in both London and Lusaka, Zambia.“London meets Lusaka. Moments of Joy, moments of struggle, but United in a spirit that we must carry on.

EXCLUSIVE: Blockchain tech company GoldenArk via its subsidiary GoldenArk Media, and independent film start-up Cherry Blossom Studios enter into $10M partnership deal.

Carson Burton Wattpad Webtoon Studios has expanded its structure with a new animation division and a variety of hires and promotions across international film and television departments. The expansion marks the first large reorganization the company has undergone since veteran TV executive David Madden joined the studio as head of global entertainment in July.Television executive Sera Tabb has joined Wattpad Webtoon Studios as head of global television, and Lindsey Weems Ramey has been elevated to head of global film.

A coalition of 1,425 showrunners and directors has raised $2.5 million to help women gain access to abortion services in states where they’re now illegal. Organizers of Hollywood4AbortionAccess hope to raise another $2.5 million to help women across the country – not just those working in the entertainment industry. The money will go to the National Network of Abortion Funds.

Kate Aurthur editorThe coalition of television showrunners and creators who’ve mobilized in recent weeks around the pressing issue of abortion safety protocols on set have now sent a second letter to the studios.The letter was blasted out Monday afternoon to each studio president, as well as to the members of the studios’ boards of directors — and copied to the Motion Picture Association, which on Aug. 10 collectively had answered on behalf of eight of the recipients of the original letter: AMC Networks, Amazon Studios, Apple TV+, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount, The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros. Discovery.That response by the studios is of particular concern to the showrunner coalition.

Guy Lodge Film CriticThe fashions, fabrics and eye-crossingly patterned wallpapers of the 1970s abound in “Angry Annie,” a French period piece practically painted in avocado green and Le Creuset orange, with hand-crocheted accessories for good measure. Would that the rest of Blandine Lenoir’s rousing abortion drama felt quite so dated.

Kate Aurthur editorLionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer — in his regular weekly letter to the staff — has vowed that the company will prioritize and protect the reproductive rights of its employees.In the letter, which was obtained by Variety, Feltheimer noted that Lionsgate already has strong protections in place “to safeguard employees from discrimination, harassment, bullying and invasion of privacy,” and wrote that after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision in June, which overturned Roe v. Wade, “it has become necessary to develop strong policies and add to our comprehensive benefits to protect our employees’ reproductive rights as well.” Feltheimer’s letter is copied in full below.The Lionsgate show “P-Valley,” which airs on Starz, is filmed in Georgia, where abortion is forbidden as soon as a fetal heartbeat is detected.

“On July 28, showrunners, directors, and allies spoke together in defense of health and safety, demanding media companies take action to protect workers in states that have restricted abortion,” the statement read. “Last night, they sidestepped the hard work of offering real and specific protections for their at-risk workers and took the easy way out.

predicted wild and detailed world events such as Donald Trump running for president, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bengals’ 2022 Super Bowl win, Russia invading Ukraine, the 9/11 terrorist attacks and much more. For decades, viewers have watched and wondered how the show’s writers have consistently predicted the future and, after 33 seasons, we’re finally going to find out.

Just a few hours shy of the deadline set in late July by hundreds of top female writers and showrunners on abortion safety protocols, most of Hollywood’s biggest studios and streamers today opted to side step specifics.

Variety first reported the news.The initial letter, sent July 28 by a group of over 400 showrunners and TV creators, demanded among other things that studios:--Published policies and procedures to provide an abortion travel subsidy for employees of your productions including specific information on how the employee’s medical privacy will be safeguarded.–Protocols outlining the scope of medical care for employees of your productions, including ectopic pregnancies and other pregnancy complications that require medical treatment via abortion while working for [Studio].–Policy regarding criminal and civil legal protection, including indemnification and defense against liability, for any member of a production who facilitates [Studio]’s protocols or provides [Studio]’s policy information and guidelines to an employee seeking an abortion.–Pledge to discontinue all political donations to anti-abortion candidates and political action committees immediately.A group of 600 male showrunners soon signed a solidarity letter supporting the effort. The original letter also demanded a response by no later than 10 business days — a deadline that would have expired at midnight, Aug.

EXCLUSIVE: Keshet Studios has acquired TV rights to adapt Katelyn Monroe Howes’ debut novel The Awoken, which is publishing this week.

EXCLUSIVE: An anthology series about the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine is in the works from Red Arrow Studios International and FILM.UA.