Suspend & Not Extend: Universal Studio Group Opts Not To Lengthen Its Reinstated Term Deals, Focuses On Renewals Instead
30.09.2023 - 05:07
/ deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: For some writer-producers, the enthusiasm over going back to work this week was dampened by the news that their overall deals, suspended during the WGA strike, are being reinstated but not extended. Nowhere has this been more prevalent than Universal Studio Group, which includes Universal Television and UCP.
The company has reinstated all of its writing and non-writing producers but did not extend the term on any of the deals, I have learned. This does not impact mega UTV/UCP producers such as Dick Wolf and Seth MacFarlane, whose deals were never suspended as they worked on non-struck shows throughout the strike. It also barely impacts non-writing producers like NBCU staple Lorne Michaels whose pacts were suspended for just a couple of weeks.
It is the writers who are most affected as their deals were suspended for the entire five-month duration of the WGA work stoppage. That translates into hundreds of thousands and, in some cases, millions of dollars of earnings they won’t get without an extension, and I hear many of them are not happy.
Term deals don’t automatically extend after a strike-related suspension. The studios have the option to do that at their discretion in a so-called “suspend & extend” move where the length of the suspension is added at the end of the deal’s term.
That is what most other studios and streamers have been doing this week, making extension decisions on a case-by-case basis.
According to sources, USG opted for a uniform policy across the portfolio, adhering to all deals’ original terms while focusing on renewing those the studios want to remain in business with. I hear that started about six months before the WGA strike when Universal TV and UCP initiated renewal conversations
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