Ted Sarandos Will Skip PEN America Gala Honoring Him Amid WGA Strike Given “Threat To Disrupt” Event

Colin Jost opened the PEN America Gala under the iconic model of a blue whale at the Museum of Natural History calling himself “a writer and a friend of writers” and “extremely fortunate to be here tonight surrounded by two things that might not be around much longer — writers and ocean life. This is the first time that a whale is not the most endangered thing in the room.”

EXCLUSIVE: UK company Architect was recently founded by sales executives Calum Gray and Max Pirkis, together with Patrick Fischer and Richard Kondal of financier Creativity Capital.

Matt Willis has spoken of his strong relationship with his TV star wife Emma ahead of her appearing in his new documentary. The Busted singer will be seen on BBC One on Wednesday night in his own film in which he opens up about his battle with addiction.

This year’s Peabody Awards ceremony has been canceled “due to the ongoing uncertainty and meaningful challenges that exist industrywide,” according to a statement from the Peabody Awards organization. The June 11 awards would have been the organization’s first in-person ceremony since 2019, as well as the first time ever in its history that the Awards would take place in Los Angeles.

WGA strike.“We are grateful for the contribution writers make to our company and respect their right to demonstrate it may take some time, but I know we will eventually get through this and the result will be a stronger foundation on which we can all move forward together,” Chairman of NBCUniversal Mark Lazarus said during the New York event. Unsurprisingly, the event scaled back on its celebrities, relying on more executives and reality TV stars to introduce its clips and segments.

Netflix’s first upfront presentation to advertisers will be a virtual event. The streamer sent notes to attendees this evening to inform them of the last-minute shift. It is the first 2023 upfront event to pivot to a remote format.

For the second time in a week, the Writers Guild of America has shuttered Billions.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos will no longer attend a gala meant to honor him next week in New York. The decision comes as labor issues grab headlines across Hollywood. Sarandos was set to accept the Business Visionary Award at the annual PEN American Spring Literary Gala, alongside fellow honoree Lorne Michaels and a host of literati including Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Susan Choi, Jennifer Egan, Min Jin Lee, Jay McInerney and Gay Talese. He’s skipping the event, to be held under the blue whale at the American Museum of Natural History, as many industry celebrations weigh how to address the writers strike. “Given the potential to disrupt this wonderful evening, I thought it was best to pull out so as not to distract from the important work that PEN America does for writers and journalists, as well as the celebration of my friend and personal hero Lorne Michaels. I hope the evening is a great success,” Sarandos told Variety in a statement.

tweeted a selfie at the New York picket lines captioned “Let’s do this.”Odenkirk and Patinkin also posed together for a photo, which the latter captioned with: “Saul’s unite.” In addition to Odenkirk’s work as Saul Goodman, Patinkin is also known for playing a character named Saul in “Homeland.”Saul’s unite! #wgastrong Support our writers! pic.twitter.com/VdyElwh7C5Adam Scott, who can most recently be seen in “Severance,” also joined the picket line. Ran into Mandy Patinkin, Bob Odenkirk, and Adam Scott on the WGA picket line.

Andor creator/showrunner Tony Gilroy says he has ceased all non-writing producing duties on the Disney+ series amid the WGA strike.

As you have no doubt already heard, the WGA is on strike right now. Just over a week into it, this strike has already caused quite a few disruptions, with productions being halted and development coming to a standstill.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ appearance at an MTV-sponsored town hall has been postponed amid the the Writers Guild of America strike.

Imagine Dragons, in solidarity with the writers strike, showed up at the Netflix picket line to support writers.

When are things not strange in Hollywood? Should we be surprised that there is always some industry or world crises crashing an awards season? Probably not, but it’s been quite a long time since a work stoppage affected the Primetime Emmy Awards. And, as we’ll discuss later, that means while writers form picket lines, actors and directors are still engaged in that Emmy nomination fight.

Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch says Fox Corp. is in a good place despite the ongoing WGA strike given its mix of programming.

Taking the mic for the second time in a week, Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish explained why the company slashed its dividend and talked streaming, advertising and weathering a WGA strike.

Jennifer Coolidge was honored with the Comedic Genius award at the 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards. Although the show turned into a clip show due to the writers strike, the White Lotus star accepted her award via a pretaped message.

EXCLUSIVE: Disney Channel’s longest-running live-action comedy series Bunk’d is the latest casualty of the WGA strike. Production on Season 7 of the hit series has been halted due to the writers strike, Deadline has confirmed.

tweeted her email notification.“The May 8 screening for ‘Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie’ has been postponed,” the email from Bateman’s tweet reads.

Another TV shoot has been disrupted by striking writers, Michelle and Robert King’s supernatural drama for Paramount+ Evil, which has been filming its fourth season at Brooklyn Stages in Brooklyn.