U.K. Writers to Support WGA Strike With Major London Protest

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International Cold, cold heart, hard done by you. And Glastonbury fans were certainly hard done by Elton John and Britney Spears on Sunday night. Spears was widely rumored to be joining John during his closing headline set at the British music festival, but in her place to sing their hit “Tiny Dancer” remix was — Brandon Flowers. Fans were stunned when The Killers frontman traipsed on stage instead of Spears, especially as the “Baby One More Time” singer had dropped Instagram hints in the lead-up to John’s set that suggested she was in the U.K. On Friday, Spears posted a picture of an oil painting featuring McDonald’s food and a vase of roses with three Union Jack flags as the caption. In another now-deleted post, she reportedly told fans she was heading to London this week, claiming it was for a shopping trip.

Goldberg said, “So, you know how we’re always talking about how we’re very different than most other shows? Well, as you know, there is a writer’s strike on, and so we don’t have writers. So you’re gonna hear how it would be when it’s not, you know, slicked up.”Later in that episode, Goldberg added, “We hope you weren’t too freaked out about the fact that we have no writers,” Whoopi said.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International BBC Studios has acquired pan-Scandinavian production company STV. The acquisition will help the British production-distribution powerhouse grow its footprint in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and build out its existing production outfits. BBCS has said the deal is “in response to the growing appetite and opportunity for BBC content in the market.” Based in Copenhagen with offices in Norway and Sweden, STV’s credits include factual entertainment formats such as “Big Love” and “Get Lost Honey.” STV also acts as the local producer for “Long Lost Family,” “Wheel of Fortune” and “Bargain King,” in addition to long-running scripted series “The First Years” across Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International Amazon has said its investments have contributed £4.8 billion ($6.1 billion) of gross value — and 16,000 jobs — to the U.K. economy since 2010. This covers the gamut of the online retail giant’s various subsidiaries, including Kindle Direct Publishing, Amazon Publishing, Prime Video, Audible, Amazon Fashion, Amazon Music and Amazon Games, among others. Overall, the company — which revealed the figures on Wednesday — has invested more than £4.2 billion in U.K. creative industries since 2010, and has doubled its investment since 2018. As Prime Video continues to embed in the U.K. creative sector, it can also count the British Film Institute as its next stop. A number of the streamer’s U.K.-shot originals, including “Good Omens” and “Clarkson’s Farm,” will be digitally preserved in the BFI National Archive as part of a new partnership. The Prime Video deal comes almost a year after Netflix reached a similar agreement to induct some of its own originals into the celebrated archive. That deal was struck in September, Variety understands.

Kate Middleton steps out in a lovely ensemble to re-open the National Portrait Gallery in London, England on Tuesday afternoon (June 20).

Editor’s note: Part 2 of two-part series about the writers strike crossing the 50-day mark.

Editor’s note: Part 1 of two-part series about the writers strike crossing the 50-day mark.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International Prime Video has revealed its top traveling non-English local originals in the history of the service, with Spanish YA romance “My Fault” and French crime thriller “Medellín” topping the list. Both are feature films that launched in the last two weeks across Prime Video’s footprint in 240 countries around the world. Interestingly, both titles have more than 75% of their viewership coming from outside their country of origin (Spain for “My Fault,” and France for “Medellín”), though Prime Video hasn’t disclosed any further metrics related to ratings or impressions. Of the list (available in full below), 60% are movies and 40% are TV series.

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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.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International When talent agency UTA officially opens shop in London on Thursday, it will be the latest American agency heavyweight to have a brick-and-mortar presence in the U.K. The 28,000-square-foot office at 1 Newman Street straddles Fitzrovia and trendy Soho. Designed by Gensler and Modus Workspace, the headquarters will be home to UTA’s music business as well as film and TV agents, and those working across everything from production arts to podcasting. The London office, which will be the agency’s European hub, will continue to be headed up by music agents Neil Warnock MBE and Obi Asika. UTA first carved out a presence in London in 2015 when it acquired British music practice The Agency Group. In 2021, the company expanded its footprint in music with the purchase of London-based Echo Location Talent Agency.

British big-hitters Russell T. Davies, Jack Thorne and Dennis Kelly are preparing to stand with writers around the world today in support of striking scribes on a global day of solidarity and action.

Russell T. Davies addressed the U.S. writers strike for the first time at the London Screenwriters Everywhere protest this afternoon.

writers strike that is being branded “Screenwriters Everywhere,” with events planned in major cities including Paris and London. The Writers Guild of America has enlisted members from the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds, Federation of Screenwriters in Europe and UNI Global Union to demonstrate global support for the union’s strike against Hollywood’s largest producers. The unprecedented rallying behind the WGA is especially relevant during this strike given the globalization of content, and the fast-growing international outposts of many “struck” companies, such as Netflix and Prime Video.

The Flash showrunner Eric Wallace will be telling fellow American writers “we are not in this alone” when he returns home from London later.

Film and television writers from around the world will be picketing and rallying Wednesday in support of the Writers Guild strike, which is now in its 39th day.

The skies are cloudy over LA and thick over NYC today, but for over 1,000 studio and “struck companies” staffers their Black List membership just went dark.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors formally threw its support behind the Writers Guild of America today, as the strike by more than 11,500 WGA members against the AMPTP continues.

A Global Day of Solidarity will take place in London’s Leicester Square next week as writers from around the world join together to show support for striking scribes in the U.S.

Norman Lear showed solidarity to the striking writers Tuesday by posting a sympathetic message on his Instagram page.