WGA East Leaders Break Down Guild’s ‘Risky and Unusual’ Effort to Honor SAG-AFTRA Picket Lines: ‘We Have to Keep Supporting Each Other’

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer As he approaches his one-year anniversary as president of Roku Media, Charlie Collier is setting his first restructuring of the company’s leadership team, including naming Alison Levin head of global media revenue, upping Kristina Shepard to vice president of global advertising sales and partnerships, giving head of content David Eilenberg oversight of Roku’s Brand Studio segment and formally naming Joe Franzetta head of sports. Levin and Eilenberg will continue to report directly to Collier, while Shepard is under Levin and Franzetta is under Eilenberg.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Talks broke down last week between the major studios and SAG-AFTRA, with the studios saying that the gap between the two sides is “too great” to continue productive negotiations. Until they can bridge the gap, SAG-AFTRA will remain on strike and the entertainment industry will remain shut down. So how big is that gap? About $480 million a year.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Drew and Jonathan Scott are building up more (intellectual) property at HGTV. The massively popular home-reno and real estate siblings have set two new series with their longtime Warner Bros.

John Carney loves music. And he loves music in his movies.

It’s been nearly three weeks since SAG-AFTRA‘s talks with the video game industry broke off, but a power-up is on the horizon. The union said today that negotiations for a new Interactive Media Agreement will continue. But as for when — stay tuned.

SAG-AFTRA Chief Negotiator and National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland is very happy with Taylor Swift and not so happy with Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos.

Amidst calls for a day of protest by Islamic leaders, SAG-AFTRA has canceled plans to picket on Friday in Los Angeles and New York.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers from the Season 7 finale of “Jet Lag: The Game” now streaming on Nebula and debuting Oct. 18 on YouTube. Seven seasons in and there are still surprises to be found on “Jet Lag: The Game,” the Streamy-nominated online travel competition show that follows an “Amazing Race”-esque format, if those players filmed themselves on iPhones and participated in more off-the-rails challenges.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Lowell Peterson‘s tenure as executive director of the Writers Guild of America East was destined to be bookended by strikes. After 15 years at the helm, Peterson will step down from his post as of Nov. 15 when his current three-year contract expires.

There was a big Grey’s Anatomy reunion on the picket lines this past week!

SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, is attending New York Comic Con on Oct. 14 for the panel “AI in Entertainment: The Performer’s Perspective”.

EXCLUSIVE: As the striking actors guild sits down today with the studio bosses for the first new talks in over 80 days, the writers are one step closer to officially ending their nearly 150-day labor dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

SAG-AFTRA is set to sit down with the studios today to restart talks on a deal for the actors.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor AI, streaming residuals and minimum rate hikes will be among the key issues on the table when SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood’s largest employers sit down Monday for the first formal bargaining talks since the performers union went on strike July 14. SAG-AFTRA and negotiators for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are expected to meet around midday at the union’s Miracle Mile headquarters at SAG-AFTRA Plaza. The talks follow the settlement the AMPTP reached last week with the Writers Guild of America after a 148-day strike.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Lead negotiators for SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers will head back to the table on Monday, Oct. 2, after a bitter concurrent strike led by the Writes Guild of America was resolved on Tuesday. “SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP will resume negotiations for a new TV/Theatrical contract on Monday, Oct.

This is Day 76 of the SAG-AFTRA strike.

EXCLUSIVE: “This strike was way too long, because the companies took so long to get serious,” WGA West President Meredith Stiehm declared tonight of the nearly 150 days the Writers Guild was out on the picket lines before a tentative agreement was reached on September 24.

SAG-AFTRA members have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike against 10 of the major video game companies. The vote was 98.32% in favor.  A total of 34,687 members cast ballots, representing a voting 27.47% of eligible voters. The guild’s last strike against the gaming companies, in 2016-17, lasted 183 days. The guild, meanwhile, has been on strike against the film and TV industry since July 14.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Gordon Ramsay’s high-anxiety restaurant rescue series “Kitchen Nightmares” returns to Fox Monday after 10 years off the air. In that time, a lot has changed — not only in the restaurant industry, but also the broadcast TV food landscape, where Fox dominates with more culinary competitions than the other Big 4 networks. With foodie culture stronger than ever amid the popularity of “The Bear” and the surge of cooking videos splattered across TikTok, Ramsay decided now was the time to expand upon those first seven seasons of kitchen chaos.

The Directors Guild, which closed what it described as a “historic” deal with the AMPTP in June, responded Sunday to the WGA’s deal with the AMPTP.