WGA’s Chief Negotiator Ellen Stutzman Joins Picket Line At Netflix, Talks AMPTP Inaction, AI, DGA & Making A Good Deal

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent French actor Marine Delterme has signed with WME and has joined the cast of Park Chan-Wook’s HBO spy series “The Sympathizer” alongside Robert Downey Jr. Delterme, who currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband Florian Zeller, the Oscar-winning director of “The Father,” is best known in France for her role in the long-running procedural series “Alice Nevers.” Delterme has also acted in Roland Joffe’s “Vatel,” Mike Figgis’ “Women and Men 2,” and Christian Duguay’s “Coco Chanel.” She also collaborated with directors such as Jean Luc Godard, Manuel Poirier, Benoît Delepine, Philippe Leguay, Raoul Ruiz,  Philippe Harrel, Cyril Collard, Cedrick Klapish, Caroline Champetier, Gerard Oury and Claude Berri.

With just the CW left tomorrow, the near-talent-free upfronts are winding down, and shows are still being shuttered in New York City, while on the picket lines in LA there was Mariachism, tacos, tunes and some Mandalorians to galvanize the troops.

It was a tale of two coasts today, as WGA picketers and their allies targeted Disney’s upfront presentation in New York and also the company’s Burbank lot in Los Angeles. And the two scenes were very different.

Rita Ferro, Disney’s ad sales and partnerships chief, urged media buyers at the company’s New York upfront Tuesday to “lean into all aspects of diversity” with their marketing commitments.

exited the company after more than a decade on Friday to serve as the new chief executive officer of Twitter. “So what was more surprising today, being welcomed by a foul mouthed teddy bear or seeing me up here on stage?,” Lazarus told an audience of advertisers during the company’s Upfront presentation on Monday, referencing a raunchy musical opening from Seth MacFarlane’s Ted.

Rep. Katie Porter joined writers on the picket line at the Culver Studios in Los Angeles on Friday in solidarity with the ongoing WGA strike.

Mandy Patinkin is feeling the rage.

On the West Coast, the chief negotiator for the striking Writers Guild of America, Ellen Stutzman, is more than a week into an existential battle between the 20,000 union members she represents and the movie and television studios that are, for now, not at the bargaining table. 

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Jenny Tartikoff, the executive VP of global communications at Paramount Pictures, has departed the studio. “I wanted to let you know that Jenny Tartikoff informed me that she will be departing the company, effective today,” Paramount’s president & CEO Brian Robbins said in a statement. “She has been a trusted colleague to us, and I am grateful for her contributions to the studio and our team. Please join me in wishing her the very best.” Tartikoff, a veteran of Universal and Spotify, was hired at Paramount in November of 2021. She reported to Robbins and was responsible for the studio’s corporate communication strategies, including media relations, executive and internal communications and corporate social responsibility.

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

The National Association of Theatre Owners has named Amanda Matin as their first chief of staff. Martin will report directly to president and CEO Michael O’Leary while working across all NATO organizations, including the Cinema Foundation and CinemaCon, in this newly created position.

Actors’ Equity Association, the union representing theater actors and stage managers, is inviting its members and allies to join the WGA picket line outside HBO and Amazon offices tomorrow.

On the seventh day of the Writers Guild of America’s strike against Hollywood studios, guild leaders from both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA, including actors union president Fran Drescher, hit the picket lines at Paramount Pictures in Los Angeles.

Latino WGA members and their allies descended upon Universal Studios en masse Monday beginning at 5 a.m. to picket on the sixth day of the Hollywood writers strike.

“You make billions/pay us some!” striking Writers Guild of America members chanted on the street of New York today near where filming was going on for Showtime’s Billions.

This is a dark moment for frazzled members of the writing fraternity.

Day 3 of the Writers Guild of America strike against Hollywood studios dealt with a few L.A. rain showers but continued strong turnout at 10 Los Angeles locations as well as at Silvercup Studios and Seret Studios in New York City.

The Writers Guild of America began its second day of strike action Wednesday, picketing several sites throughout Los Angeles beginning at 9 a.m. as well as at Netflix headquarters in New York City. In L.A., protests were beginning to wrap as scheduled by around 1 p.m.; they will resume Thursday morning.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer NBCUniversal executives did not comment on the writers strike at its New York-based NewFront presentation to advertisers Tuesday, even as hundreds of Writers Guild of America members and their supporters rallied in a picket line outside the 5th Avenue event. The scripts for the occasion, led by Peacock president Kelly Campbell, were prepped ahead of Monday’s late-night call for a strike once contract negotiations broke down between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). They were not modified Tuesday to include remarks about the strike, despite the fact TV and film writers had gathered in mass outside at the WGA East’s only planned protest for Day 1 of the work stoppage.

Hours into WGA’s first strike in more than 15 years, writers took to the streets in New York to picket the Peacock newfront presentation.