WGA Strike: ‘Power Book II: Ghost’ & ‘Pretty Little Liars’ Temporarily Shuttered By East Coast Scribes

Starz has set a late summer premiere date for Season 2 of Power Book IV: Force. The third spinoff in the Power franchise starring Joseph Sikora as Tommy Egan will premiere its second season Friday, September 1 at midnight ET on the Starz app, Starz streaming and on-demand platforms and internationally on the Lionsgate+ premium streaming platform across Brazil, Spanish-speaking Latin America, the UK and Ireland. On linear, it will debut on Starz at 8 PM ET/PT in the U.S. and Canada.

Sean Penn strongly backed the current Hollywood screenwriters strike while speaking at the Cannes Film Festival on Friday, saying the dispute over artificial intelligence is “a human obscenity.”

Writers Guild of America East announced on Thursday that its members at Hearst Magazines have voted to ratify its first labor contract, ending a two-year struggle to unionize staffers at the media conglomerate in the face of management resistance that was met with writer walkouts and formal charges of unfair labor practice. “This contract will establish and codify many important workplace benefits and protections, including industry-standard wage floors, minimum guaranteed annual wage increases, just cause, gender-neutral bathrooms, a path to reporting discrimination, and a diversity committee to help hold the company accountable to more equitable hiring practices,” said the Hearst Magazines Union Bargaining Committee in a statement.

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.

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor Since the writers strike started on May 2, celebrities have turned out to support WGA members picketing for a better guild contract. Actors like Fred Armisen are also writers who are members of the WGA, while some SAG-AFTRA members are walking the line to support their colleagues. Since most TV shows and movies have suspended production until the strike is resolved, stars, writers and filmmakers like Christopher Nolan are taking to the streets to show their support for members of the Writers Guild of America.

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.

Even without a once-in-a-generation strike or a Twitter bombshell, next week would already pose a challenge to media companies making their annual upfront pitches to ad buyers in New York.

Robert De Niro surprised fans when he revealed that he had become a father again at the age of 79. The actor shared the news Monday during an interview with ET Canada while discussing his new movie "About My Father" and parenthood. When asked about his six children, the Academy Award winner clarified, "seven, actually.

EXCLUSIVE: The Writers Guild of America East took down the FBI today.

Mandy Patinkin is feeling the rage.

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.

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. 

Ted Sarandos, who was set to receive the PEN America Visionary Award at the literary group’s gala next week in NYC, won’t be attending amid an ongoing strike and vigorous picketing on both coasts by the WGA.

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

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.

Fran Drescher. While on Sirius XM’s “The Julie Mason Show,” the actor teased that the possible November special could “maybe” become a backdoor pilot. She also highlighted the importance of SAG sticking with the Writers Guild of America during the WGA strike.

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

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.

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.