WGA Talks With Studios Could Extend Into Next Week

Less than a week before the Writers Guild of America’s latest contract expires, the guild today sent out strike rule to its members in highly anticipated labor action hitting Hollywood on the morning of May 2.

Funny Girl star Lea Michele and Tony-winning MJ actor Myles Frost will announce the 76th Annual Tony Award nominations on Tuesday, May 2.

Teachers' leaders today issued a last-ditch plea for crunch talks with ministers to avert this week’s strike.

SAG-AFTRA’s National Board voted unanimously today to approve a resolution “strongly in support” of the WGA in its ongoing negotiations for a new film and TV contract. “It is long past time for the studios, streamers, and other employers in the entertainment industry to remove roadblocks to fair and equitable wages and working conditions,” the resolution states, “and to agree to terms that reflect the unique worth and contribution of creative talent and workers, without whom the industry would not exist.”

As the Writers Guild of America’s negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers is about to enter the final week before their contract expires, both sides are hopeful it won’t take a strike to get a deal done. But the WGA’s long battle with the talent agencies showed it can reach agreements with even the most intractable of mega-companies.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor The TV Academy has a problem with Jon Stewart’s Emmys submission and has forced a change. Apple TV+ and the creative teams behind “The Problem With Jon Stewart” had plans to compete in the outstanding hosted nonfiction series or special category, where its first season received an Emmy nomination last year. However, the Television Academy has denied its submission and moved the show to the outstanding talk series category, where it will face off against late-night hosts such as Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers. The other eligible nominees for last year’s outstanding hosted nonfiction series or special — Netflix’s “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman,” Showtime’s “Vice” and winner “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy” — will remain in the category for consideration.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Talks between the Writers Guild of America and the AMPTP are expected to resume in earnest this week, with just two weeks left before the May 1 deadline to get a deal. The WGA leadership spent the last week meeting with members to encourage them to vote yes on a strike authorization. The deadline for members to vote is noon on Monday, and the membership is expected to deliver a resounding vote of support, likely in the high 90% range. In communications to members, guild captains urged members to deliver a “very high yes vote turnout” to maximize negotiators’ leverage. They also argued that the studios have been unwilling to budge on the guild’s main issues.

Prince Harry held peace talks with his father before confirming his attendance at next month’s Coronation of King Charles and the Queen Consort, Camilla, according to reports. Following the release of the explosive Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan and the Duke of Sussex’s memoir Spare, it was unclear whether the youngest son of King Charles would be flying back to the UK with Meghan Markle for the Coronation.

The Governor is giving The Boss his own day of honors.

In a virtual appearance today at Deadline’s Contenders TV, Better Call Saul‘s Bob Odenkirk reflected on the opportunity he had to work with screen legend Carol Burnett over the course of the Breaking Bad prequel’s final season.

Podcaster and YouTube sensation Jaackmaate is taking his hit Happy Hour podcast on the road across the UK for the Round Sheep Tour – joined by regular co-presenters Stevie White and Robbie Knox.

Manchester United have held positive initial talks with Axel Disasi over a proposed summer move, according to reports, as Erik ten Hag continues to map out future transfer plans.

Amanda Bynes is committed to getting healthy.

Three weeks after her hospitalization, child star Amanda Bynes is still under a psychiatric hold.

Ryan Martinez, formerly a staff writer on Netflix’s Manifest and a graduate of the Warner Bros Television Writers’ Workshop, is a Harvard grad, a lieutenant in the U.S. naval reserves, and a combat vet who served in the war in Afghanistan. But now he says he’s returning to active duty in the Navy this summer “just to pay the bills,” which is why he’s voting “Yes” to authorize a WGA strike.

Basic and New State Pension payments will increase next week by 10.1 per cent for some 12.6 million older people across the country, including around one million living in Scotland.

EXCLUSIVE: It’s been nearly three decades since Michael Mann’s crime classic hit theaters and it now feels like Mann and Warner Bros. are finally feeling more heat around the corner for a sequel to Heat. While rumors have been swirling for weeks, Deadline is hearing Warner Bros. is now in negotiations to come on to develop Heat 2, the sequel to the 1995 classic that Mann recently turned into a novel that became a New York Time #1 best-seller when it was published last August. On top of Warner Bros. in talks to return, insiders add that Adam Driver, who recently starred in Mann’s Ferrari pic, is in discussions with Mann to play young Neil McCauley in the movie.

The writers guild has officially called for its strike authorization vote.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Al Franken spent nine years as a U.S. Senator from Minnesota, and it all finally paid off in recent weeks when he logged a stint as a guest host on “The Daily Show.” Franken turned in some robust impressions of Charles Schumer, Mitch McConnell and Susan Collins during one sketch on the Comedy Central program that suggested he was taking some pretty interesting notes when he served in that chamber. “I didn’t give them a heads up,” Franken says in a recent interview, after his run. “I served wth those people. Some I could do. I’m not one othose impressionists who can do everyone. I do who I can do.” While Franken is one of a number of noted hosts who have helped the show keep spinning after the depature last year of Trevor Noah, you might say he has been training for such an appearance for much of his professional life. Franken made some famous appearances on the long-running “Weekend Update” segment of “Saturday Night Live,” and, after a few stints on the show as a writer and performer, tried his hand at other exploits. He led comedic coverage of the the run-up to the 1992 presidential election for Comedy Central, presaging efforts to do so by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. He later became a progressive radio host for Air America. In recent months, he has been doing a comedy tour around the nation.

More than 81,000 people in receipt of Carer’s Allowance received an extra payment for £245.70 in December 2022 as part of a unique benefit only available in Scotland. Carer’s Allowance Supplement is a devolved payment delivered twice each year to eligible claimants.