2023 Writers + Actors Strike Thread

[Vee]

Classic Fallon.

 

Update: He buckled. 

 

[Toups]

Hollywood Reporter: ‘Tonight Show,’ ‘Late Night’ Staffs Will Be Paid During Strike

NBC late night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers will help cover their staff’s pay during the Writers Guild of America strike.  Staffers for Fallon’s Tonight Show and Meyers’ Late Night learned in meetings Wednesday morning that NBC will cover two weeks of pay for workers on the two shows.

Fallon and Meyers will personally pay their teams for a third week; health insurance for employees of both programs is guaranteed through September, per a source close to the two shows. NBC didn’t respond to requests for comment.

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Has anyone from daytime said/posted anything?

[dragonflies]

 

[Vee]

 

[Vee]

A sobering VF piece about the state of the industry (run through archive.is to bypass paywall).

[titan1978]

Nothing but solidarity from me for these folks striking.  The transparency issue alone  needs a resolution, let alone all the rest of their very reasonable requests.  I hope the studios start to get a little nervous by all the solidarity, especially with other union contracts up soon as well, and stop the rhetoric and stupid statements.

[DRW50]

Thanks. The part about creatives flocking back to networks seems to coincide with a few shows (mainly sitcoms) having a network revival. Yet I wonder if any of the bigwigs will see this as a possible future or will just, as this article details, keep chasing after the likes of Yellowstone, which already seems to be flailing around and ridden with conflict, full of characters who don't connect (which is why they keep stunt casting).

There's been a lot of framing of the strike already as in the shows are so bad, clearly the writers aren't good, bring on AI, or oh these are all liberal propaganda - both the left and the right have been pushing this. I guess it's just the start. I imagine many on top in the industry have been waiting for the moment to permanently crush these unions and send writers to the bare minimum. That's why I won't be surprised if this stretches on for most of the year. 

I hope sanity wins out, because otherwise, especially with AI, we're turning a corner we'll never come back from.

I agree in theory with what that person said about how streaming getting slashed just means less focus on the bad programs, but with the likes of Ryan Murphy and his sickness still ruling the roost, it's hard to imagine being a reality.

[John]

The fact that some the WGA's issues the AMPTP just rejected flat out and others offered no compromise makes no sense. Hopefully enough shows stall prod and AMPTP decides to bring solid offers to the table.

[Vee]

I think it's mostly out of desperation for writers, etc. to find dependable and steady income on longer-running seasonal shows tbh.

[DRW50]

Yes, they mention that in the article...I was thinking more along the lines that their return may be why networks have started to have a few more hits again.

SAG and DGA contracts are up at the end of June, I think, so I wonder if they will join in or not.

[AbcNbc247]

Has there been any word yet on who's taking over the writing for the soaps? Or if Days is even going to do that since they're so far ahead?

[John]

YR-Josh Griffith

GH-Gary Tomlin who directs is also a fi-core writer

Days has Fran Meyers & Jeanne Marie Ford

Not sure about B&B

Also it depends how far ahead each soap is in writing. If they have months of scripts to film, it may not be that bad

Well If AMPTP doesnt solve the WGA Contract, It will be hard for them to get new ones for DGA & SAG-AFTRA

[dragonflies]

Someone said Kay Alden wrote B&B the last strike, but she's nearly 80 and probably won't want to do it

 

I think Brad writes months ahead, so yeah BOLD is probably good through the summer at least 

[Toups]

I think you're just making assumptions that they were chosen, right?  Unless, you've seen the information from somewhere? 

[DRW50]

I am morbidly curious as to how many of the soaps will even survive a prolonged strike. Cheap as they are now, there's still always cheaper programming, especially if affiliates just want to turn the hours over to more propaganda.

Edited May 7, 2023 by DRW50