If the scripts are already closed, the shots should be able to continue? Yes, but it’s more complicated than that.
“No contract, no content.” “Don’t let ChatGPT write Yellowstone.” “Give us fairer contracts or we’ll spoil the end of Succession”… Since the beginning of May, writers’ strike in full swing in Hollywood. Initiated by the Writers Guild of America, it affects both film and series productions. By organizing demonstrations, imposing filming stoppages and participating in negotiations with the studios, this union of American screenwriters hopes to obtain a global salary increase for all those who write for the small and the big screen. As well as more equality, for example by establishing a salary base.
Because in recent years, remuneration has generally fallen in this area while at the same time, streaming platforms have exploded. There are many more series than ten years ago, yet the people who write them are generally paid 4% less than in 2013… And it’s even worse if they are women writing them , or people from minorities, as revealed the authors ofAbbott Elementary. Among the demands put forward, the WGA also intends to limit, or even prohibit, the use artificial intelligence to write scripts, as the phenomenon is currently gaining momentum across the Atlantic.
What does the writers’ strike in Hollywood mean for your series?
This week we learned that la Screen Actors Guild, the equivalent of the American screenwriters union, but for actors, was ready to join the movement, which suggests that the demands are likely to intensify further. And last. Remember that in 2007, a similar strike had an impact on many productions, in particular Wolverine in the cinema and Breaking Bad serial. And that it had lasted 10 months!
Under these conditions, many shoots were stopped. Among the most popular, the series Stranger Things from Netflix will not resume until an agreement is reached, the Duffer brothers and their authors having been the first to show their support for the movement. “Writing doesn’t stop when filming begins”they explained, and most of the filming stopped is indeed for this reason: in the American industry, if retouching of the story is made during filming or actors improvise lines, it can be considered screenwriting.
To better understand the phenomenon, we return below to the case of three major shoots that were impacted by this writers’ strike.
The Penguin and the prohibition to make alterations
This is one of the most recent filming stops: we learned this week that Born Againseries Daredevil from Disney + which will mark the return of Charlie Cox in the main role, has been “interrupted for an indefinite period”. The writers had officially wrapped the script before filming began, but the studio, one of Hollywood’s most influential, was openly criticized for continuing to film during the strike. Faced with the modifications to be made live, prohibited since the launch of the movement on May 2, the team preferred to stop. A way of asserting that the production does not seek to “break the strike” by continuing the production of a long-awaited series.
same for me The Penguinthe show derived from The Batman by Matt Reeves, who was being filmed with Colin Farrell in New York, and had been for three months already! This one is produced by Warner Bros to be broadcast on Max, which illustrates the fact that the whole industry is affected by this same phenomenon. Disney is not the only target of the demonstrators, even if the studio with the big ears is most often targeted by the claims, so much it has become important in the current industry, following the takeover of Fox or the success of the Marvel movies and series or Star Wars.
Mission : Impossible 8 and the writers-directors
The case of the blockbuster with Tom Cruise illustrates another aspect highlighted by this strike: many film or series directors are also (co)authors. This is the case of Christopher McQuarrie, who designed episodes 5 to 8 of the saga Mission : Impossible for Paramount, and who was forced to stop again during the design of Dead Reckoning, its end to the two-part franchise. He still has 60% of the last film to shoot, which suggests that his summer 2024 deadline will be difficult to meet and that his blockbuster may be postponed.
Same case on the side ofAndorthe series derived from Star Wars – Rogue Onewhich is both spearheaded as showrunner and co-imagined by Tony Gilroy as head of the writing team, for Disney+. “I have interrupted all writing work on Andor before midnight on May 1, the latter swore a month ago about his second season. After being briefed, I told Chris Keyser of the WGA (the syndicate) that I would also cease all my duties as showrunner withinAndor“.
It should be noted that a person who does not have the status of screenwriter can completely propose modifications on an American shoot, even in times of strike… at his own risk! This is what Daniel Craig had said following the bad experience of Quantum of Solacehis second appearance as James Bond (2008): “On this film, we were b ***. We barely had the outline of a script when the strike was voted. We couldn’t do anything. We no longer had the right to hire an author for finish it. I said to myself: ‘Never again.’ But who knows what can happen? I tried to rewrite scenes… Except I’m not a screenwriter.”
Deadpool 3 and filming that continues… under certain conditions
Surprise, while several superhero films were postponed, Blade in the lead, Disney launched the production of Deadpool 3 in May. On one condition, we learned in the process: that Ryan Reynolds n’improvise pas on the tray. This may be difficult for the actor who had invented a good part of the valves of the first two episodes live!
The explanation is that as for the second opus, Ryan Reynolds is credited with the screenplay of this sequel, still officially written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. He is thus considered a member of the WGA. Disney will no doubt be able to organize “reshoots” later in the year once the strike is over and an agreement has been reached? So jokes could be updated…
All of this is quite ironic when you remember that the first spin-off of Wolverine, which marks the first appearance of Reynolds in Deadpool, had suffered the brunt of the strike of the time. And that it was fully felt in its unfinished scenario, even if it is not the only problem of the film. This story had inspired Reynolds a great joke in the end credits Deadpool 2.
With the same idea, Beetlejuice 2 is currently filming in England, under the direction of Tim Burton, for Warner Bros. It’s the duo of the series Wednesday from Netflix, Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, who was chosen to write this sequel, and its actors (Jenna Ortega, Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Monica Bellucci…), will have to stick to it if they want to finish it for that the protest continues.
On the series side, in order to complete the shots for season 2 of the Lord of the Rings, which still had 19 days planned when the strike broke out, the Amazon Prime Video team also undertook to follow the sequence of episodes to the letter, which had been written very precisely before the strike. She also past of its showrunners since that date !
David Simon fired by HBO after supporting writers’ strike
