Writers Strike
Christine Vachon: “The Strikes Had a Much More Profound” Impact on Indie Film Than COVID
“In a funny way, the strikes had a much more profound effect on changing the business than COVID did.” That was the assessment shared by legendary independent film producer Christine Vachon during a session at the Industry Days program of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival on Tuesday. Her comments came during a fireside chat […]
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“I’m Scared”: Why It’s a Brutal Time to Be a TV Writer
Emily Cheever’s career was just getting started. The 36-year-old began her TV writing career in 2020 as a writers’ production assistant and script coordinator for Legends of Tomorrow before getting hired as a staff writer for ABC’s The Company You Keep. After the drama that marked Milo Ventimiglia’s follow-up to This Is Us was canceled following a single season shortly after the […]
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Is Hollywood Sleepwalking Toward Strike Three?
As the creator and administrator of a popular crewmember-focused social media hub, Diego Mariscal had a bird’s-eye view into the turbulent experience of his peers during Hollywood’s 2023 strikes. Typically, his account, Crew Stories, supplies its more than 128,000 followers across Instagram and Facebook with wry insider jokes about the below-the-line experience and lighthearted, behind-the-scenes […]
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Quinta Brunson Explains ‘Abbott Elementary’ Time Jump in Season 3
[The following story contains spoilers from Abbott Elementary‘s season three premiere.] Abbott Elementary is back and, for season three, the hit ABC series did something different. The Quinta Brunson comedy picked up five months into the school year, only flashing back to the beginning of the year at the show’s central school, in order to […]
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‘Abbott Elementary’ Bosses on Pulling Off That Season 3 Premiere Cameo and Vetting Guest Star Requests: “Sometimes It’s Very Hard to Resist”
[This story contains spoilers from the third season premiere of Abbott Elementary.] Major change has come to Abbott Elementary as the show’s lead character, Janine Teagues, played by series creator and Emmy Award-winning actress Quinta Brunson, finds herself outside of the classroom and inside the oft-alluded-to Philadelphia school district at the start of the ABC […]
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How the Hollywood Strikes Hit U.K. Film, TV Production Spend in 2023
The film and TV production boom in the U.K. came to a grinding halt in 2023 amid the Hollywood writers and actors strikes. According to the British Film Institute, the total spend on film and high-end TV production last year reached £4.23 billion ($5.37 billion) from 394 productions, down 35 percent from £6.27 billion ($7.72 […]
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Gov. Gavin Newsom Addresses Why He Didn’t Get “More Involved” Publicly With Hollywood Strikes on ‘Real Time’
For the first Real Time episode of 2024, Bill Maher sat down with California Gov. Gavin Newsom to talk about the Hollywood strikes last year. During their conversation, the governor defended his behind-the-scenes role during most of the actors and writers strikes that brought the film and TV industry to a halt for several months. […]
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‘Last Week Tonight’ Scribes Thank Writers Guild During Emmys
The writers of Last Week Tonight With John Oliver won the award for best writing for a variety series at the 2023 Emmys — its eighth straight win in the category — and gave the first mention of last year’s writers strike at the awards. “I want to thank everyone at the show, especially John [Oliver], Tim […]
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Employment in Hollywood Rebounds Post-Strikes, But Still Below 2022 Peak
The end of the Hollywood strikes caused employment in the sector to surge in November, but while the business is back, new data shows that there are still more than 25,000 fewer people employed than there were a year ago, suggesting that a return to normal could take longer than people think. The U.S. Bureau […]
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After ‘Suits’ Soared on Netflix, Expect “a Bunch of Lawyer Shows” From Rivals, Ted Sarandos Says
Ted Sarandos has welcomed a resolution to the actors strike to allow his streamer, and Hollywood, to get back to work. “We’re mostly just thrilled the strike is behind us, and getting back to what we do best and what our writers and actors do best and all of our below-the-line folks, which is make […]
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Box Office Forecast Takes Hit Amid Release Date Delays During Strikes
With the Hollywood writers and actors strikes having been resolved and studios having delayed some key releases, how will the box office be affected? Exhibition stocks analyst Eric Wold of B. Riley took a stab at answering the question, adjusting his forecasts in a Tuesday report. He reduced his 2024 industry box office projection “given […]
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Who Won the Strikes? Who Lost? A Merciless Assessment
As the town flocked to picket lines during a historic 148-day writers strike and 118-day actors strike, moguls took a hit (looking at you, Bob Iger), stars made blunders (why, Drew Barrymore?) and others saw their stock rise (Lindsay Dougherty holds court next with the studios) … Winners Fran Drescher & Duncan Crabtree-IrelandTo be sure, […]
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