WGA Creates Scab Reporting Form to Track Members Who Cross Picket Lines

As one of Reality TV’s royal family crossed the line, striking film and television writers joined forces on Wednesday in New York City with another group of culture workers involved in a pay dispute: musicians. 

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor In its heyday, “ER” would keep about 75 background actors on hand per episode to be called up as needed to fill out scenes in hospital corridors and whatnot. On Tuesday, about 75 “ER” alumni filled the sidewalks outside the show’s old studio on Olive Avenue in Burbank. Writers, actors and crew members who worked on the beloved NBC drama series rallied behind the Writers Guild of America on Day 29 of the strike called against Hollywood’s major employers. Many of those who gathered for the “ER” reunion-themed picket on the day after the Memorial Day holiday weekend were emotional about what “ER” represented in their professional careers. It’s an apt symbol for the WGA strike because “ER” is the kind of long-running scripted series that television networks don’t seem to make anymore.

Thania Garcia Composer Nicholas Britell, who has scored films for Barry Jenkins (“Moonlight,” “If Beale Street Could Talk”) and Adam McKay (“The Big Short,” “Vice,” “Don’t Look Up”), as well as HBO’s “Succession,” has inked a new label services deal with Secretly Distribution. The Emmy-winning composer, pianist and producer collaborated with Secretly to release “Succession: Season 4 (HBO Original Series Soundtrack)” on global streaming services — just hours after the highly-anticipated series finale aired — via the composer’s newly launched Lake George Music Group imprint. “It has long been a dream of mine to release music through my own label, and I’m tremendously excited to have the final season of ‘Succession’ as our label’s first release,” said Britell in a statement. “Lake George Music Group is proud to partner with the team at Secretly.”

WGAE Career Longevity Salon, a group of writers over the age of 50 within the WGAE have shown a presence as well, especially through co-leader Courtney Simon, who spoke on camera in a video posted to Twitter.“We’re here today picketing ‘The View,’ an ABC show that is still continuing to be written even though we are on strike,” Simon said in video you can watch below. “We are gonna make noise along with everyone else.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Colin Farrell, Mariska Hargitay, Danny Strong, Paula Pell, Rachel Dratch, Michael Kelly and Craig Zobel were among the stars who came out to the writers strike picket line outside Paramount Global’s New York City office in Times Square Thursday. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D.-N.Y., and local politicians spoke at the event in support of the Writers Guild of America’s (WGA) cause against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) that has led to a four-week-and-counting work stoppage due to the organizations’ inability to ink a new contract May 1. “This is about what’s right. We’ve seen income inequality grow exponentially over the last decade; and in your business, it has never been more present,” Gillibrand said to the crowd, filled with not only WGA members, but also those from SAG-AFTRA, IATSE and Teamsters, among other unions. “We see writers working hard every day to produce content and we have an unfair playing field. Not only does AI want to displace our writers, they simply can’t. AI generates content based on what’s been written before the work you did last year, and the year before. It’s not original. It’s not imaginative. It doesn’t come from the human heart. It’s not about a human experience. It’s not about what people actually want to learn about or know about or see or experience. That is what writers bring to the equation every single time. So this strike is so important for the future of this country. It’s about the value of workers; workers and what they create is fundamentally valuable.”

Striking writers in New York made a bid on Monday to disrupt work on American Horror Story by picketing outside a production facility in Queens where the popular FX series known for its macabre plot lines and star-studded casts is filming season 12.

There was come old-school writer cred on the picket line outside the Fox lot in Century City today. David E. Kelley, he of the 11 Emmys and 30 nominations, is a veteran of multiple WGA strikes going back to 1988. Introducing himself as “David E. Kelley, old writer,” the Love & Death creator — whose many credits also include Big Little Lies, Big Sky, The Lincoln Lawyer, The Undoing, The Practice, Ally McBeal, and Picket Fences — told Deadline why he’s striking this time.

Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story – check it out below.Created by Shonda Rhimes (Grey’s Anatomy), the Netflix prequel series follows young Queen Charlotte’s (India Amarteifio and Golda Rosheuvel) rise to prominence in the late 18th century.A synopsis reads: “Young Queen Charlotte’s marriage to King George of England sparks an epic love story and transforms high society in this Bridgerton universe prequel.”Alongside Amarteifio and Rosheuvel, the show’s cast includes Arsema Thomas, Adjoa Andoh, Ruth Gemmell, Corey Mylchreest, Michelle Fairley and Sam Clemmett.After scoring the first two seasons of Bridgerton, Kris Bowers returns to provide the soundtrack for Queen Charlotte. Along with working with Jay-Z, Kanye West and Jose James, his other past credits include When They See Us, Dear White People and 2018 Oscar winner Green Book.You can stream the official score below.Like Bridgerton, Queen Charlotte features orchestral covers of pop songs throughout.

Picketers gathered outside Warner Bros. in Burbank today found themselves buoyed by a unique presence: Flavor Flav. The hip-hop icon-turned-reality star showed up to cheers from the assembled WGA supporters.

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.

The NBCUniversal Upfront presentation was the center of Day 14 of the writers strike on the east coast.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer The last-ever episode of “9-1-1” on Fox airs Monday, and it’s a bittersweet occasion for Oliver Stark, who has starred as Evan “Buck” Buckley on the Ryan Murphy-produced first-responder drama since its debut six seasons ago. While the show is ending its run on one network, it will be alive and well next season on ABC — the broadcaster that is owned by Disney, the parent company of “9-1-1” studio 20th Television, which not too long ago was owned by Fox — so Stark isn’t saying goodbye to his character, so much as a family he and his co-stars have established behind-the-scenes. Here, Stark discusses with Variety his reaction to the move to ABC for Season 7, and if he thinks spinoff “9-1-1: Lone Star” (which also hails from 20th Television) remaining at Fox for its fifth season means the chance at another crossover episode between the two series is slim.

The Writers Guild of America has established a site on its Strike Hub where members can and must report strike breakers. Those who fail to report suspected “scabs” can face discipline themselves. After the last writers’ strike – a 100-day walkout in 2007-08 – a dozen members were brought up on trial for strike breaking, three of whom were found guilty. The current strike is now in its eleventh day.

It’s a hosting switcheroo on “Jeopardy!”

After yesterday’s Imagine Dragons party outside Netflix, it was Paramount’s turn to pop.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Let the gig economy debate begin. One of the most contentious issues in the writers strike that erupted May 2 is the assertion by the Writers Guild of America that screenwriting is in danger of becoming part of the “gig economy.” The WGA’s proposed solutions — mandatory staffing minimums and guaranteed weeks of employment — are equally dividing labor and management. Now that contract talks between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have cratered, complex issues are being chewed over by writers who are fired up, walking in circles (literally) and wound up about the long-term employment picture for Hollywood scribes.

The Writers Guild and several of its prominent members, recognizing that other workers in the entertainment industry are being impacted by the ongoing writers strike, have pledged more than $1.7 million to provide them with financial assistances during the walkout, which is now in its ninth day.

Kevin Costner reportedly will not commit to returning to film the final season of Yellowstone until he approves how his role is written off the show.

Some of Hollywood’s highest paid writers have been noticeably absent from the picket line over the last eight days — that is, until Tuesday.