WGA Strike: Studios Move In To Suspend TV Overall Deals
08.05.2023 - 02:55
/ deadline.com
The writers strike is now impacting overall deals. Just days into the work stoppage, major TV studios have started sending out letters to writer/producers under overall agreements, telling them that their deals are being suspended.
No one would comment but I hear Warner Bros. Television, Universal Studio Group, CBS Studios and Disney Television Studios’ 20th Television and ABC Signature are among those that have sent such notifications, with Sony Pictures Television relaying the message in conversations with representatives or informal emails. I hear the letters started going out Thursday and Friday; with some talent getting calls at the end of this week, to be followed by formal letters Monday.
So far, Netflix has not suspended their overall pacts, I hear. Word is that they, along with other streamers, are considering it, and may do it next week.
The suspension of overall deals comes as the major TV studios last week also informed writer/producers that they are expected to continue rendering producing services during the WGA strike. At a meeting Saturday, showrunners shot back, saying that “there is no non-writing aspect” to what they do.
The language in the overall deal suspension letters varies slightly — from “suspended engagement” (NBCUniversal) to “suspended services” (Warner Bros., Disney, CBS Studios) as all notify showrunners that the compensation they receive under their term deals have been suspended effective May 2 when WGA went on strike following the expiration of the guild’s contract with the studios as the two sides could not reach a new agreement.
Some, like Disney and NBCUniversal, do not go into detail while others, like WB and CBS Studios, specify areas that are being impacted, including