Tensions Rise in Hollywood as Potential Writers’ Strike Hangs Over Productions on Final Day of Contract Talks
variety.comJennifer Maas TV Business Writer With half a day to go until the clock strikes midnight on WGA talks, Hollywood is trying to operate as if it were any other day in town, despite the fact TV and film writers could be on strike Tuesday if the negotiations don’t go their way.
While high and low-budget shows alike shoot in Los Angeles, New York City, Georgia and across the pond Monday, everyone from writers on sets to executives in office buildings knows Tuesday might bring a situation they haven’t dealt with since 2007. “As expected, it is eerily quiet — it is overcast in LA and that matches the mood of the town,” one comms exec said. “Lots of discussion about what news to announce and how news will play with both sides of the table, so to speak.
Definitely feels like the calm before the storm.” “It really is the perfect storm,” one agency insider said. “The writers’ concerns are completely and objectively valid, which has the studios and producers a bit more rattled than they’d like to admit.
Someone has to budge, but Wall Street is unrelenting in its expectations for studios. Our focus has shifted from ‘What if there is a strike?’ to ‘What’s the 30-day plan?
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