The strike of American screenwriters in Hollywood is officially launched and it will impact the production of several series. But which ones?
NB: The list of series on pause in their writing and production due to the scriptwriters’ strike is likely to lengthen as the days go by. We will therefore update this article according to new information.
Update 04/05: The AMC Networks group has made an inventory of its productions, which should not be impacted by the strike.
It hadn’t happened for fifteen years: Hollywood screenwriters are on strike. The Writers Guild of America [le syndicat des scénaristes américains qui protège leurs droits d’auteur, ndlr] launched a strike movement after the failure of a new agreement with the AMPTP (the Alliance of Film and Television Producers).
The union, which has fought for an increase in rights and working conditions but also an increase in the salaries of screenwriters, took this decision after weeks of negotiations with the pundits of television production and streaming, such as Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney, Discovery-Warner, NBC Universal, Paramount or Sony, which have not been conclusive.
Series on hold
So, what are the consequences of the strike on current productions? For the moment, it is mainly television programs and talkshows, such as those of Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyer, Stephen Colbert, John Oliver or even Saturday Night Live, which are directly impacted, both on the networks and on cable channels such as HBO.
But there are many series that are also affected by this Writers Guild of America strike and their future is now uncertain. According Colliderwe find among the television productions whose groups of screenwriters have stopped: Abbott Elementary, broadcast on ABC in the United States and available on Disney+ at home, the Netflix animated series Big Mouth, the series Yellowjackets, broadcast on Showtime in the US and on CANAL+ at home, but also the Cobra Kai series, big box on Netflix.
House of the Dragon: will the writers’ strike block season 2?
All the announced new seasons of your favorite series could also be on stand-by, such as season 2 of The Last of Us, whose production is supposed to start in the coming months.
The protected series
For the moment, HBO can breathe with one of its biggest series of the moment, namely House of the Dragon, the spin-off of Game of Thrones, since it will not be impacted by the strike.
Indeed, the scripts for the second season of the series have already been written so the teams will be able to start filming without any problem. Same story on the side of AMC whose calendar should not be too shaken up.
According to a spokesperson for AMC Networks interviewed by the site The Wrap, series and programs broadcast on the AMC cable channel, the AMC+ platform and the IFC, WeTV and Sundance channels would be protected. Filming on three The Walking Dead spin-offs – the final season of Fear The Walking Dead, Dead City and Daryl Dixon – has wrapped.
Ditto for the Dark Winds, Orphan Black: Echoes and Parish series. Only one question points the tip of his nose for series whose filming began recently, such as The Walking Dead: Rick and Michonne and season 2 of Interview with a vampire.
But that won’t be the case with many other series. We will have to wait to have more information on the various productions impacted by the strike, until a potential agreement between the WGA and the AMPTP is finally found.