the great victory of Hollywood screenwriters leaves a devastated battlefield

2023-09-29 18:30:12
Miriam “Midge” Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) in the series “The Fabulous Mrs. Maisel”, created by Amy Sherman-Palladino. AMAZON PRIME VIDEO

CHRONIC

Rather than returning to school at the same time as the schoolchildren, this column returns to work at the same time as the Hollywood screenwriters, who returned to the writing rooms on September 28, after one hundred and forty-eight days of strike. Building on the achievements obtained by the screenwriters, the actors, who stopped work on July 14, should also reach an agreement with the studios and platforms in the coming days.

For those who observed the strike from the other side of the Atlantic and from the screen, welcoming that Ted Lasso, Succession or The Fabulous Mrs. Maisel have completed their final season on time, the consequences of this long interruption in production are still being felt. The carefully planned schedules of the Hollywood majors are being disrupted. Of Stranger Things has Severance, of Yellowstone has Yellowjacketspremiere dates for upcoming seasons are shrouded in an impenetrable haze.

During the two months of the writers’ strike which preceded the actors’ walkout, many filmings were interrupted. The scripts were certainly completed, but many actors refused to cross the Writers Guild of America (WGA) picket lines even before their own union, the Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, called them in turn to stop work. Even without a picket, when the showrunner was the main writer the filming was decapitated. Tony Gilroy, the creator ofAndorthus tried for a moment to continue filming his series inspired by the universe of Star Warsclaiming that he did not intervene on the content, before finally being forced to interrupt him.

Premature end

This fall, there will not be enough technicians, actors and directors in the United States for all productions to resume simultaneously. It will be necessary to stagger, delay and, undoubtedly, cancel. Already this summer, a handful of series have come to a premature end under the pretext of a strike. On Amazon Prime, the ax fell on An extraordinary team et Peripheral devices. Flynne’s worlds. A period series, another science fiction, big budget projects. The case of Peripheral devices is all the more spectacular as the series, inspired by a novel by William Gibson, was the work of Lisa Joy, the creator of Westworld (canceled in 2022 by Warner Bros-Discovery), who was once a member of the club of creators to whom the platforms made golden bridges, with Shonda Rhimes, Ryan Murphy or Jim Abrahams.

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