As film and television writers head into their second week on strike, they are turning up the heat on Hollywood executives by shutting down production on shows that are actively filming, planning their picket lines right outside studios and production locations.
Early Monday morning, picketing writers halted filming on the New York set of Season 2 of the acclaimed Apple TV+ series “Severance.” Crew members on the show refused to cross the picket line in solidarity with the writers.
Across town, another group of picketing writers similarly shut down production outside the set of the Marvel series “Daredevil.”
On Friday night, writers picketed the set of the CBS drama series “Evil.” A handful of writers continued to picket until the early hours of Saturday morning, successfully shutting down production simply by “walking in a small circle,” as writer Starlee Kine explained on Twitter.
In Los Angeles on Friday, picketing writers halted production on the set of the Apple TV+ sitcom “Loot,” starring Maya Rudolph, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Last Tuesday, the 11,500 film and TV members of the Writers Guild of America, West and East went on strike after studio executives failed to agree to their proposals for more equitable pay in the streaming era, protections around the growing use of artificial intelligence, and other key issues. (HuffPost’s unionized staff are also members of the WGAE.)
Earlier in the week, picketing writers also halted production on the New York sets of FX’s “American Horror Story” and Showtime’s “Billions.”
In addition to shows actively filming, the writers’ strike has altered shows in all stages of production. Late night shows like “Saturday Night Live” are on hiatus until studio executives agree to a fair deal with the writers. On Sunday, the MTV Movie & TV Awards were taped instead of held live after host Drew Barrymore withdrew in solidarity with the writers and writers threatened to picket the red carpet.
Writers also stopped writing new seasons of shows, like Season 3 of Showtime’s “Yellowjackets.” As co-creator and showrunner Ashley Lyle explained last week, the show’s writers had just begun writing the new season last Monday.
Shows that were already written and slated to begin filming also are now on pause. Among the biggest so far: “Stranger Things” creators Matt and Ross Duffer announced Saturday they are halting production on the show’s upcoming fifth and final season.
“Writing does not stop when filming begins,” they wrote on Twitter, referring to how writers are often rewriting and making adjustments on set, and are integral to shows and movies, from start to finish.