Emmy’s First Season to WGA Strike – IndieWire

“Shout out to the writers,” Jason Sudeikis exclaimed on stage with most of the cast and creative team behind “Ted Lasso” at a fan event to kick off the opening of the “Think Apple TV+ FYC” space. “What a day to be doing this.”
A few hours later, at midnight on May 2, the Writers Guild of America officially went on strike and called on members across the country to carry out a work stoppage. However, it wasn’t revealed until the following afternoon what the instructions were for attending events for your attention to highlight the work already done this season of TV.
The union concluded that members attend film festivals or FYC events because of a film or show they wrote about. WGA Strike Rules FAQ“Inform the Company that no such promotional appearance in connection with your work shall be made until the strike is over.”
While the writers remain a united front (after all, the strike was authorized by a record 97.9 percent of members), the decision to stay out of FYC events seems a bit polarizing from the outside. Through a lens, of course, it’s no problem that sitting on a panel inside an event space paid for by Apple is considered entering the premises of a battered company, which is prohibited under the strike rules. But through another lens, it seems like a missed opportunity not to use stage time to explain that these Emmy-contending series would never have come together without writers.
As the FYC event for Prime Video’s limited series “Swarm” took place inside the Amazon-funded Prime Experience space that Tuesday, May 2, hints of how the strike affected the Emmys campaign began to emerge. Moderator Angelique Jackson, Variety’s senior entertainment writer, preceded a planned one-on-one with star Dominique Fishback by reading a written statement from Swarm co-creator, executive producer and host Janine Nabers, which said: “I am not here tonight, because I stand in solidarity with the WGA.”
The memo was met with rapturous applause from an audience of mostly Emmy voters who are TV professionals themselves, as was Fishback’s response to the statement: “I support any artist who stands up for what they 100% deserve.” During a fireside chat the next night after accepting a special BAFTA award in New York, top television producer and “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story” host Shonda Rhimes weighed in on the matter, stating emphatically: “I the film I am its writer. strike immediately,” when asked how he should approach the situation.
As the lines gathered around Hollywood, the Television Academy decided to give its partners the option to either continue the pre-planned FYC event as it is, change or cancel the panel portion of the event, or cancel the event entirely without penalty. . Only “The Problem with Jon Stewart” and “John Mulaney: Baby J” were immediate cancellations, which makes sense given both comedians’ intimate ties to the writing community. Slowly but surely, however, other programs such as Apple TV+’s “Mythic Quest” have decided not to move forward with their FYC events.
But the events of For Your Consideration happened largely without the involvement of the writers who created and/or ran the show. Netflix’s flagship animated program contender “Entergalactic” Friday’s event, which served as the opening act for the streaming service’s FYSEE ’23 programming and event space, ended up canceling a planned panel with co-creator/star Scott “Kid Cudi.” Mescudi and a host of behind-the-scenes talent were involved in the making of the project, but the 90-minute TV show was still packed, and one could hear the good energy in the room.
Now, if a panel does happen, the lineup is usually made up of actors who are in town and weren’t involved in the scripting of the show, a non-writing producer (eg Lord of the Rings EP JA Bayona, who is Prime He directed the first two episodes of the video series) and a select group of craftsmen working on the series. The show’s writers are often praised during the conversation, but it’s starting to feel like the word “strike” is taboo.
If there was any cause for concern last week, it was a flurry of summer awards showing some kind of restructuring or postponement. Drew Barrymore resigned as host of the MTV Movie & TV Awards in solidarity with the WGA days before the live show began, leading to a quick Sunday telecast that spliced together sketches the daytime talk show host had already taped with acceptance speeches. the winners were submitted from home. The following Monday, the American Film Institute announced that its June 10 Lifetime Achievement Award gala for actress Nicole Kidman had been postponed indefinitely.
While the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards don’t take place until September 18, the host’s live telecast takes months to plan and requires a writer’s room. When asked if there was a deadline for a decision on whether to reshuffle or cancel the upcoming Emmy telecast, the Television Academy said in a statement to IndieWire, “We hope, like everyone else, that these negotiations will be resolved quickly, amicably and amicably . fairly. We will answer any questions about the Emmys as we get closer to the ceremonies.” As events brought to the attention of For Your are progressing as usual, there is an increasing chance that they will be able to announce the awards they have won in a press release.