News Muncher - category wga

1 week, 4 days ago

Writers Guild demands studios stop tech companies from training AI on their work

LA Times

Writers Guild of America this week sent a letter to major Hollywood studios asking them to take action against tech companies that are using writers’ work to train AI tools without their permission. “The studios, as copyright holders of works written by WGA members, have done nothing to stop this theft,” the guild’s leadership said in a letter. The studios’ …

Ai Tech Companies Studios Wga

5 months, 3 weeks ago

Ellen Stutzman: The sword protecting Hollywood’s pens

LA Times

Just two months before Hollywood screenwriters staged their first strike in more than a decade, longtime staffer Ellen Stutzman stepped up and into a role she had unknowingly been preparing for her entire career: chief negotiator for the Writers Guild of America. Stutzman and the WGA negotiating committee achieved a historic deal with the entertainment companies to end the writers’ …

Hollywood Stutzman Wga

6 months ago

Hollywood writers say jobs are scarce a year after strikes

NPR

Hollywood writers say jobs are scarce a year after strikes This time last year, Hollywood writers were on strike. KELLY: NPR's Mandalit del Barco covered the five-month-long strike by the Writers Guild of America, the WGA. MANDALIT DEL BARCO, BYLINE: At Bob's Big Boy in Burbank, writer Taylor Orci reminiscences about all the free food they used to get last …

Strike Writers Hollywood Npr Hollywood Writers Wga Del Barco

7 months, 1 week ago

We checked in with Hollywood writers a year after the strike. They’re not OK

LA Times

For 14 straight years, Ted Sullivan was consistently paid to pen stories for the screen. “It’s not enough to go in with a pitch,” said Chuck Rose, a 20-year writing veteran with several TV and film projects now in development as well as a series on Amazon. “I don’t think it’s a surprise to anyone who follows the business.” The …

Employment Streaming Netflix Indigenous Work Writers Production

8 months ago

‘Sesame Street’ writers reach tentative contract deal, averting strike

LA Times

Writers Guild of America members employed by Sesame Workshop have struck a tentative contract deal with management, averting a strike after negotiations stalled over compensation and union representation for the nonprofit organization’s animation and social media staff. The bargaining unit of 35 — which includes the “Sesame Street” writing staff — and Sesame Workshop settled on a new five-year contract …

Contract Work Writers Workshop Sesame Street Wga Sesame Workshop

9 months, 1 week ago

Alexander Payne’s ‘The Holdovers’ faces plagiarism allegations ahead of Oscars

The Hindu

Alexander Payne’s latest Oscar-nominee, The Holdovers, has found itself embroiled in controversy as accusations of plagiarism surface from Simon Stephenson, co-writer of Disney Pixar’s Luca. In a detailed argument reported by Variety, Stephenson claims that the Oscar-nominated screenplay for The Holdovers mirrors his own Frisco script, suggesting that Payne likely had access to his work. Variety’s report includes a paper …

Script Oscar Payne Stephenson Frisco Holdovers

10 months ago

Spider-Man universe updates: Nicolas Cage returning as Noir? Spider-Verse wins big at Annie Awards and more

Hindustan Times

To say that the Spider-Man universe at least has Madame Web is basically acknowledging that the web-slinger expanse has very little. What's happening in the Spider-Man universe Spider-Man Noir live-action adaptation The Ankler has reported that Nicolas Cage is in “serious talks” to reprise his role as the brooding '30s detective counterpart of the friendly neighbour wall-crawler. The Walking Dead …

Achievement Feature Spider Silk Wga Animated Sony Pictures Animation

11 months ago

Bill Maher grills Gavin Newsom on the "knuckleheads" that held up the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes

Salon

Over the past few weeks, there have been numerous disappointing announcements from the film and television industry, making it known that people will have to wait upwards of a year for the latest seasons of shows they've been looking forward to seeing, and movies they've been keeping an eye out for. In a segment of "Real Time with Bill Maher," …

Newsom Maher

11 months, 3 weeks ago

Labor unrest defined Hollywood in 2023. Here’s what we learned from the twin strikes

LA Times

Members and supporters of SAG-AFTRA picket in front of Netflix on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. “‘We’re not alone.’” Erin T. Hill, assistant professor of media and popular culture at UC San Diego, said that striking actors and writers benefited from a “perfect storm of what’s been going on with everyone’s job throughout the country.” “The fact that these two unions …

Labor Actors Strike Union Writers Hollywood Hill

1 year ago

Prince Harry’s Spare, Gwyneth’s trial and Try That In a Small Town: 11 of the most controversial culture moments of 2023

BBC

Prince Harry’s Spare, Gwyneth’s trial and Try That In a Small Town: 11 of the most controversial culture moments of 2023 Getty Images Among all the highs and lows of the year in the arts, here are the people, works and incidents that really got everyone talking. HBO's The Idol becomes 2023's biggest TV turkey A collaboration between Sam Levinson, …

Prince Harry British Work Museum Getty Images Harry Told

1 year, 1 month ago

AI, raises and streaming bonuses: What the SAG-AFTRA deal does and doesn’t accomplish

LA Times

Just hours before the actors’ strike ended last week, comedian and strike captain Elyssa Phillips spoke to The Times’ Christi Carras for my colleagues’ story examining the state of the industry six months after picket lines first formed in front of the major studios. The people who wait tables will still be waiting tables.” But, she added, “I’ve never been …

Contract Actors Streaming Strike Disney Hollywood Studio

1 year, 1 month ago

The actors strike is over as union reaches tentative agreement with studios

The Independent

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Get our The Life Cinematic email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation …

Independent Strike Free Wga

1 year, 1 month ago

The end of the actors’ strike seemed within reach. Why is a SAG-AFTRA deal taking so long?

LA Times

About this time last week, the major Hollywood studios were hopeful and the performers union SAG-AFTRA was cautiously optimistic that a tentative deal to end the actors’ strike was within reach. On Friday, studio chiefs presented SAG-AFTRA with what they called their “last, best and final offer,” signaling frustration by the AMPTP that the two sides have been unable to …

Actors Strike Smith Members Ai Deal Guild

1 year, 1 month ago

Ellen Stutzman promoted to executive director of WGA West as David Young departs

LA Times

The western branch of the Writers Guild of America announced Friday that its longtime executive director, David Young, will depart the union at the end of his contract. Assistant executive director and WGA chief negotiator Ellen Stutzman, who led the union through all 148 days of the recent writers’ strike, will take his place. In an email to WGA West …

Director Union Writers Young David Executive Director Ellen

1 year, 1 month ago

Reality TV stars say they’re subject to grueling conditions and low pay. A union could change that

LA Times

Few people would mistake Bethenny Frankel for a champion of the working class. But Frankel, a pioneer of parlaying reality TV fame into wealth, became the Bravo era’s answer to Norma Rae this summer when she attempted to ignite a movement she dubbed “the reality reckoning.” In a series of posts on Instagram, Frankel urged her fellow unscripted performers to …

Social Media Mental Health Stars Netflix Reality Talent Pay

1 year, 1 month ago

SAG-AFTRA talks start again. Here are the stakes as the window to do a deal closes

LA Times

Welcome to the Wide Shot, a newsletter about the business of entertainment. Drescher, whose combative rhetoric galvanized the entertainment industry’s workforce and poured lighter fluid on nation’s hot labor summer, told my colleagues that the industry’s move to streaming had created an “economic dystopia” in which workers and actors “cannot make a living anymore.” “My members need something significant in …

Madonna Actors Streaming Netflix Companies Hollywood Movie

1 year, 1 month ago

How the Israel-Hamas war is dividing Hollywood

LA Times

A burnt Kiddush cup in a house damaged by Hamas militants is seen in Kibbutz Be’eri, Israel, on Oct. 14. On Tuesday, the guild’s leadership sent an email to its 11,500 members, apologizing for the “tremendous pain” it had caused by not issuing a public statement on the conflict, explaining, “It can be an imprecise science for a labor union …

Conflict War Writers Hollywood Palestinian Gaza Israeli

1 year, 2 months ago

Fran Drescher is SAG-AFTRA’s ‘Norma Rae.’ But the 100-day actors’ strike poses new challenges

LA Times

Last summer, Fran Drescher became one of America’s most formidable labor leaders. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos and NBCUniversal Studio Group Chairman Donna Langley — to sp “I’m always saying to them, you could be the heroes in this,” Drescher said. Drescher countered that companies must recognize that Hollywood workers, including some actors, “cannot make a living …

Labor Actors Streaming Companies Strike Executives Hollywood

1 year, 2 months ago

Drew Barrymore is all smiles while checking out pit row and interviewing racers during previews of F1 Grand Prix of United States in Austin... amid her talk show writers controversy

Daily Mail

Drew Barrymore put all of the drama and controversy about her talk show's writers behind her and took part in the festivities at previews of F1 Grand Prix of United States. No controversy: Drew Barrymore put all of the drama and controversy about her talk show's writers behind her and took part in the festivities at previews of F1 Grand …

Racing Strike Writers Hollywood Red White Las Vegas

1 year, 2 months ago

SAG-AFTRA talks break down over streaming pay in a setback for Hollywood’s back-to-work plans

LA Times

SAG-AFTRA members take to the picket line outside Netflix in Los Angeles in July. The AMPTP said such a concession would cost the companies more than $800 million per year and “create an untenable economic burden.” Studio sources suggested that the actors guild had essentially asked the companies to pay $1 per subscriber a year. “But a levy on top …

Actors Streaming Companies Pay Studio Talks Members

1 year, 2 months ago

Minority writers fear diversity to fall farther down the agenda after strike - The Hindu

The Hindu

After the Writers Guild of America approved a new three-year contract with major studios, Hollywood writers from underrepresented groups, many nervous about their job security in the rapidly changing industry, aim to refocus studios' attention on increasing diversity. The WGA represents 11,500 film and television writers, but many minority members – people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, disabled people and women …

Diversity Black Netflix Minority Writers Hollywood Studios

1 year, 2 months ago

WGA members easily ratify new contract to end 148-day strike as anxieties loom

LA Times

As members of the Writers Guild of America voted overwhelmingly in favor of a new contract that ended a 148-day strike, anxieties loomed over a coming contraction in the film and TV business that could limit job opportunities even after Hollywood gets back to work. “Through solidarity and determination, we have ratified a contract with meaningful gains and protections for …

Job Contract Solidarity Work Strike Writers Hollywood

1 year, 2 months ago

Here's why Drew Barrymore Show writers refuse to return despite WGA strike ending

Hindustan Times

The Drew Barrymore Show may just be in serious trouble ahead of its premiere. Writer Exodus: Drew Barrymore Show Faces Staff Departures After WGA Strike. Last month, Drew faced heavy criticism for announcing that her daytime talk show would begin its fourth season without the striking writers. However, a week later, after experiencing backlash and guest cancellations, she changed her …

Strike Drew Barrymore Barrymore Drew Return Liz Cristina

1 year, 2 months ago

Netflix plans to charge users more after Hollywood actors strike ends: Report

The Hindu

Netflix plans to charge users more for an ad-free viewing experience on its platform after the ongoing Hollywood actor strikes come to an end, reported the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday. Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan in August had also remarked on how streaming giants were increasing their subscription prices while writers, producers, and showrunners were making less money …

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Articles for Wga

Writers Guild demands studios stop tech companies from training AI on their work

Ellen Stutzman: The sword protecting Hollywood’s pens

Hollywood writers say jobs are scarce a year after strikes

We checked in with Hollywood writers a year after the strike. They’re not OK

‘Sesame Street’ writers reach tentative contract deal, averting strike

Alexander Payne’s ‘The Holdovers’ faces plagiarism allegations ahead of Oscars

Spider-Man universe updates: Nicolas Cage returning as Noir? Spider-Verse wins big at Annie Awards and more

Bill Maher grills Gavin Newsom on the "knuckleheads" that held up the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes

Labor unrest defined Hollywood in 2023. Here’s what we learned from the twin strikes

Prince Harry’s Spare, Gwyneth’s trial and Try That In a Small Town: 11 of the most controversial culture moments of 2023

AI, raises and streaming bonuses: What the SAG-AFTRA deal does and doesn’t accomplish

The actors strike is over as union reaches tentative agreement with studios

The end of the actors’ strike seemed within reach. Why is a SAG-AFTRA deal taking so long?

Ellen Stutzman promoted to executive director of WGA West as David Young departs

Reality TV stars say they’re subject to grueling conditions and low pay. A union could change that

SAG-AFTRA talks start again. Here are the stakes as the window to do a deal closes

How the Israel-Hamas war is dividing Hollywood

Fran Drescher is SAG-AFTRA’s ‘Norma Rae.’ But the 100-day actors’ strike poses new challenges

Drew Barrymore is all smiles while checking out pit row and interviewing racers during previews of F1 Grand Prix of United States in Austin... amid her talk show writers controversy

SAG-AFTRA talks break down over streaming pay in a setback for Hollywood’s back-to-work plans

Minority writers fear diversity to fall farther down the agenda after strike - The Hindu

WGA members easily ratify new contract to end 148-day strike as anxieties loom

Here's why Drew Barrymore Show writers refuse to return despite WGA strike ending

Netflix plans to charge users more after Hollywood actors strike ends: Report