NBCUniversal, CBS Studios Suspend Contracts With Big-Name Producers Amid Strikes
By Movieguide® Contributor
NBCUniversal Studios and CBS Studios suspend contracts with non-writing producers as the writers’ strike leaves the producers unable to provide any services.
NBCUniversal’s pause extends to all of their non-writing producers, including Lorne Michaels and Dwayne Johnson, according to Deadline. Meanwhile, CBS has suspended producers, including Phil McGraw and DeVon Franklin, but will continue to pay salaries to assistants impacted by the suspensions through the end of the year.
Not all producers’ contracts have been suspended, however. Dick Wolf, Seth MacFarlane and Alex Kurtzman remain under contract as they can provide work on animation or unscripted shows, although their positions are not completely secure.
This round of suspensions is not the first and will likely not be the last as the strikes continue and more production companies wrap up the last of their pre-strike projects.
Some contracts were suspended almost immediately after the strikes began in May and have been steadily rolled out since. Over Labor Day weekend, Warner Bros. Television suspended names like Greg Berlanti, Bill Lawrence and Mindy Kaling.
Variety reported, “The latest news of suspensions comes months after Warner Bros. TV, along with Amazon, HBO, Warner Bros. TV, NBCUniversal, Disney, CBS Studios and other major struck studios already hit pause on some first-look and overall deals amid the ongoing writers strike.”
These suspensions are worrying for production companies as they cut income and lead to job insecurity for those involved in non-union jobs. To help, NBCUniversal recently extended health insurance for non-union TV members through the end of 2023.
The strikes are ongoing with seemingly no end in sight.
“At this time, there is no indication that a deal will be reached between the AMPTP and the WGA or the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) any time soon,” Variety added.
Movieguide® previously reported how the strikes have impacted non-union workers.
Crew members are suffering from the lack of work since the WGA and SAG strikes have shut down the entertainment industry.
“A lot of people are really in dire straits,” said Annette Bening, a chair member of The Entertainment Community Fund. “They are getting clobbered by this. They are losing their homes. They are getting their cars repossessed. They are losing their health insurance.”
Workers in the entertainment industry are starting to lose benefits, like their health plans, because they cannot meet quotas. To qualify for The Motion Picture Industry Pension and Health Plans (MPIPHP), members must work 400 hours over six months.
The writers’ strike slowed down productions when it began three months ago, and nearly all productions stopped when the actors began to strike last month. With an extremely limited number of ongoing productions, even long-time industry veterans cannot find enough work to meet their quotas.
“I’m trying to cope with this the best way I can,” Bill Bridges, a 54-year-old grip, said. “I’ve been in the film industry my entire adult life, and I can’t get ahead.”
