The legal department of ABC Signature, the studio responsible for several Disney series, has sent a letter to the showrunners of their series, advising that despite the writers’ strike in the United States, they should continue to perform their production duties, unrelated to write.
“We especially want to reiterate that, as showrunner or writer, you are not relieved of your duties as showrunner and/or producer of your series as a result of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike. Your contract with the studio requires that you perform your duties as showrunner and/or producer, even if the WGA seeks to fine you for providing such services during the strike,” wrote Bob McPhail, the assistant chief counselor at ABC Signature, a Disney-owned company, in the letter sent to the showrunners. “Your duties as showrunner and/or producer are not relieved, suspended or terminated until notified to you in writing by the studio.”
The letter was sent Wednesday (3/5), the second day of the Writers Guild of America strike, after negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP, in its acronym in English), which represents studios and stream.
The Writers’ Union called for a general strike on Tuesday (2/5) seeking increases to their salaries and other streaming-related financial claims, as well as demanding control over the use of artificial intelligence in script creation by screenwriters. Education.
The showrunners, who are usually also writers, have suspended their activities on several series. In an extreme case, “The Lord of the Rings: The Ring of Power” is wrapping up filming episodes for its second season with no showrunners on set, with all decisions left to the directors and producers.
In its memo, ABC Signature argues that showrunners may perform various tasks, including writing scripts, which the WGA considers a function of the producers. “You may be required to perform production services, along with other unwritten services,” such as making cuts to scripts to save time, minor changes to dialogue or narration during production, and “changes in stage or technical directions “. These are duties that, under the WGA contract, non-writing producers can perform on any project.
But WGA strike rules explicitly forbid union members from engaging in these activities during work stoppages.
“The rules prohibit double rosters (members serving dual roles) and the performance of any writing services,” says the WGA, which puts showrunners in a difficult position between demands from employers and the union itself.
Source: Terra
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