Warner Bros. TV has suspended overall deals with more of its A-list, marquee producers, which is believed to include Greg Berlanti, Bill Lawrence, John Wells, Chuck Lorre and Mindy Kaling, as well as J.J. Abrams Bad Robot shingle.
Some of those names, including Wells and Lorre, had their deals suspended months ago, early on in the Writers Guild of America strike. Others who had shows in various stages of post-production when the work stoppage began May 2 were kept status quo while episodes were completed. 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 ongoingwriters strike.
Those suspensions took place in May, soon after the WGA strike began, and didnt include producers who still had shows in production. This was before SAG-AFTRA also went on strike, starting July 14. But for more than two months after the WGA went pencils down, some actors were still on some sets finishing production on projects with completed scripts.
Some writer-producers also double as DGA members and directors on their projects; because the DGA sealed a new deal with the AMPTP and has not been on strike, those duties have still been allowed during these recent months.
But production has been almost completely shut down since SAG-AFTRA joined WGA members on the picket line in July. Once talent is no longer able to render services, the policy is generally to suspend deals.
Such a deal suspension is different from overall terminations, which so far have not been widely seen in the industry even though thewriters strikehas already passed 90-day mark when, historically, dealmakers have the option to kill agreements in the face of an act of God (the common show business interpretation for how the phrase force majeure applies to these type of labor shutdowns).
Overall deals typically pay overhead for a writers company and fund the development of projects. First-look deals also provide financial padding and, in return, guarantee that the studio or company has favored nation status when it comes to determining potential distribution of a series or film.
Insiders note that suspensions usually only put a deal on hold while no work is being done anyway. Once production resumes, the deals resume, with the previously suspended time tacked onto the end of the pact. But it still means that the overhead to pay salaries at companies like Bad Robot will be paused, impacting staffers in the meantime.