It’s official: every single major film and TV production within the Los Angeles city limits has now been shut down by the writers’ strike.
The last stragglers — Paramount +’s Yellowstone, Netflix’s Little Sky, Apple TV’s Metropolis (no, not another Superman flick but a remake of Fritz Lang’s 1927 silent classic) — all closed up shop either this week or last. The Penguin, Duster, Daredevil, The Old Man, Billions — all of them went dark earlier in the month.
The town is so dead, in fact, that FilmLA — the nonprofit that issues permits for filming outside of studio lots — is implementing “a temporary reduction in operating hours due to an overall decline in permit volume and on-location filming.” They say they haven’t issued a permit in two weeks.
The “shut-it-down strategy” by the WGA appears to be having an impact on studios’ pockets. “It’s costing them money, which had a powerful way of delivering the message that the fat execs need to come to the table with a better deal for the people making the content that is making them rich,” said a member of the guild’s secretive “guerrilla squad,” which is picketing around-the-clock, holding the line that Teamsters Hollywood leader Lindsay Doughtery has vowed her members will not cross.
So, mission accomplished? Not quite. There are rumors that an unnamed Hulu series is still up and running somewhere outside of L.A. — no doubt WGA strikers are scouring maps trying to locate its exact coordinates. And then there’s American Horror Story, which despite producer Ryan Murphy’s public assurances that he isn’t scabbing, is apparently still very much in production in New York, at least according to one of its blabbermouth stars.
“Hi guys!” Kim Kardashian tweeted just today. “I’m on the set of AHS and we have some time between shots. What are you all up to???”
The next shoe to drop, of course, will likely be the actors — SAG-AFTRA has a June 30 strike deadline, and most observers believe they’ll soon be walking picket lines, too, since 98 percent of its membership earlier voted to authorize a strike. As for the Director’s Guild, at this writing there is still no word on whether they’ll be ratifying their deal with the studios — the deadline is today — but either way, it sure looks like Kim Kardashian will soon have even more time between shots.
In case anyone doubts our impact, there’s not enough filming to fully operate a permit office in Los Angeles anymore.
“FilmLA will be implementing a temporary reduction in operating hours due to an overall decline in permit volume and on-location filming.”https://t.co/QnhvZmXkKN
— Shawn Wines WGA Captain (@shawnwines) June 22, 2023
