Celebrity
Late-Night TV Shows Go Dark As Writers Strike For Better Pay
NEW YORK — The first Hollywood strike in 15 years began Tuesday when the economic demands of the streaming era spurred unionized TV and film writers to picket outside major studios for better compensation, a work slowdown that has already forced most late-night shows to air reruns.
Members of the Writers Guild of America chanted outside the Manhattan headquarters where NBCUniversal was promoting their Peacock streaming service to advertisers, “No contracts, no content!”
After failing to agree on a new deal with the trade group representing Hollywood studios and production businesses, the union’s 11,500 film and television writers put down their pens and laptops.
The union is demanding greater minimum wages, more writers per program, and shorter exclusive contracts, among other things, all of which it claims have been eroded by the content explosion fueled by streaming.
“There’s too much work and not enough pay,” said demonstrator Sean Crespo, 46, a writer who worked on the former TBS show “Full Frontal With Samantha Bee.”
Depending on how long the strike lasts, the labor conflict could have a cascading effect on TV and film productions, and it comes at a time when streaming services are under increasing pressure from Wall Street to generate profitability.
Late-night television was the first to suffer the effects, just like during the 100-day writers’ strike 2007.
All the top late-night shows, staffed by writers who write monologues and jokes for their hosts, went dark immediately. Reruns were planned for NBC’s “The Tonight Show,” Comedy Central’s “Daily Show,” ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live,” CBS’s “The Late Show,” and NBC’s “Late Night” throughout the week.
NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” which was set to air a fresh episode on Saturday, will likewise go black and instead air reruns.
“This nation owes so much to unions,” Colbert stated. “Unions are why we have weekends; by extension, we have TGI Fridays.”
“Everyone, including myself, hopes both sides can agree.” “However, I believe the writers’ demands are reasonable,” presenter Stephen Colbert stated on Monday’s “Late Show.”
“This nation owes so much to unions,” Colbert stated. “Unions are why we have weekends; by extension, we have TGI Fridays.”
Tony Kushner (“The Fabelmans”) and Danny Strong (“Dopesick”) were among those protesting in New York on Tuesday.
The strike’s influence on scripted shows and films will become apparent. Fall TV schedules could be thrown off if the strike lasts all summer. Meanwhile, those with completed scripts are permitted to continue filming.
Late-night hosts eventually returned to the air during the 2007 strike and improvised through broadcasts. When “Tonight” show host Jay Leno began writing his monologues, he enraged WGA leadership.
One late-night show will remain on the air. The network announced Tuesday that Fox News’ “Gutfeld!” with Greg Gutfeld will continue to run new episodes.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, representing studios and production groups, said it proposed “generous increases in compensation for writers as well as improvements in streaming residuals.”
The trade group stated that it was willing to increase its offer “but was unwilling to do so because of the magnitude of other proposals still on the table that the guild continues to insist upon.”
For months, many people have predicted a government shutdown. Last month, the writers unanimously voted to authorize a strike, with 98% of the membership in favor. Writers claim that income needs to keep up with inflation, that TV writer rooms have shrunk too much, and that the existing formula for calculating residuals must be redesigned.
Streaming has increased the number of series and films produced yearly, providing more opportunities for writers. However, writers claim they earn less than they used to while working under more stressful conditions. According to the WGA, “the companies’ behavior has created a gig economy inside a union workforce.”
Writers claim that income needs to keep up with inflation, that TV writer rooms have shrunk too much.
The union wants writers to be paid more in advance. This is because the advent of streaming has phased out many of the back-end fees that writers have historically profited from, such as syndication and international licensing.
According to the studios ‘ trade association, the main sticking points in reaching an agreement are so-called mini-rooms (the guild is seeking a minimum number of scribes per writer room) and the length of work contracts.
According to the writers’ organization, more flexibility is required for writers when they are contracted for series that are often shorter in duration than the once-standard 20-plus episode broadcast season. They also request stricter regulation over artificial intelligence, which authors believe might provide producers a faster way to complete a WGA writer’s work.
“Understand that our fight is the same fight that will be coming to your professional sector next: it’s the devaluing of human effort, skill, and talent in favor of automation and profits,” writer-director Justine Bateman stated.
Many studios and production companies are cutting back on their spending. The Walt Disney Company is laying off 7,000 people. Warner Bros. Discovery is lowering costs to reduce its debt. Netflix has put a damper on spending growth.
With a strike widely anticipated, writers have scrambled to get screenplays in, and studios have worked to prepare their pipelines to keep churning out content for the foreseeable future. However, the impact on local economies can be significant. Los Angeles lost $2.1 billion in economic production during the previous strike.
“From a business standpoint, we’re assuming the worst,” Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said last month. “We’ve prepared ourselves. There has been a lot of content produced.”
Overseas series could also help fill the void. “We have a large base of upcoming shows and films from around the world,” Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said during the earnings call in April.
The WGA strike could be just the beginning. Both the Directors Guild of America and the actors’ union, SAG-AFTRA, have contracts that expire in June. Those bargaining sessions will discuss some of the same issues concerning the streaming business model.
On Tuesday, the actors’ union invited its members to join the writers’ picket lines in solidarity. ___
Aron Ranen and David Bauder contributed to this report.
SOURCE – (AP)
Darlington said police pulled Scheffler out of the car, pushed him up against the car and immediately placed him in handcuffs.
“Scheffler was then walked over to the police car, placed in the back, in handcuffs, very stunned about what was happening, looked toward me as he was in those handcuffs and said, ‘Please help me,’” Darlington said. “He very clearly did not know what was happening in the situation. It moved very quickly, very rapidly, very aggressively.”
Scheffler was released by police and returned to the course at 9:12 a.m. Around 9:30 a.m., he arrived at the practice area to the cheers of fans; one yelled “Free Scottie!” and more followed later wearing “Free Scottie” T-shirts.
Scheffler seemed normal, relaxed, sharing a few laughs on the driving range.
“I was never angry. I was just in shock,” Scheffler said. “I was shaking the whole time. I was shaking for like an hour. It was definitely a new feeling for me.”
AP – VOR News Image
Scottie Scheffler Arrested Outside PGA Championship, Then Returns And Climbs Leaderboard
He could see from a TV in the jail that tee times were pushed back 1 hour, 20 minutes because of the traffic situation, and realized when an officer knocked on the door and said, “Let’s go,” that he had a chance to play.
He made birdie on his first hole of the day after sticking his approach shot to 3 feet.
Darlington, the ESPN reporter, said police were initially unsure who Scheffler was. He said an officer asked him to leave, and when he identified himself as being with the media, he was told, “There’s nothing you can do. He’s going to jail.”
Darlington said another police officer later approached with a notepad and asked if he knew the name of the person they put in handcuffs.
Scheffler said he never told police who he was except to say, “I’m sorry, I’m just trying to get to my tee time.”
AP – VOR News Image
Scottie Scheffler Arrested Outside PGA Championship, Then Returns And Climbs Leaderboard
Louisville police have attracted negative national attention in recent years after the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor in 2020 and a federal investigation into its policing practices.
A Department of Justice report released last year said Louisville officers use excessive force and conduct searches based on invalid warrants. The report said Black motorists in Louisville were more likely to be searched during traffic stops, and officers used neck restraints, police dogs and Tasers against people who posed no imminent threat.
Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, was shot by officers who had come to her apartment with a warrant that federal officials later said was falsified.
PGA of America, which runs the PGA Championship, offered sympathies for Mills’ family and said, “As it relates to the incident involving Scottie Scheffler, we are fully cooperating as local authorities review what took place.”
AP – VOR News Image
Scottie Scheffler Arrested Outside PGA Championship, Then Returns And Climbs Leaderboard
Scheffler has won four of his last five tournaments, including his second Masters title. He has been home in Dallas the last three weeks, waiting for the birth of his first child, a son born May 8.
Scheffler is trying to become only the fifth player since 1960 to win the first two majors of the year.
SOURCE – (AP)
CANNES, France — The Cannes Film Festival began Tuesday with the announcement of Greta Gerwig’s jury and the giving of an honorary Palme d’Or to Meryl Streep, as the French Riviera spectacle started its possibly tumultuous 77th edition.
The opening night picture, “The Second Act,” a French comedy starring Lea Seydoux, Vincent Lindon, Louis Garrel, and Raphaël Quenard, will usher in a 10-day parade of stars down Cannes’ iconic red carpet. During the opening ceremony, Streep will get her honorary Palme.
AP – VOR News Image
Cannes Kicks Off With Greta Gerwig’s Jury And A Palme D’Or For Meryl Streep
In the coming days, Cannes will debut George Miller’s “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” Francis Ford Coppola’s self-financed “Megalopolis,” and anticipated new films from Paolo Sorrentino, Yorgos Lanthimos, Andrea Arnold, and Kevin Costner.
However, much of this year’s Cannes controversy has occurred off-screen.
French actor Judith Godrèche accused two film directors of rape and sexual assault when she was a teenager earlier this year, and the French film industry has been grappling with probably its defining #MeToo moment since. Godrèche’s short film “Moi Aussi” will premiere on Wednesday.
When asked about #MeToo’s expansion in France, Gerwig told reporters in Cannes on Tuesday that it is progressing.
“I think people in the community of movies telling us stories and trying to change things for the better is only good,” Gerwig stated. “I’ve witnessed significant shift in the American cinema scene, and I believe it’s critical that we continue to broaden that conversation. So I believe it’s only advancing things in the right direction. Keep the lines of communication open.”
Gerwig, fresh off the success of “Barbie,” is president of the jury that will decide Cannes’ top prize, the Palme d’Or. Thierry Fremaux commended her on Monday as “the ideal director” for Cannes, citing her ability to work in both arthouse and studio films and her passion for movie history. And, “We very much liked ‘Barbie.'”
Gerwig is joined on the jury by Lily Gladstone, star of “Killers of the Flower Moon,” French actor Eva Green, Spanish filmmaker J.A. Bayona, French actor Omar Sy, Lebanese actor and director Nadine Labaki, Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda, Turkish screenwriter Ebru Ceylan, and Italian actor Pierfrancesco Favino.
AP – VOR News Image
Cannes Kicks Off With Greta Gerwig’s Jury And A Palme D’Or For Meryl Streep
The jurors were asked how the numerous real-world concerns outside the festival would influence their decision-making. One film in competition, Ali Abbasi’s “The Apprentice,” portrays Sebastian Stan as a youthful Donald Trump. And Labaki was asked if she was thinking about the war in Gaza.
“I truly believe that one of the tools to really change something in the situation we all live in right now, which is a situation I think is not that great, is really through art and through cinema,” Labaki stated. “It may propose a more tolerant way of seeing things and seeing each other as human beings.”
“This is why I decided that I could be here without feeling guilty as a human being,” stated Favino. “Because if we look for beauty, then we might look for peace.”
Other fears are circulating this year’s Cannes. Festival workers, frustrated with short-term contracts that make them ineligible for unemployment benefits between events, have threatened to strike.
On Monday, Iranian filmmaker Mohammed Rasoulof, whose film “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” will be shown in competition at Cannes next week, said that he had escaped Iran after being sentenced to eight years in prison and flogging. The film is described as a scathing depiction of the Iranian regime.
AP – VOR News Image
Cannes Kicks Off With Greta Gerwig’s Jury And A Palme D’Or For Meryl Streep
As Cannes continues, many will be fixated on the celebs who walk the festival’s iconic red carpet. Emma Stone, Anya Taylor-Joy, Demi Moore, Selena Gomez, Nicolas Cage, and Barry Keoghan will be among the cast. George Lucas will be presented with an honorary Palme d’Or during the closing ceremony on May 25.
Regardless, the 77th Cannes Film Festival will have many expectations to meet. Last year’s festival, which was universally praised for its impressive roster, yielded three Oscar best picture nominees: “Anatomy of a Fall,” “The Zone of Interest,” and “Killers of the Flower Moon.” To help reignite last year’s spirit, Messi, the canine hero of “Anatomy of a Fall,” has returned to Cannes for a series of quick French TV advertisements.
A successful Cannes will help France maintain the global spotlight throughout the summer. The French Open, Tour de France, and Summer Olympics in Paris will all take place after the festival. On May 21, the Olympic flame will be carried to the Palais des Festivals, the festival’s focal point.
SOURCE – (AP)
NEW YORK — Actor Steve Buscemi is well after being hit in the face by a man on a New York City street, his publicist confirmed Sunday.
The 66-year-old star of “Fargo” and “Boardwalk Empire” was beaten late Wednesday morning in Manhattan and transported to a local hospital for bruises, swelling, and bleeding in his left eye.
Deadline – VOR News Image
Actor Steve Buscemi Is OK After Being Punched In The Face In New York City
“Steve Buscemi was assaulted in Mid-Town Manhattan, another victim of a random act of violence in the city,” according to a statement from his publicist on Sunday. “He is ok and appreciates everyone’s well wishes.”
The New York Post was first to report the assault.
salon – VOR News Image
Actor Steve Buscemi Is OK After Being Punched In The Face In New York City
The New York Police Department issued a nameless statement regarding the assault on Wednesday. Steve’s representative confirmed Sunday that the anonymous assault victim in the police report was the actor.
According to the police department, no arrests have been made, and the investigation is ongoing.
The Guardian – VOR News Image
Actor Steve Buscemi Is OK After Being Punched In The Face In New York City
Michael Stuhlbarg, Buscemi’s “Boardwalk Empire” co-star, was hit in the back of the neck by a rock while walking in Manhattan’s Central Park on March 31. Stuhlbarg chased his attacker, who was apprehended outside the park.
SOURCE – (AP)
Scottie Scheffler Arrested Outside PGA Championship, Then Returns And Climbs Leaderboard
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