Severance, The Hedge Knight, And All The Other Productions Halted As WGA Strikes

Alfred Hitchcock once said that "to make a great film you need three things — the script, the script and the script." Now, for the eighth time since the 1950s, Hollywood is learning this lesson the hard way, as the Writers Guild of America has officially been on strike since May 2, 2023. 

In a statement announcing the strike, which followed "six weeks of negotiations with Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney, Discovery-Warner, NBC Universal, Paramount and Sony under the umbrella of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP)," the WGA said that it was driven by the companies' creation of "a gig economy inside a union workforce," and that the AMPTP had "closed the door on their labor force and opened the door to writing as an entirely freelance profession."

The last WGA strike took place in 2007-08, and its impact can still be seen in the movies and television shows that were being produced at the time. Recalling what it was like to make "Quantum of Solace" with only the "bare bones of a script" and no writers actively working, star Daniel Craig said: "We were f***ed."

Some productions are attempting to power through the strike without writers. Filming continues on "Andor" season 2, and showrunner Tony Gilroy says that the scripts were locked two days before the strike began — "not because of the strike, but because our thing rhymed with the strike." Studios, including Disney, have sent legal letters to striking writer-producers like Gilroy, ordering them to continue with their "non-writing" obligations on shows. But Hitchcock wasn't kidding about the importance of the script. Here are the productions that have been impacted by the writers strike so far.

Last updated: May 8, 2023.

When the creator and star of a show is on the picket line, it's safe to say that production will have to wait until the strike ends. Such is the case with "Abbott Elementary," ABC's school-based sitcom that won two Primetime Emmy awards last year, and was renewed for a third season in January 2023. Quinta Brunson clarified on Twitter, in response to a fan's plea for her to help the writers: "I am a writer. I'm in the [WGA]. I'm also on strike! I have no real power here other than to join my union in demanding fair compensation for writers!"

According to Vanity Fair, the writers room for "Abbott Elementary" was scheduled to reconvene on May 2nd, but the start of pre-production for season 3 has now been put on hold. Writer Brittani Nichols explained to Democracy Now:

"We are a show that writes while we air, and so if this strike goes on for a significant period of time, our show will not come out on time, and that could change the amount of episodes which I'm sure people will be very upset about."

"Cobra Kai" is a show where words can sometimes hit harder than fists, so the writers strike certainly throws a wrench in the works for season 6. Co-creator Jon Hurwitz wrote on Twitter: "We hate to strike, but if we must, we strike hard. Pencils down in the Cobra Kai writers room. No writers on set."

That last part is indicative of filming going ahead without the writers — at least for a while. On May 4, costume designer Frank Helmer posted a photo of the costume room on his Instagram story with the caption "Welcome to Shoot Day 1," which is in line with Ralph Macchio saying earlier this year that the start of filming was penciled in for May. Production can begin using scripts that were written prior to the strike, but having no writers available for rewrites, no writers on set, and episodes still to be written could eventually force a full shutdown.

There's a natural swagger to declaring that "evil has been shut down," especially if it comes after a battle. While some productions have been halted willingly (albeit reluctantly) by studios, others have been forced to shut down due to disruption from the WGA strike. In the case of Paramount+ series "Evil," which has ended production on its fourth season prematurely, the exact reason for the shutdown is somewhat muddy. 

Variety reports that filming ended because of "a cast member [taking] a leave of absence due to a personal family matter," adding that "a source close to the series would only confirm that the early end to filming was a result of the unnamed actor's temporary exit from the show." However, the departure of this unnamed cast member comes coincidentally after filming was shut down by a WGA picket line.

"A handful of us walking in a tiny circle cost them the day's shoot," radio producer and "Search Party" writer Starlee Kine wrote on Twitter. She said that production finally shut down at around 1am, after the crew had been kept on the sidewalk for hours. The camera operators, grips, costume designers, and other crew members belong to a different union, IATSE, which came close to a nationwide strike in 2021. Kine told Variety that there was great solidarity from their colleagues, who even bought ice cream for the WGA strikers. A video shared on TikTok shows crew members in apparently good spirits despite the long hours on standby.

Like "Evil," production on Apple TV+ comedy series "Loot" was shut down following direct picketing of the shoot. According to The Hollywood Reporter, "picketing members of the Writers Guild of America arrived at the Bel-Air mega-mansion that is used for filming the series" (which was in production on season 2). Star and executive producer Maya Rudolph "is said to have retreated to her trailer, unwilling to return to work." 

We don't yet know if this production shutdown is temporary or whether it will continue for the duration of the WGA strike, but the latter seems likely. In addition to Rudolph reportedly refusing to resume filming, co-creator Matt Hubbard said on Twitter that he "enthusiastically voted yes" in the strike authorization vote. Rudolph's co-star Joel Kim Booster (who is also a screenwriter and on strike as a WGA member) has been vocal about the industrial action on Twitter. 

In theory, Rudolph and Booster are not excused from their acting duties by the strike, and Apple could also put pressure on Hubbard and his co-showrunner Alan Yang to continue their "non-writing" duties. However, it's very difficult to extricate the writing parts of running a show from the producing parts when the smallest change to a line on set qualifies as writing duties. For similar reasons, actors rewriting or improvising dialogue is considered by many to be scabbing.

Also, given that "Loot" is a show about a billionaire-turned-philanthropist who is trying to reconnect with ordinary people, any form of strikebreaking during production would be kind of a bad look.

The second season of "Severance" began filming in October 2022 and was expected to wrap in May, but the final stretch of filming has been shut down for the time being. Per Deadline, production was paused after WGA members picketed York Studios in New York, where filming was taking place, and both Teamsters and IATSE members refused to cross the picket line.

It's currently unclear how long this shutdown will last. Given the critical acclaim for "Severance" and the fact that season 2's production is so close to wrapping, Apple TV+ might push to resume filming as soon as possible. However, as is the case with "Loot," there would be a great deal of irony in the company taking strikebreaking action. "Severance" puts a sci-fi spin on the dehumanization of workers, following a group of "innies" whose work brains have been severed the rest of their lives, so that they are trapped in a soul-sucking office for all of their waking hours. 

"Severance" director Ben Stiller has expressed support for the writers strike on Twitter. In a 2022 interview with Esquire, creator Dan Erickson said that he was inspired by his own experience working monotonous office jobs "where I wasn't important in any way." After working in the film and television industry, Erickson said, "I've seen firsthand why unions are so necessary, because there were times where I felt extremely uncomfortable with what we were asking people to do."

Rob Lowe's Netflix comedy-drama "Unstable" only landed on the streaming service a few weeks ago and has yet to be officially renewed for season 2, but Deadline reports that production prep launched at the end of March ... and has now been shut down. The series was co-created by Lowe in collaboration with his son, John Owen Lowe (who also stars as Lowe's TV son), and "Santa Clarita Diet" creator Victor Fresco.

Per Deadline, six out of eight season 2 scripts had been written when pre-production was suspended, and the writers were told they were being laid off at the end of the week. Given the mixed critical reception to the series, and the fact that season 2 hadn't yet officially been given the green light, there's a good chance that the production shutdown may become permanent.

Rob Lowe joined the picket line outside Paramount Pictures in Los Angeles, saying, "I came out to support the writers because, as actors, we're only as good as the writing we get. And my son is on the picket line today."