The Writers Guild of America, which has been on strike since early May, appears to be in damage control mode. According to a new report in hollywood reporterone of the most powerful presenters in Hollywood, Ryan Murphywas recently threatened with litigation against a union strike captain.
To understand what fueled the boom, it’s important to know that one of the WGA’s most powerful tools is the ability to close TV shows by product selection. If even one person blocks the entrance to the studio, the people on the team are almost always likely to turn their backs instead of providing critical production equipment. At a time when almost no scripted shows were in production, Murphy had three shows in motion—American Horror Story, American Sports Storyand anthology American Horror Story—which made his projects a target. (Remember when AHS star kim kardashian arrested for tweeting from the studio during a writers strike?)
Warren Leightan executive producer on Law & Order: SVU and strike captain for the association’s East Coast branch, is one of the leaders of the rapid response team that is targeting production around the greater New York area. At the end of June, he tweeted that the crew members on American Horror Story, was filming at Silvercup Studios, told him they would be “blackened in Murphy-land” if they refused to cross the crooks. A spokesperson for Murphy called these claims “completely untrue,” and an attorney representing him sent a letter to WGA East leadership threatening litigation against Leight, CHEAP report. Murphy’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
Leight later deleted the tweet, giving a Sorryand is said to have relinquished his leadership role in WGA East. Vanity Fair has reached out to Leight and a spokesperson for WGA East for comment. Now, WGA East has clearly had to remind its leadership that it should not go after fellow writers but should focus on fighting the Union of Film and Television Producers, whom they still maintain. have not yet agreed on a new contract. “If we turn on each other, AMPTP wins,” the WGA East memo reads. CHEAP obtained and published.
In the same memo, WGA East said it will continue to select his performances and investigate any clues that members violated the strike rule. Murphy’s shows are allowed to continue production as long as they use scripts written before the strike, and Murphy can continue working as his producer, but a source close to the deal dahmer The co-creator says he stayed away from the set to try to comply with strike protocols.
