WGA Strike and the Production Year
Happy post Thanksgiving and welcome back to my blog. We are in the middle of a writers strike by the WGA, and add the onset of the Holidays, it is a bit odd around here. However, do be advised that this is a writers strike, not an industry strike. It does not affect Commercials, Reality and many other facets of the industry. Over the years, starting about 2000, Hollywood’s annual calendar had begun to change.
In the last several years, with the popularity of Reality programming, as well as the explosion of original programming on cable our typical production year was altered forever. Therefore it is imperative that you realize shows shoot at different times of the year. Especially in the case of television it is no longer a strict 8-month shooting schedule. This had been, for years, the typical MO. Shoot from mid-January to late April then again from late July to early December. But with the addition of the aforementioned cable et al we now have shows shooting year round, for all type of companies and networks.
It is a different Hollywood now, in terms of product production, but as we see with the strike it is still business as usual. As you would expect the rich get richer, and the writers/actors have to strike for the table scraps of a multi-billion dollar industry which now has three rapidly progressing new media markets known as: DVD sales, webisodes, digital internet airings. Where the fight ends remains to be seen but I can assure you, as I’ve lived in Los Angeles since the very beginning of 1987, this isn’t the first and it won’t be the last. Period.
Have a great remainder of the Holiday season.
Kevin E.
