The Writers Guild of America does not want the business of the companies its members are currently striking against, The Hollywood Reporter has learned, even for Emmy FYC advertising on its website and email communications — some of it already paid for — aimed at its members, many of whom are also members of the TV Academy.
It’s just the latest twist in how the WGA strike is impacting the ongoing Emmy season.
A communications coordinator for WGA West notified companies of this decision in an email on Saturday, explaining, “After deliberation with our legal department, all FYC production is now suspended. We understand that this may be frustrating and that you have media already planned, but due to the strike rules, we cannot continue.”
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The WGA spokesperson went on to offer any companies that have pre-paid for promotion “either a full refund or credit to future FYCs, whichever your team prefers. Please let us know ASAP which you choose.”
Multiple companies whose money is now being turned away by the WGA are already reallocating it for FYC promotion elsewhere, THR can report.
On May 2, after months of negotiating, the WGA announced its first strike in 15 years to try to procure better compensation, minimum television writing staff sizes and a minimum number of weeks of employment, among other demands, for their writers.
The WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers had been negotiating a three-year contract covering around 11,500 film and television writers at the latter’s Sherman Oaks headquarters since March 20. In early April, the WGA alleged that “the studios need to respond to the crisis writers face” in negotiations, while in a recent statement, the AMPTP suggested that the union has not been fully committed to reaching a deal prior to its strike authorization vote.
