The Writers Guild of America is currently negotiating with the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers over a new contract for Hollywood writers that, under normal circumstances, would have gone into effect on March 24. However, due to unresolved issues regarding pay and health care, it remains in limbo. If the two sides can’t come to an agreement by May 1, the WGA will likely go on strike. As WGA executive director David J. Young put it, “Should this occur, writing for television, feature films, and digital series will cease. Some scripted series scheduled to air in the summer of 2017 may be affected as writing and producing for the season is ongoing.”
Could Game of Thrones be affected?
Game of Thrones season 7 is already “in the can,” so to speak, so fans of the show don’t have anything to worry about in the near future. We’re getting season 7 whether there’s a writer’s strike or not. However, season 8 could be a different story. During their stop at SXSW earlier this year, Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss revealed how the writings duties for the six-episode season 8 were going to break down:
- Episode 1: Dave Hill
- Episode 2: Bryan Cogman
- Episodes 3-6 David Benioff and Dan Weiss
All four of those guys are in the WGA, and Cogman, at least, has made his support of a potential strike pretty clear.
The WGA strike is a story about workers' rights, not how it'll screw up our binge-watching. Solidarity, entertainment critics/journalists.
— Sean T. Collins
(@theseantcollins) April 21, 2017
Thank. You. https://t.co/y5upedkTER
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) April 21, 2017
Because of Game of Thrones’ involved shooting schedule, the writers turn in their scripts pretty far ahead of time. Benioff and Weiss are also known for planning stories well in advance. When speaking at the Sun Valley Writers Conference in July of 2016, they said they could “write the final episode today if we had to.”
But will they have written episodes for season 8 before the May 1 deadline? That’s far less clear. And even if they have, depending on how long any strike lasts, it could keep them off the set during production of season 8, where they oversee a lot of what goes on. Game of Thrones is such a complicated show to make, it can’t really afford to have the main creative forces away for months at a time without consequences.
The last time the WGA went on strike, it lasted from November of 2007 to February of 2008. Consequently, many shows had shortened seasons, including The Office, Lost, Breaking Bad, and The Big Bang Theory. Interestingly enough, back in 2007, George R.R. Martin even wondered if that strike had something to do with HBO not producing the Game of Thrones pilot sooner.
In any case, Let’s all hope both parties can work things out soon.
h/t Uproxx
The post Will the potential WGA writers’ strike affect Game of Thrones? appeared first on Winter is Coming.
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