The Writers Guild of America does not want the business of the companies against which its members are currently striking, The Hollywood Reporter has learned, even for Emmy FYC ads on its website and email communications – some of which are already paid for – aimed at its members, many of whom are also TV Academy members.
It’s just the latest twist in how the WGA strike affects the current Emmy season.
Kayley Nagle, a communications coordinator for WGA West, notified companies of this decision in an email on Saturday, explaining, “Following discussions with our legal department, all FYC production has now been suspended. We understand this can be frustrating and you have already scheduled media, but due to strike rules we cannot continue.”
Nagle went on to offer companies that prepaid for promotion “either a full refund or a credit toward future FYCs, depending on what your team prefers. Let us know which one you choose ASAP.”
Multiple companies whose money is now rejected by the WGA are already allocating it for FYC promotion elsewhere, THR can report.
On May 2, after months of negotiations, the WGA announced its first strike in 15 years to try to secure, among other things, better pay, minimum television writing staff, and minimum weeks of employment for their writers.
The WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers had been negotiating a three-year contract for approximately 11,500 film and television writers since March 20 at its headquarters in Sherman Oaks. In early April, the WGA claimed that “the studios must respond to the crisis writers face” during the negotiations, while the AMPTP suggested in a recent statement that the union has not fully committed to reaching an agreement ahead of the approval vote of the strike.
