It’s the first day of the second week of the WGA’s strike for fair compensation and cracks are finally showing in ongoing productions. While the start of the strike hit the late night shows first, this week saw some ongoing productions shutting down. According to a new report in Deadline, Apple TV‘s Severance has joined the likes of Netflix’s Stranger Things, Max’s Hacks, Showtime’s Billions, and Starz’ The Venery of Samantha Bird in shutting down till the writer’s strike ends.
The Apple TV+ sci-fi psychological thriller follows Lumon Industries’ employees, who have undergone a severance procedure, which divides their memories between their work and personal lives. Due to their increasingly divergent work-life balance, the consciousnesses of these employees gradually split, and the experiment is called into question.
The Team Behind Severance
The series created by Dan Erickson became an instant favorite upon its premiere last year and instantly bagged a renewal. Directed by Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle, the series gradually gathered acclaim from fans and critics alike bagging 14 Emmy nominations in various categories including cinematography, direction, production design, musical score, story, and performances. The first season has a 97 percent fresh Rotten Tomatoes score and is highly anticipated by the fans.
The series casts Adam Scott as Mark, Zach Cherry as Dylan, Britt Lower as Helly R., Tramell Tillman as Seth, Jen Tullock as Devon, Dichen Lachman as Ms. Casey, Michael Chernus as Ricken Hale, John Turturro as Irving Bailiff, Christopher Walken as Burt and Patricia Arquette as Harmony among many others. Furthermore, the second season will introduce Gwendoline Christie, Bob Balaban, Merritt Wever, Alia Shawkat, Robby Benson, Stefano Carannante, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, and John Noble.
Why Writer’s Guild of America is on Strike
After failed negotiations with the Alliance for Motion Pictures and Television Producers, members of WGA announced the strike on May 2. The writers have to resort to picket lines as they ask for fair compensation, and residuals from the producers, streamers, and studios. In a report, the WGA noted that despite ample work thanks to the boom brought in the industry by streaming giants, writers are earning considerably less than other stakeholders. The strike has brought Hollywood to a standstill, while giants like Netflix and Paramount boast of enough to last through the year many fan-favorite series are suffering and shutting down. How and when the strike ends remains to be seen.
via Collider