US SHOW WRITERS DOWN TOOLS

For the first time in 15 years, some of Hollywood’s biggest shows have come to a halt thanks to a writers’ strike.

Late-night shows hosted by the likes of Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon have all been forced to cancel upcoming recordings of shows. During these late-night shows, hosts typically use jokes written by a group of writers. The jokes are usually based on that day’s news.

The reason for the more than 11,000 screenwriters having downed tools is that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) have failed to reach a new deal on a list of issues.

Some of these issues include better pay, higher residuals and protection from possible artificial intelligence (AI) writing and rewriting of scripts, News24 reports.

The AMPRP represents NBCUniversal, Sony, Paramount, Discovery, Walt Disney and Warner Bros. Streaming services are also represented by them, this includes Netflix, Apple and Amazon Prime Video.

While most regular shows have already been written in advance and will be recording those episodes now before the summer break, the after-effect might be felt when the cast and crew are meant to come back after their holidays and there aren’t any new episodes written.

Meanwhile, the Writers Guild of South Africa has announced their support for the Writers Guild of America. It has also warned local writers not to help out during the strike action for American jurisdiction companies or American shows currently being filmed in South Africa.

Image credit: CNN