Besides the writers themselves notable, Dismissal‘s shutdown was due in part to members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (the guild of the production crew) and the Teamsters (the guild representing drivers and other manual workers essential to productions) not crossing the picket line. These latest interruptions come as other series like Stranger things And Hacks and movies like Marvel’s Sheet have similarly been forced to hit the pause button after the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) reached a deadlock last week over how much writers are compensated for their labor and a slew of other workplace issues.
In a long No blog post about the production stopwhy it happens and how it affects The Hague Knight, George R. R. Martin expressed his full support for the WGA strike and encouraged the AMPTP to get used to the sight of “pickets for every studio lot and sound stage in LA, and many other cities as well”. Whatever hopes the AMPTP may harbor that the WGA withdraws, Martin said, should probably be let go.
“I have never seen the Guild as united as it is now”
“Maybe the AMPTP members will come to their senses tomorrow and make some sensible concessions, and the whole thing can be wrapped up next week,” Martin mused. “I wouldn’t bet the ranch on that, though. I’ve been through several since I first started writing for television and film in 1986. The 1988 strike, the first I was part of, lasted 22 weeks, the longest in Hollywood history. The 2007-2008 strike, the most recent, lasted 100 days. This one might last longer. The issues are more important, imnsho, and I have never seen the Guild more united than now.”
While the strike will have consequences The Hague KnightMartin was careful to note that the writing is apparently pre-finished House of the Dragon‘s second season, which began filming in early April in London and Wales ahead of the strike.
“The scripts for the eight s2 episodes were all done months ago, long before the strike started,” Martin insisted. “Each episode has gone through four or five drafts and numerous rounds of revisions to address HBO notes, my notes, budget issues, etc. There will be no further revisions. The writers have done their job; the rest is in the hands of the directors, cast and crew… and of course the dragons.”
Martin’s assurances that everything is in accordance with House of the Dragon‘s second season will probably come as a relief to some fans of the show.
But as an increasing number of notable writers have pointed out, on-set writing is an important part of the TV and movie production process that is often critical to making a finished project shine the way studios want it to. Suffice it to say it will be very interesting to see how House of the Dragon turns out when it finally premieres on HBO and Max in the near future – hopefully at a time when the strike has come to a fair and equitable conclusion.
Disclosure: Vox Media’s editorial team, including The edgeis also affiliated with the Writers Guild of America, East.
