Latest news with #AMPTP
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
TV Writers Hit By Drastic Reduction In Number Of Jobs, Says WGA
It's been a tough couple of years for the television writers' community. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) revealed that the number of TV writing jobs fell by 42% for the 2023/24 season. In a new report, the guild said that there were 1,819 television writing jobs during this season with 1,319 jobs compared to the 2022/23 season. More from Deadline AMPTP Names Greg Hessinger As Carol Lombardini's Successor; Lawyer & Ex-SAG CEO Faces Guild Contract Talks Next Year WGA Zeroes In On AI Protections In CBS News Contract Negotiations To "Safeguard Journalism As A Profession" Independent Writers' Caucus Adds 7 Board Members, Including 'Inside Out' Scribe Meg LeFauve & Former WGAW President Howard Rodman This comes after the WGA spent months fighting the studios for a new contract, something that the guild said was partly to blame for the new statistics. Other reasons included the decline in original programming across the cable networks and streamers pulling back from the number of shows 'as Wall Street demands quicker streaming platform profits'. There have also been a slew of cancelations and ending of shows. Most stark was the number of jobs lost for showrunners and co-exec producers, which saw 642 fewer jobs across the year. There were 378 fewer staff writer, story editor and executive story editor positions compared to the previous season as well as 299 fewer mid-level jobs, which include co-producers, consulting and supervising producers. There has been a pretty precipitous fall since the 2018/19 season with 15,08 showrunners and co-exec producers compared to the 952 there were last season. The report was sent to members by the WGA West board of directors and WGA East council. The WGA, which represents over 10,000 writers, went on strike between May 2 and September 27 2023. The strike was the second longest strike in the guild's history at 148 days, tied with the strike in 1960 but below the 153 days that the 1988 strike lasted. It coincided with the SAG-AFTRA strike, which ran from July 14 to November 9 2023. Best of Deadline 2025-26 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Tonys, Emmys, Oscars & More A Full Timeline Of Blake Lively & Justin Baldoni's 'It Ends With Us' Feud In Court, Online & In The Media 'Hacks' Season 4 Release Schedule: When Do New Episodes Come Out?
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
TV Writers Hit By Drastic Reduction In Number Of Jobs, Says WGA
It's been a tough couple of years for the television writers' community. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) revealed that the number of TV writing jobs fell by 42% for the 2023/24 season. In a new report, the guild said that there were 1,819 television writing jobs during this season with 1,319 jobs compared to the 2022/23 season. More from Deadline AMPTP Names Greg Hessinger As Carol Lombardini's Successor; Lawyer & Ex-SAG CEO Faces Guild Contract Talks Next Year WGA Zeroes In On AI Protections In CBS News Contract Negotiations To "Safeguard Journalism As A Profession" Independent Writers' Caucus Adds 7 Board Members, Including 'Inside Out' Scribe Meg LeFauve & Former WGAW President Howard Rodman This comes after the WGA spent months fighting the studios for a new contract, something that the guild said was partly to blame for the new statistics. Other reasons included the decline in original programming across the cable networks and streamers pulling back from the number of shows 'as Wall Street demands quicker streaming platform profits'. There have also been a slew of cancelations and ending of shows. Most stark was the number of jobs lost for showrunners and co-exec producers, which saw 642 fewer jobs across the year. There were 378 fewer staff writer, story editor and executive story editor positions compared to the previous season as well as 299 fewer mid-level jobs, which include co-producers, consulting and supervising producers. There has been a pretty precipitous fall since the 2018/19 season with 15,08 showrunners and co-exec producers compared to the 952 there were last season. The report was sent to members by the WGA West board of directors and WGA East council. The WGA, which represents over 10,000 writers, went on strike between May 2 and September 27 2023. The strike was the second longest strike in the guild's history at 148 days, tied with the strike in 1960 but below the 153 days that the 1988 strike lasted. It coincided with the SAG-AFTRA strike, which ran from July 14 to November 9 2023. Best of Deadline 2025-26 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Tonys, Emmys, Oscars & More A Full Timeline Of Blake Lively & Justin Baldoni's 'It Ends With Us' Feud In Court, Online & In The Media 'Hacks' Season 4 Release Schedule: When Do New Episodes Come Out?
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Rob Lowe Claims California Leadership's Handling Of Domestic Film & TV Production Exodus Is 'Criminal' As State Seeks Solutions
Rob Lowe lamented the state of film and television production in California on a recent episode of his podcast, insisting that state leadership's handling of the massive domestic production exodus over the last several years has been 'criminal.' 'It's cheaper to bring 100 American people to Ireland than to walk across the lot at Fox, past the sound stages, and do it there,' Lowe told former Parks & Recreation co-star Adam Scott, during the episode of the 'Literally!' podcast, about his game show The Floor, explaining why the production is based at Ardmore Studios outside of Dublin. More from Deadline SAG-AFTRA's Duncan Crabtree-Ireland Hopes For "Productive Bargaining" With New AMPTP President Greg Hessinger Ahead Of 2026 Negotiations Stay In LA To Hold Sun Valley Rally In April AMPTP Names Greg Hessinger As Carol Lombardini's Successor; Lawyer & Ex-SAG CEO Faces Guild Contract Talks Next Year Incredulous at the revelation that Lowe's U.S. game show shoots internationally, Scott also remarked that 'nothing shoots in Los Angeles' anymore, wondering if Parks & Recreation would be filming in the city if it were made today. 'Do you think if we shot 'Parks' right now, we'd be in Budapest?' he asked, to which Lowe answered: 'One-hundred percent we would be. We'd be in Budapest.' Lowe certainly isn't alone in his frustrations about the decline in domestic production and, more specifically, how that has impacted California. Per a recent report from FilmLA, 2024 was the second-least-productive year for L.A. production (after only pandemic-stricken 2020), down more than 30% over five-year averages. There are multiple compounding reasons why California production is no longer booming the way that it once was, and state leadership has recently turned its attention to finding solutions. During the podcast episode, Lowe claims 'there are no tax credits [in California], so like, all those other places are offering 40% — 40%. And then on top of that, there's other stuff that they do. And then, that's not even talking about union stuff. It's just tax, economics of it all, so it's criminal what California and L.A. have let happen — it's criminal. Everybody should be fired.' In fact, California does have a tax incentive program, currently offering $330M annually. Last week, the state actually handed out a total of around $114M in incentives to 51 projects — a record for any single round of production tax credit approvals ever in the history of California's TV and film incentives program. That being said, television productions in particular have long complained that the amount of money there for small screen projects is decreasing as the vast majority of past successful applicants are grandfathered in year after year as long as they remain on the air or online, leading to application periods when just a couple of new shows see any credits. In February, an impact report from the Entertainment Union Coalition revealed that, from 2015 to 2020, about 50% of the 312 productions that did not qualify for California's tax credit incentive relocated to another area, resulting in an approximate loss of 28,000 jobs and $7.7 billion in economic activity. California has increasingly had to compete with enticing tax incentives offered by other states and territories. Domestically, Louisiana and Georgia still remain among the top rivals to California, though New Jersey, Nevada, and Utah have been putting more tax credit money on the table recently as well. As Lowe and Scott mentioned, international production has also become more alluring as Canadian provinces, the UK, and more competitive than ever European nations up their own incentives. In October, California Governor Gavin Newsom proposed expanding the tax credit to $750M annually to revitalize the program. Newsom's proposed expansion of the tax credit is also not yet set in stone, given California's 2025-26 budget is still being negotiated, though it still seems likely to be approved. The Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee is set to hear testimony regarding that proposal on Wednesday morning, including from the leaders of two prominent initiatives that are aimed at bringing production back to the state. That comes as California lawmakers have finally updated a pair of bills introduced in February to 'amend, update, and modernize' the current tax incentive program beyond Newsom's proposal. With the amended language as of March 25, the bills offer a number of solutions, including increasing the available credit for an individual production to 35% for all expenses incurred in Los Angeles. The production community itself has also been committed to solving this issue. Following the devastating wildfires that brought even more financial strife to Los Angeles after years of back-to-back blows, the Entertainment Union Coalition launched Keep California Rolling around the same time that some of the industry's biggest stars as well as top film and TV writers and producers started a similar movement called Stay in LA. Both are aimed at not only calling attention to the issue but lobbying lawmakers to engage meaningfully in finding solutions. Best of Deadline How Jon Gries' Return To 'The White Lotus' Could Shape Season 3 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery How To Watch 'Wicked: Part One': Is The Film Streaming Yet?
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
SAG-AFTRA's Duncan Crabtree-Ireland Hopes For 'Productive Bargaining' With New AMPTP President Greg Hessinger Ahead Of 2026 Negotiations
SAG-AFTRA has weighed in on the appointment of new leadership at the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers ahead of the union's negotiations with the major Hollywood studios next year. 'Greg Hessinger has extensive knowledge of the industry and is an experienced negotiator,' National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said in a statement to Deadline on Tuesday. 'We look forward to productive bargaining with him as we continue to represent and advance the interests of all performers.' More from Deadline AMPTP Names Greg Hessinger As Carol Lombardini's Successor; Lawyer & Ex-SAG CEO Faces Guild Contract Talks Next Year DGA Appoints Jon Avnet & Karen Gaviola To Lead Negotiations Committee For 2026 Bargaining Cycle Gizmodo Editorial Staff Ratifies First Union Contract Under New Management Hessinger is the former National Executive Director of the Screen Actors Guild, having taken up the post for about six months in 2005, before the merger with AFTRA. However, prior to his SAG top job, Hessinger also served as the National Executive Director of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. No stranger to labor negotiations, Hessinger also previously served as Director of Labor Relations for CBS. The AMPTP's succession plan comes nearly five months after the organization announced that its president of 15 years, Carol Lombardini, would be stepping down this year. Hessinger assumes his new position on April 14, and Lombardini will take on an advisory role. 'Carol Lombardini has given decades of service and broke ground as the first female lead negotiator for the employers. We wish her well as she steps into an advisory role with the AMPTP,' Crabtree-Ireland concluded. Hessinger is taking over on the heels of a relatively contentious previous bargaining cycle, when both SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America went on strike for more than 100 days. His experience on the other side of the negotiating table could indicate a new dynamic to come between the AMPTP and the guilds as they begin early talks in the next few months, ahead of next year's formal bargaining cycles. The WGA's contract expires on May 1, 2026, and the Directors Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA agreements both expire on June 30, 2026. Best of Deadline 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery How To Watch 'Wicked: Part One': Is The Film Streaming Yet? All The Songs In 'Severance' Season 2: From The Who To Ella Fitzgerald
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gregory Hessinger to Replace Carol Lombardini at AMPTP
For the first time in 15 years, the powerful but discreet organization that negotiates union contracts on behalf of Hollywood's major studios and streamers has named a new leader. Gregory Hessinger has been selected to helm the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers as former president Carol Lombardini steps into an advisory position. The change marks a post-strikes shakeup for the Sherman Oaks-based organization, which was formed in 1982 out of the merger of two previously separate employer groups in an attempt to present a more unified front and reduce the likelihood of industry work stoppages. More from The Hollywood Reporter Major Hollywood Crew Union Takes Over In Oklahoma After "Financial Malpractice" Claims Video Game Union Organizers' New Tactic for Workers: Don't Unionize, Technically What Really Happened on the Set of 'Anora'? Hessinger, who will be based in Los Angeles, starts on April 14. The attorney is a well-known figure in the entertainment labor world, having worked on both sides of the bargaining table in industry negotiations. Since 2016, Hessinger has represented employers as a partner at Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp, a firm that has deep ties to the entertainment industry and the AMPTP in particular. Prior to that, he worked in private practice as a partner at employment and labor specialist firm Curley, Hessinger & Johnsrud, which has since merged with Duane Morris. Hessinger got his start in entertainment at Westinghouse Broadcasting Company and CBS, where he became director of labor relations. He later was appointed the national executive director for the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) in 2000, before it merged with the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). In 2005, SAG named Hessinger its CEO and national executive director, though that appointment didn't last long — amid internal political battles and debate about whether or not to merge SAG and AFTRA (a move Hessinger supported), the national board fired Hessinger after only six months on the job. SAG and AFTRA later merged in 2012. Hessinger obtained his law degree from St. John's University School of Law in New York and an undergraduate degree from Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pennsylvania. 'Greg has been on both sides of the table and knows entertainment inside and out, and is the right leader for our industry at this moment,' a spokesperson for the AMPTP board of directors said in a statement on Tuesday. 'He understands the priorities and values of those who make production possible, and has an extensive track record of bringing parties together to find common ground. We conducted an exhaustive search process and have the utmost confidence that his experience and deep relationships will be invaluable to the work of leading the AMPTP.' Hessinger will take over the organization and oversee the roughly 60 collective bargaining agreements it helps negotiate at a time of breakneck change in the industry, as a contraction in the business is squeezing workers and major companies are exploring the creative (and cost-cutting) possibilities offered by AI. In his new role, he will doubtless be dealing with the aftereffects of the 2023 double strike of writers and actors, which thrust the often-secretive AMPTP into the spotlight. His appointment will also see him attempt to find consensus among the leaders and negotiators of various AMPTP member companies, which compete against one another and don't always see eye to eye. In a statement, Hessinger said he was 'deeply honored' to lead the AMPTP at a 'pivotal' moment in the business. 'I've spent my entire career working to create and sustain opportunity in entertainment and media, and I look forward to partnering with our Member Companies and union leaders to ensure the hard-working individuals who drive our industry forward can continue to create inspiring content for audiences around the world,' he said. Lombardini, who officially announced her retirement in the fall of 2024, has been with the AMPTP since its inception in 1982. As president since 2009, she presided over a largely peaceful period for the organization that was broken by 2023's strikes. In a statement, Lombardini said the role had been an 'honor.' She added, 'I have no doubt that Greg is the perfect leader to continue to unite our industry and promote opportunity for those who bring entertainment to life.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter How the Warner Brothers Got Their Film Business Started Meet the World Builders: Hollywood's Top Physical Production Executives of 2023 Men in Blazers, Hollywood's Favorite Soccer Podcast, Aims for a Global Empire
