As The WGA Strike Continues, Filiming Of Scripted Shows Has Essentially Stopped

Jun 6

As the Writers Guild of America (WGA) continues its strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), dozens upon dozens of scripted productions around Los Angeles are screeching to a halt. FilmLA, the city and county film permit office, released data reflecting year-to-date production volume to show how damaging the strike is to the economy.

“In a normal week at this time of the year, there would be dozens of scripted television projects in production. By contrast, we have just one scripted TV series with a permit this week, and that is for parking near a stage or studio. Under the circumstances, the existence of this permit is not a reliable indicator that filming is taking place,” said Philip Sokoliski, a spokesman for FilmLA.

RELATED:

Featured

Who Are The Negotiators Working In The Shadows During The Writer's Strike?

“These are the categories into which all scripted projects fall, though not all productions within these categories are affected by the labor action. Reality TV, as one example, still appears in these counts in addition to non-union independent films,” Sokoloski said.

Film and television permits are down 62.8% compared to last year when 344 permits were issued. As of last week, filming done on location is down over 50% compared to a year ago. There is no sign from the WGA or the AMPTP that the strike will end soon. The strike began on May 2.

READ NEXT:

Featured