Nearly two months after the end of the 148-day writers strike, the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) is taking on Amazon over a number of stalled series.
The guild has accused the streamer of violating its contract after it emerged that Amazon Studios has yet to reconvene writers rooms for several shows that were already underway before the work stoppage earlier this year.
In a statement provided to Deadline, the guild said: “WGAW has notified Amazon Studios that their failure to recommence a number of writing rooms after the strike is a violation of the Strike Termination Agreement (STA) between the WGA and AMPTP and Article 7 of the MBA. Studios are obligated to return writers to work ‘upon termination of the strike,’ and writers’ Personal Services Agreements were extended for a period equal to the portion of the contract term that elapsed during the strike. The Guild will bring legal action against Amazon and any other studio that violates the STA to recover compensation, interest on late payments, and benefit contributions due as a result of the delay.”
It’s not clear which series are affected or what is preventing the series from getting back up and running but while writers, who are not being paid, are still under contract for Amazon Studios series, they cannot search for other writing work.
A rep for Amazon declined comment.
The streamer has been going through the process of evaluating its pipeline. Just yesterday, three series – The Horror of Dolores Roach, Harlan Coben’s Shelter, and With Love – were canceled.
According to sources, decisions are still being made on which series will be going forward, with calls on restarting writers rooms tied to that.
The Ankler was first to report the news.
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