The WGA strike is strong. Productions with finished scripts have proven to be an issue with the current writers’ strike. Studios seem to think they can just go ahead and film those scripts without having writers around. That’s actually not the case: writers are necessary for on-set changes and rewrites, but hey, the studios don’t care because they don’t actually care about the writers who make them tons of money.
Finished scripts have come into the conversation with shows like The Rings of Power (which the writers prepared for) and season 2 of the hit Disney+ series Andor moving forward with or continuing production during the strike. When the strike began, studios like Disney reportedly sent letters to their showrunners, stating that their producing jobs would still need to be done, even if they were not writing.
That led to many writers calling out creatives like Gilroy and accusing ongoing productions of “scabbing.” Tony Gilroy, creator and producer of Andor, has since clarified his duties on the Star Wars series, and the level he’d been involved with production since the beginning of the strike. “I discontinued all writing and writing-related work on Andor prior to midnight, May 1. After being briefed on the Saturday showrunner meeting, I informed Chris Keyser at the WGA on Sunday morning that I would also be ceasing all non-writing producing functions,” Gilroy said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.
This means that Gilroy is not currently working on season 2 of Andor in any capacity. But the situation with Andor also shows the complicated nature of being split between duties and still standing strong with the WGA. And I’m happy that Gilroy has now clarified the timeline. The callout to high-profile writers is also an important thing to note.
Power in numbers
Gilroy is clearly taking the strike seriously, especially by stating that he’d stopped writing the minute the strike began. It’s something that a lot of writers did prior to May 1. They prepared as many scripts as they could for production on their shows to continue, like they were supposed to. Where the complexity lies is in those high-profile writers who have additional duties on set; they can’t just drop things so easily.
Tony Gilroy clarifying that he is not writing on Andor during the strike, and that he has ceased all his producer functions as well, is a huge show of solidarity with the WGA. And it’s necessary. Even if Gilroy had completely finished writing on season 2, people were still justifiably upset by the news that he would be on set. Clearing this up was the right move.
Given that Andor is a show about a rebellion, it did hurt a bit to think that Gilroy was still going to be on set while the strike is happening. I’m happy that that isn’t the case, and I hope it brings Gilroy out to the picket lines as well.
(featured image: Disney+)
