Warner Bros. TV Suspends Deals With J.J. Abrams, Greg Berlanti, Bill Lawrence, Mindy Kaling, and More
Warner Bros. TV has suspended overall deals with several of it A-list producers, which reportedly include J.J. Abrams, Greg Berlanti, Bill Lawrence, John Wells, Chuck Lorre, and Mindy Kaling. The suspensions are due to the ongoing Hollywood strikes.
It makes sense that the studio would choose to do this as any of the projects that have been in production and development have shut down, and it’s not like they can start developing any new ones at the moment. All of the major studios, networks, and streaming services have hit pause on the deals they’ve made with talent.
It’s explained that once talent is no longer able to render services, the policy is generally to suspend deals. “Such a deal suspension is different from overall terminations, which so far have not been widely seen in the industry — even though the writers strike has already passed 90-day mark when, historically, dealmakers have the option to kill agreements in the face of an “act of God” (the common show business interpretation for how the phrase “force majeure” applies to these type of labor shutdowns).”
These overall deals “typically pay overhead for a writer’s company and fund the development of projects. First-look deals also provide financial padding and, in return, guarantee that the studio or company has favored nation status when it comes to determining potential distribution of a series or film.”
The suspensions only put a deal on hold while no work is being done and once production resumes, the deals continue. In the meantime, the overhead to pay salaries at companies like Bad Robot will be paused and will impact the staff at these companies.
Source: Variety