Starz’s “P-Valley” is the latest production to announce it wasn’t going to start up in metro Atlanta until the writers’ strike ends.
The critically acclaimed drama joins the final seasons of two major Netflix TV series ― “Stranger Things” and “Cobra Kai” ― and big budget Marvel movie “Blade” on the list of productions in a holding pattern. They were all supposed to start filming either this month or next month.
“P-Valley” showrunner Katori Hall posted the news on Twitter, noting that he felt his “writing & producing duties are inextricably linked. We will not be filming until a fair deal is reached.”
“P-Valley,” a Lionsgate production, is set in Mississippi and focuses on The Pynk, a popular strip club run by Uncle Clifford, the club’s tough but discreet owner. Ratings were up season two last year so a third season was quickly greenlit.
The Writers Guild of America started the strike on May 2, the first work stoppage in Hollywood in 15 years. It will likely drag on at least through July since the production companies are now focused on signing fresh deals with The Directors Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA actors union before they plan to get back to the writers.
All three unions will be seeking ways to get better paid in a world of streaming while writers are especially worried about artificial intelligence’s impact on their jobs. The writers want minimum sizes and durations for writers rooms, which are typically how many shows generate scripts, a demand production companies are resisting.
The return dates of the aforementioned TV series and the launch date of “Blade” are likely to be delayed if the strike drags on longer than the 2007-08 one, which went on for 100 days.
So far, the average person will only have noticed the writers strike if they are fans of “Saturday Night Live” or most late-night talk shows like HBO’s “Real Time With Bill Maher” or NBC’s “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon.”
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