Striking Hollywood writers will not picket the upcoming 2023 Tony Awards, allowing the recognition ceremony for excellence on Broadway to continue next month.
The East and West Coast chapters of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) have not negotiated an interim agreement or waiver to contribute to the Tony Awards. But Tony Awards Productions, which organizes the celebration, agreed to specific requests from the WGA, the union said in a statement to CBS MoneyWatch.
“Tony Awards Productions (a joint venture of the Broadway League and the American Theater Wing) has informed us that they are modifying this year’s show to meet specific WGA requests and therefore the WGA will not be picketing in the show.” the statement read in part.
It is unclear how exactly the show will be changed, but typically the show’s script is generated by the writers themselves.
“The onus for having to make changes to the format of the 2023 Tony Awards falls squarely on the shoulders of Paramount/CBS and their allies,” the statement continued. “They continue to refuse to negotiate a fair contract for the writers represented by the WGA.”
CBS, owned by Paramount Global, is the broadcast partner for the Tony Awards, which will air on June 11. (Paramount Global also owns CBS News and Paramount+, and is one of the studios represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. (AMPTP).
The organizers of Tony are expected to put on an unscripted show made up of live performances.
The union, which represents more than 11,000 film, television and entertainment writers, has been on strike since May 2. It does not represent Broadway show writers, but its members often work on Tony’s broadcast.
Writers demand better salaries from studios, as well as protections that safeguard your jobs from being taken over by artificial intelligence.
However, both writers and studios are entrenched in their positions, suggesting the strike could last all summer.
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