Warner Bros. TV has suspended its overall deals with Bill Lawrence, Mindy Kaling, Greg Berlanti and several other producers amid the historic Hollywood double strike, according to media reports.
J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, John Wells and Chuck Lorre are among the producers who were also impacted by the suspensions, though their deals may have been impacted earlier in the strike.
The news comes nearly four months after studios including Amazon, HBO, Warner Bros. TV, NBCUniversal, Disney, CBS Studios began suspending deals at the onset on the WGA strike in May. That round of suspensions was mostly limited to writers, as producers whose shows were in production could continue on amid the WGA strike before SAG-AFTRA members joined writers on the picket line in mid-July.
Writers who publicly shared their suspension include “Game of Thrones” author George R.R. Martin, who shared in a July blog post that he is “one of the lucky ones” with “plenty to do” when he’s not on the picket line in New Mexico, as well as “The Wire” creator David Simon, who revealed his overall deal was suspended by HBO after 25 years.
“Dear White People” creator Justin Simien also shared in late May that the overall deal for his production company Culture Machine was suspended due to the writers’ strike, and launched a fundraising effort.
Studios like Warner Bros. TV have opted to stick with suspensions for overall deals, meaning that they aren’t actively paying the producers during the labor dispute, rather than terminations, which was utilized during the 2007-2008 strike.
The well-known slate of producers are all behind several shows at the studio, including Abrams’ “Duster,” Berlanti’s “Superman & Lois,” Lorre’s “Bob Hearts Abishola,” Lawrence’s “Shrinking,” John Wells “Maid” and Kaling’s “Sex Lives of College Girls.” While the creators’ work as writers paused amid the WGA strike, they continued working in a producer capacity per their contracts.
Representatives for Abrams, Berlanti, Kaling, Lorre, Lawrence and Wells did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
For all of TheWrap’s strike coverage, click here.
