Disney Demands Showrunners Work During WGA Writers Strike

Studios like Disney and Warner Bros. Studios are beginning to demand that writers perform non-writing duties during the writers’ strike, potentially acting against their guild’s own mandates.

Writers Guild of America writers strike

This week, Disney and Warner Bros. Studios sent out a letter to showrunners employed at their various studios. The purpose of the letter was to remind the striking writers and producers that they remain contractually obligated to perform their non-writing services.

According to , the letter from ABC Signature — owned by Disney — read:

“We would like to reiterate to you, the showrunner or other writer-producer, that you are not relieved of your duties as showrunner and/or producer of your series as a result of the WGA strike. Your personal service contract with [the] Studio requires that you perform your showrunner and/or production duties even if the WGA seeks to penalize you for providing such services during this strike…your duties as showrunner and/or producer will not be excused, suspended or terminated until you it is communicated in writing by the studio.”

The letter was written by Bob McPhail, the deputy chief counsel of Disney-owned ABC Signature. We also noted that the date on the letter was May 3, which was the second day of the Writers Guild of America strike.

Authors have been on strike in Los Angeles and New York since May 2 and are demanding, among other things, higher minimum wages, viewer transparency from streamers and protective measures against the use of artificial intelligence.

Under the umbrella of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), they negotiated for six weeks with Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney, Discovery-Warner, NBC Universal, Paramount and Sony.

In a statement to Deadline, AMPTP said they “presented the Guild with a comprehensive package proposal last night that included generous increases in author compensation as well as improvements in streaming residuals.”

Disney’s letter also includes a Q&A informing showrunners they have duties to fulfill that don’t align with guidelines the WGA has given its nearly 11,500 striking members.

The letter specifically states that showrunners and/or script producers “along with other non-writing services may be required to perform services commonly referred to as ‘a. by h.’ services as a producer.”

According to the Q&A portion of the document, “a. to h.” Services include: trimming time, reassigning lines to other existing characters due to cast changes, directions, directions or suggestions, whether oral or written, made to the author regarding story or screenplay, and more.

The WGA Strike Rules specifically prohibit union members from performing the above duties during the strike. “The rules prohibit dashes (members employed in dual roles) from any writing service, including the ‘(a) through (h)’ roles.” This puts showrunners and writer-producers in a very difficult position.

The second season of the Disney+ series “Star Wars: Andor” is set to continue despite the writers’ strike. By variety:

“Even while Andor’s executive producer, Tony Gilroy, is off set and no longer writing – scripts were locked in prior to the strike – sources say he is still working as a producer on certain non-writing elements such as casting and scoring for the Disney+ show works.”

Production on “Andor” began back in November 2022, so there’s a good chance that much of the filming has already been completed.

Below is a copy of the letter, including the Q&A section from ABC Signature:

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