News
June 15, 2018
June 8th News Report from your Los Angeles Representative
Happy Friday everyone,
The Writers Guild of America East and its supporters in the New York state Legislature are taking another crack at a bill that would allocate $5 million in tax incentives to TV shows shot in the state that hire women and minority writers and directors. As detailed in Deadline below, unlike the bill that was vetoed in December by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, this incentive would be separate and apart from the state’s $420 million a year film incentives program.
https://deadline.com/2018/06/wga-east-backs-bill-linking-diversity-to-new-york-film-tax-credits-1202403716/
It's been a busy week for the Writers Guild, which also announced yesterday that Apple had signed an agreement with its union. As detailed in the Hollywood Reporter, the move knits an entertainment tech giant closer to the "traditional warp and woof of Hollywood".
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/apple-signs-writers-guild-union-agreement-1118201
It's also been a busy week (isn't it always?) for our resident streaming giants, including Amazon, which announced this week that it has signed a first-look deal with Jordan Peele and his production company Monkeypaw Productions. As reported in the Los Angeles Times below, the deal is seen as a major win for Amazon as well as a riposte to its chief rival, Netflix, which has been on a creative buying spree that includes recent deals with mega-producers Ryan Murphy and Shonda Rhimes.
http://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-amazon-peele-20180605-story.html
A report released this week purports to show that certain female-dominated craft professions such as script supervisors and art department coordinators typically receive hundreds of dollars per week less than their counterparts in comparable male-dominated crafts. As detailed in the Times below, the study was commissioned by IATSE Local 871 and it focuses on four crafts that have been traditionally dominated by women — script supervisors, production coordinators, assistant production coordinators and art department coordinators.
http://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-female-crafts-pay-20180607-story.html
Finally this week, congratulations to LA-based Ontario native Judy Gellman who is making headlines as the costume designer on a much-anticipated new show from the Paramount Network. Judy was interviewed for a Variety story about her work on American Woman, a 1970s period dramedy produced by The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards. https://variety.com/2018/artisans/production/paramount-network-american-woman-costumes-1202825539/
I'll be spending the weekend at the Producers Guild of America Conference and I look forward to reporting back on some of the news and trends that are sure to be buzzing around the Paramount lot where it is held. I am especially looking forward to attending a 360 Profile of The Handmaids Tale, a special session which will explore the series’ success from every angle.
Warmest regards,
Kelly
Kelly Graham-Scherer
Los Angeles Representative
Toronto/ Ontario Film Office