House of the Dragon to Continue Filming Season 2 Amid Hollywood Strikes
The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists strike announced Thursday will not affect House of the Dragon‘s Season 2 production, TVLine has confirmed.
As our sister site Variety first reported, actors can continue working on the Game of Thrones prequel because the majority of the cast are United Kingdom-based and are part of a separate union, Equity. Under British law, Equity members are not allowed to join the SAG-AFTRA strike in solidarity.
HBO‘s House of the Dragon began shooting its sophomore run in April. The production was not impeded by the Writers Guild of America strike that got underway in May because all scripts for the season had been completed by that time.
SAG-AFTRA’s strike will begin Thursday at midnight PT, after contract talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers ended without a new deal. SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher spoke passionately about the development during a press conference Thursday. (Watch here.)
Contract negotiations between SAG-AFTRA — the labor union representing more than 160,000 performers — and the AMPTP began in early June, with SAG-AFTRA’s most recent contract set to expire on June 30. When that date arrived, though, both sides agreed to extend their negotiations for just under two weeks, paving the way for a strike to begin at midnight PT on Wednesday, July 12, if a new deal was not reached.
Wonder if we’ll see an increase in international imports, beyond the Canadian ones already announced. Like for example, will NCIS: Sydney end up being on the air stateside?
“Under British law, Equity members are not allowed to join the SAG-AFTRA strike in solidarity.”
And what would happen if they did? Nothing. You think UK is going to jail Matt Smith?
They would have no protection against being dismissed or sued for breach of contract. If that action were to cause losses to the engager (the producer) or third parties, they may be held liable for those losses.
Equity’s statement of support for SAG-AFTRA & guidance for Equity members is available online as well as in a recently published Variety article.
Jail them? No.
But fine them heavily for every day they strike? Absolutely.
Matt Smith is a treasure! But, I doubt European actors would get jail time if they joined SAG-AFTRA on the strike or tried to join SAG-AFTRA. But, they’d be in breach of their contracts and/or some laws and that would have legal repercussions.
Interesting news.
It’s gonna be a rough couple of years for TV fans 🥴. I really hope they can reach an equitable deal the writers and actors are happy with!
Anyone working on resolving that Comic-Con curse that Kevin Smith went wild-eyed about back at the 2020 online SDCC? Couldn’t hurt at this point.