By the time the creator of a hot new series sat down for an interview with Vanity Fair this week, picket lines were underway in New York and Los Angeles, and TV’s top writers had just declared themselves “more united than ever” with the WGA on strike. The guild released guidelines that prohibited public-facing, For Your Consideration–specific appearances—but press interviews remained on the table, at least in theory. Asked about the decision to promote their work, the creator demurred in time-honored Hollywood fashion by just focusing on the work—work that, for now, has halted entirely.
This is the difficult balance faced by a corner of Hollywood’s writing community—that is, the corner in serious contention for Emmy nominations this summer. With writers rooms disbanding and productions shutting down, Emmy campaigns may seem like a small part of the puzzle. But as one insider points out, that is where the WGA has the most leverage right now. “There’s still content on the air and there’s still content in the can,” this insider says. “Right now, telling everybody that they can’t go do FYC is disruptive, and it puts every single studio and network in the same position.”
That position seems to be a state of cloudy confusion, as studios and networks scramble to figure out how to pivot their awards seasons, while individual writers, showrunners, and their teams grapple with what they are and are not allowed to do for the remainder of an unprecedented Emmy season.
Events have always been a cornerstone of the FYC season, as hundreds of shows compete for the attention of voters. Vanity Fair has learned of a wide range of events canceling over the past week. John Mulaney was one of the first, canceling his Netflix event tied to his stand-up special, and soon after Jon Stewart nixed his showcase at the Apple TV+ FYC space. In just one week, we’ve also seen cancellations of a SAG-mounted career retrospective of a popular casting director, a crafts-driven conversation for a streaming series, and several standard FYC panels meant to primarily showcase showrunners and actors. Several actors have seemingly refused to participate out of solidarity, while thus far, writers have near-unanimously boycotted these events, which are typically buoyed by major studios. Now, even events that are further out—like Nicole Kidman’s AFI Life Achievement Award tribute previously slated for June 10—are being postponed. “Everyone’s feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment,” says an event coordinator.
Accordingly, campaigns are just trying to keep up with who will do what—and when. For a great number of contenders, their entire marketing apparatuses are based around awards, and their continued existence, to some extent, relies on this economy. But because the situations are so case-by-case, with some talent still unclear on what’s allowed and guidelines evolving, there has been little chance to plan for what this Emmy season would look like post-strike. “I’m sure everyone is in this madness right now,” says one studio strategist. “I need to redo a lot of things [based on] what’s changing and what’s not changing.” Multiple sources say the expectation is that more talent will shift toward stronger demonstrations of solidarity the longer the strike goes on—significant, since Emmy voting begins next month.
Panels and other public appearances as a part of an FYC campaign are officially against the WGA rules. In the WGA’s official “Strike Rules FAQ,” in response to a question about attending festivals or FYC events, the WGA states, “You should let the company know you are prohibited from making these promotional appearances about your work until the strike concludes.”
However, insiders say they’ve been getting mixed messages about doing press interviews for their projects, since those are not public-facing appearances. “They’re saying no panels, but discouraging press,” says one publicist. (Vanity Fair has reached out to the WGA for comment.) And rumors are swirling around that the WGA is taking note of showrunners or EPs who are in the WGA and are still participating in press interviews, even if it’s not explicitly against the rules. That alone has spooked some from participating.
Because all official FYC events must be booked through the TV Academy, it was quick to respond to the logistical issues of panels that rapidly fell apart after the first day of the strike. Hosts were informed that if they’d booked an FYC event they had the option to cancel the panel aspect (and continue with only a screening and reception). The studios could then “send an additional email communication with updated panel details for a $1,000 fee,” or could simply have the event updated on the Academy event page without paying a new fee. They were also presented with the option of canceling the event altogether, in which case the Academy would not reimburse the initial invite administration fees. But if invites had not been sent to members yet, the fee would be waived.
So why all this scramble, when rumors of a strike had been circling for months? The reality is that most FYC event spaces had to be booked—or built, in the case of several streamers that mounted entire activations from scratch in empty warehouses around Los Angeles—months in advance. Even up until the final tense days of negotiation, many hoped there would be resolution, as in 2017 when a strike was averted at the eleventh hour. “We weren’t preemptively canceling anything because we were all still very hopeful that something would happen and they’d be able to come and support their shows,” says a network publicist.
Rebecca Ford, David Canfield
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