Star Lily Collins and she show’s costume designer, Marylin Fitoussi, were both on hand Tuesday night at the “Emily in Paris” For Your Consideration event held in Los Angeles at the DGA theater. But there was a very notable absence: Series creator and executive producer Darren Star.
Star was scheduled to appear alongside Collins and Fitoussi as Netflix ramps up promotion going into Emmys season, but the “Sex and the City” creator was a no-show. The panel didn’t explain his absence or even remark on it, but it comes amid the Writers’ Guild of America strike that began at midnight on Tuesday. Star is of course a longstanding member of the guild.
Along with “Emily in Paris” and “Sex and the City,” Star also created “And Just Like That,” “Melrose Place,” “Younger” and “Uncoupled,” among his many credits.
Representatives for Star didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from TheWrap.
WGA has been locked in a seemingly intractable dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) for months, and in April members voted by an overwhelming 97% margin to authorize a strike should talks break down. That happened at midnight on Tuesday.
At issue, the guild is trying to stop what it says is the rise of “a gig economy inside a union workforce,” especially at streaming services like Netflix. WGA is of course seeking to improve compensation for TV shows and films on streamers. But it also strives to stop the abuse of so-called mini-rooms, which is a recent practice where writers who pitch a new TV series are required to actually assemble a writers room, with the members paid at scale, and write a full season scripts before the show will be considered for greenlight.
Another target in the battle is the huge paychecks studio bosses and streaming executives receive. On Monday, just hours ahead of the strike, the guild released an infographic detailing how eight major Hollywood studio executives made a combined $773 million in 2021. They include Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel ($308.2 million), Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav ($246.6 million), Disney’s former chief executive officer Bob Chapek ($32.5 million) and then-executive chairman Bob Iger ($45.9 million), Fox Corporation executive chairman Rupert Murdoch ($31.1 million), Netflix former co-CEO and current executive chairman Reed Hastings ($40.8 million) and co-CEO Ted Sarandos ($38.2 million) and Comcast CEO Brian Roberts ($30 million).
“Meanwhile, many of the workers who write their shows can’t afford rent,” the guild said. “That’s why the WGA is ready to strike.”
For all of TheWrap’s WGA strike coverage, click here.
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The Sticking Points: Writers Guild Breaks Down Why It Couldn’t Reach a Deal With Studios
