ATLANTA — For nearly 150 days, Hollywood writers have been on the picket lines, striking. On Sunday, they struck a deal.
Lisa Bonner is an entertainment attorney, representing talent and studios. She said the details of the deal haven’t been released because it still needs to be ratified by the board and then get voted on by members.
“They are in the papering phase right now, meaning the lawyers are actually putting pen to paper and really just setting forth,” said Bonner, the managing attorney at Bonner Law, PC. “We do know, according to sources, that there were some significant inroads made into the really big issues that they were discussing, and they were striking, which was AI: not allowing AI to take over the writers' room and encroach on their credits.”
She said another major topic likely discussed is studios paying more on residuals. Bonner added she hopes the actors' strike will soon come to a resolution since people are picketing on similar topics.
In the meantime, she said the strikes, both the writers’ and actors’, have "devastated" the economy.
“Nobody is working,” Bonner said. “We went to Trilith Studios a couple weeks ago, and you could hear a pin drop. There was nobody on the set. There was nobody on the lot. It was like Chick-fil-A on a Sunday.”
Bonner explained this is impacting people throughout the industry, in all lines of work.
“It’s everybody,” Bonner said. “Hair, makeup, publicist, PR, catering, craft services, lighting, sound, security.”
Jobs like food styling and creating for movies, which is what Elizabeth Grove does in her Decatur studio.
Grove is the owner and creator of Edible FX.
“Fingers, blood, eyeballs, I do a vegan skin,” Grove listed some of her creations. “I do anything. You name it, I can make it.”
Grove said her work halted in January when the rumblings of a strike began.
“People don’t realize when you threaten a strike, things stop immediately,” she said. “Because they’re not going start a project if they know they’re going to stop and start it again.”
Grove said when the work was going, it was non-stop, often calling for work-- six or seven days a week.
“It’s devastating,” Grove said. “Anything I saved for the past two years is gone. My company is starting from scratch again financially.”
Grove said she’s cautiously optimistic that work will start again before the end of the year.
“I’m living my dream and I’m not going anywhere,” she said. “I will be right here when it picks up.”
Until then, Grove is branching out a bit and presenting an art exhibit on Friday, Oct. 13. It will be at the Limelight Theater and run through Sunday, Oct. 15.