Actors’ Strike Fallout: ‘House of the Dragon’ Carries On While ‘SVU’ Faces Indefinite Delay
‘House of the Dragon’ will continue shooting as an Equity contract production but other scripted shows like ‘Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’ will continue to be shut down amid the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes
House of the Dragon will continue production as many other sets including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit remain shut down after the Screen Actors Guild announced they would strike alongside the Writers Guild of America.
PEOPLE has learned that the Game of Thrones prequel will be allowed to continue shooting its upcoming second season as an Equity contract production.
The cast of House of the Dragon is mostly comprised of actors who work under Equity, the sister union to SAG-AFTRA in the U.K., and therefore, are not advised to participate in the current strike.
In a statement shared on the union’s website, the organization stated: “We have been advised by SAG-AFTRA that its strike is lawful according to United States law but we have been advised by our UK lawyers that it is not lawful under United Kingdom law.”
The statement continued: “Consequently, a performer joining the strike (or refusing to cross a picket line) in the UK will have no protection against being dismissed or sued for breach of contract by the producer or the engager.”
However, Equity encouraged its members to “join rallies and demonstrations, which we will be organising in solidarity with SAG-AFTRA in the coming days and weeks.”
Shout out to all the SVU fans.. Normally we would be back in production, filming the new season.. Unfortunately we’re still on hold due to the Writter’s strike.. Hopefully we’ll be back sooner VS later.. I’ll keep you posted.. 👊🏽 pic.twitter.com/seB9AnQbYn
— ICE T (@FINALLEVEL) July 12, 2023
News of the SAG-AFTRA strike comes one day after Ice-T confirmed that Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is one of the many shows facing an indefinite delay in production due to the actors union strike and the ongoing WGA strike.
“Shout out to all the SVU fans.. Normally we would be back in production, filming the new season.. Unfortunately we’re still on hold due to the Writter’s [sic] strike.. Hopefully we’ll be back sooner VS later.. I’ll keep you posted.. ,” he shared on Twitter.
On Thursday, SAG-AFTRA — the union that comprises of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists — announced it has initiated a strike after failed contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
SAG President Fran Drescher and Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator of SAG-AFTRA, shared the news at a press conference Thursday afternoon, saying the vote was “unanimous.” Crabtree-Ireland said the studios “left us with no alternative” than to strike.
Drescher said in a speech that the “entire business model has been changed by streaming, digital, A.I.” She added, “This is a very big deal and it weighed heavy on us. At some point, you have to say no, we’re not going to take it anymore.”
She added, “The jig is up…. We demand respect. You share the wealth, because you cannot exist without us.”
SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP previously agreed on June 30 to extend contracts agreed to in 2020 by 12 days in order to continue negotiations, the union announced at the time. Both parties agreed to refrain from commenting to media outlets about negotiations during that extension.
Multiple outlets reported June 27 that more than 300 actors had signed a letter addressed to SAG-AFTRA’s leadership and negotiating committee that expressed a concern that “SAG-AFTRA members may be ready to make sacrifices that leadership is not” as the deadline to agree to new contracts with the AMPTP loomed ahead, per Rolling Stone.
The letter, which says actors are “prepared to strike if it comes to that,” was signed by Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Rami Malek, Quinta Brunson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ben Stiller, Neil Patrick Harris, Amy Poehler, Amy Schumer, Elizabeth Banks, Alison Brie, Neve Campbell, Ariana DeBose and Brendan Fraser, among others, according to the outlet.
SAG’s strike means that both Hollywood actors and writers — who have been on strike since May 2 following their own failed negotiations with the AMPTP — are not currently crossing picket lines to work on movie and television productions.
