Filming on House of the Dragon season 2 won't be disrupted by the writers' strike, with Variety reporting that the new season's scripts have all been written and so production won't be affected.
Cameras started rolling on the new installment on April 11 after the season 1 finale aired back in October 2022. However, although all episodes may have been written, this doesn't account for the rewrites that are frequently needed on set after filming has kicked off. Striking members of the Writers Guild of America cannot write, sell, or option material, and, crucially, they can't discuss their work with studios or revise scripts that have already been written.
"[There'll] be no writer on set so good luck with that if you think that’s all we do," WGA liaison Caroline Renard tweeted in response to the news. "Who's the writer-producer on set? Who's showrunning? Hmmm? Scripts are done. Okay. But rewrites literally happen. Line changes. Alt line changes. Who's gonna watch dailies and cuts? Approval on costumes. Tone meeting. Once again proving you guys have no idea what we do!"
This is the first time the WGA has been on strike since 2007. Writers are striking now after the union failed to negotiate a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents Hollywood, studios, after their previous deal expired on May 1.
The main reason for the strike is unsatisfactory pay – median screenwriter pay hasn't risen since 2018 and, if we're accounting for inflation, it's actually fallen by 14%, while median weekly pay for writer-producers has declined by 23% over the last decade when adjusting for inflation. WGA members also have demands for regulations for the "use of material produced using artificial intelligence or similar technologies."
While we wait for House of the Dragon season 2 to arrive on the small screen, check out our picks of the other best new TV shows coming our way in 2023 and beyond.
