George R.R. Martin is sharing his support for the Writers Guild of America amid the ongoing strike.
The “Game of Thrones” creator wrote in a recent blog post that the writers’ room on the spinoff series “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight” has paused in light of the WGA strike that began May 2. Martin also applauded how “united” the guild has been in recent years. “House of the Dragon,” meanwhile, will continue filming in the U.K. despite the protests in the U.S.; scripts were finished well before the strike.
“I am not in L.A., so I cannot walk a picket line as I did in 1988, but I want to go on the record with my full and complete and unequivocal support of my Guild,” Martin wrote. “How long will the strike last? No idea. Maybe the AMPTP members will come to their senses tomorrow and offer some meaningful concessions, and the whole thing can be wrapped up next week. I would not bet the ranch on that, however. I have been through several of these since I first started writing for television and film in 1986. The 1988 strike, the first I was a part of, lasted 22 weeks, the longest in Hollywood history. The 2007-2008 strike, the most recent, went for 100 days. This one may go longer.”
He added, “The issues are more important, and I have never seen the Guild so united as it is now.”
“The Hedge Knight” was first pitched to HBO in Summer 2016. The show will follow Knight Ser Duncan the Tall and his squire Egg and is based on Martin’s novellas from 1998.
Martin noted of “House of the Dragon” Season 2, “Across the ocean, the second season of ‘House of the Dragon’ started filming April 11 and will continue in London and Wales. The scripts for the eight S2 episodes were all finished months ago, long before the strike began. Every episode has gone through four or five drafts and numerous rounds of revisions, to address HBO notes, my notes, budget concerns, etc. There will be no further revisions. The writers have done their jobs; the rest is in the hands of the directors, cast and crew… and of course the dragons).”
The author additionally eased fan concern that his “Winds of Winter” novel as part of the “A Song of Fire and Ice” series will not be impacted by the WGA strike.
“Some of you, I fear, may be having anxiety attacks just now, on the mistaken assumption that this strike affects ‘Winds of Winter.’ You can relax,” Martin wrote. “The WGA is a union of film and television writers. It has nothing to do with novels, short stories, or any other form of prose fiction, nor comic books and graphic novels, nor stage plays, nor the editing of collections and anthologies. I have on-going projects in all those areas, and that work continues unabated. And ‘Winds’ continues to be priority number one.”
Martin further shared that the “Wild Cards” adaptation that has been in the works since 2018 was not ordered to series at Peacock. “Wild Cards” was first attached at Hulu before moving to Peacock in 2021; Martin announced he will try to place the show at a different streaming platform after the WGA strike.
The “Game of Thrones” creator wrote in a recent blog post that the writers’ room on the spinoff series “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight” has paused in light of the WGA strike that began May 2. Martin also applauded how “united” the guild has been in recent years. “House of the Dragon,” meanwhile, will continue filming in the U.K. despite the protests in the U.S.; scripts were finished well before the strike.
“I am not in L.A., so I cannot walk a picket line as I did in 1988, but I want to go on the record with my full and complete and unequivocal support of my Guild,” Martin wrote. “How long will the strike last? No idea. Maybe the AMPTP members will come to their senses tomorrow and offer some meaningful concessions, and the whole thing can be wrapped up next week. I would not bet the ranch on that, however. I have been through several of these since I first started writing for television and film in 1986. The 1988 strike, the first I was a part of, lasted 22 weeks, the longest in Hollywood history. The 2007-2008 strike, the most recent, went for 100 days. This one may go longer.”
He added, “The issues are more important, and I have never seen the Guild so united as it is now.”
“The Hedge Knight” was first pitched to HBO in Summer 2016. The show will follow Knight Ser Duncan the Tall and his squire Egg and is based on Martin’s novellas from 1998.
Martin noted of “House of the Dragon” Season 2, “Across the ocean, the second season of ‘House of the Dragon’ started filming April 11 and will continue in London and Wales. The scripts for the eight S2 episodes were all finished months ago, long before the strike began. Every episode has gone through four or five drafts and numerous rounds of revisions, to address HBO notes, my notes, budget concerns, etc. There will be no further revisions. The writers have done their jobs; the rest is in the hands of the directors, cast and crew… and of course the dragons).”
The author additionally eased fan concern that his “Winds of Winter” novel as part of the “A Song of Fire and Ice” series will not be impacted by the WGA strike.
“Some of you, I fear, may be having anxiety attacks just now, on the mistaken assumption that this strike affects ‘Winds of Winter.’ You can relax,” Martin wrote. “The WGA is a union of film and television writers. It has nothing to do with novels, short stories, or any other form of prose fiction, nor comic books and graphic novels, nor stage plays, nor the editing of collections and anthologies. I have on-going projects in all those areas, and that work continues unabated. And ‘Winds’ continues to be priority number one.”
Martin further shared that the “Wild Cards” adaptation that has been in the works since 2018 was not ordered to series at Peacock. “Wild Cards” was first attached at Hulu before moving to Peacock in 2021; Martin announced he will try to place the show at a different streaming platform after the WGA strike.