Rebel Wilson’s ‘Bride Hard’ Among Other Indie Productions Granted Waivers To Continue Production Amid Strikes

Currently, Hollywood is facing a crisis, and unlike the usual Hollywood crisis, a regular person would handle it just fine. This time, actors and writers are taking to the streets, demanding that studios allocate a fair share of their earnings to talent, considering that executives often receive extravagant compensation. This action has led to production shutdowns and scrambled the coming TV and theater season, but it seems Rebel Wilson will get to go on.

A new article in Deadline Hollywood reveals the Australian entertainer’s Bride Hard has been given a waiver from the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists alongside a half-dozen other movies. Essentially, this happens when a film (which, unlike television, does not always have a studio behind it and controlling things in the shooting stage) is independently financed, produced, and has no connection to the Academy of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The report goes on to say more waivers are likely in the pipeline. Although it does not specify the other projects involved, it highlights other potential risks.

“Will actors want to take part in a project that gets a waiver when many other actors are unable or unwilling to work? That’s a risk that still has completion bond firms nervous even for films with waivers. Another risk — for productions in the U.S. — is if the WGA pickets SAG-AFTRA-waived projects, and Teamsters refuse to cross the lines. Will eligible producers crack on or will such a move be deemed too complicated and/or optically unpalatable? Some of those sending in applications for waivers are for sizeable projects with A-list actors aboard, also complicating SAG’s approach to waivers. Does it dilute a strike if a number of big productions get a waiver? Or conversely, does it sock it to the studios?”

What will ultimately happen remains to be seen. But for now, Wilson’s project is on the go in Georgia, and while much content is on pause, studios are exploiting anything filming overseas as much as possible. As explained here, items like House of the Dragon for Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max are bound to the U.K.’s Equity union. Over there, Equity members and those with them on contract cannot join another union’s strike, and if they do, they can be subject to strenuous lawsuits, which could see one made penniless.

As of this story’s filing, there is no sign of anything ending. A presently unnamed executive said the studio plan is to wait until those striking begin to start losing their homes, and this has elicited a wave of scorn from entertainers like Ron Perlman, who claimed he knew who said this and just where they live right now.

Currently, Hollywood is facing a crisis, and unlike the usual Hollywood crisis, a regular person would handle it just fine. This time, actors and writers are taking to the streets, demanding that studios allocate a fair share of their earnings to talent, considering that executives often receive extravagant compensation. This action has led to production shutdowns and scrambled the coming TV and theater season, but it seems Rebel Wilson will get to go on.

A new article in Deadline Hollywood reveals the Australian entertainer’s Bride Hard has been given a waiver from the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists alongside a half-dozen other movies. Essentially, this happens when a film (which, unlike television, does not always have a studio behind it and controlling things in the shooting stage) is independently financed, produced, and has no connection to the Academy of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The report goes on to say more waivers are likely in the pipeline. Although it does not specify the other projects involved, it highlights other potential risks.

“Will actors want to take part in a project that gets a waiver when many other actors are unable or unwilling to work? That’s a risk that still has completion bond firms nervous even for films with waivers. Another risk — for productions in the U.S. — is if the WGA pickets SAG-AFTRA-waived projects, and Teamsters refuse to cross the lines. Will eligible producers crack on or will such a move be deemed too complicated and/or optically unpalatable? Some of those sending in applications for waivers are for sizeable projects with A-list actors aboard, also complicating SAG’s approach to waivers. Does it dilute a strike if a number of big productions get a waiver? Or conversely, does it sock it to the studios?”

What will ultimately happen remains to be seen. But for now, Wilson’s project is on the go in Georgia, and while much content is on pause, studios are exploiting anything filming overseas as much as possible. As explained here, items like House of the Dragon for Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max are bound to the U.K.’s Equity union. Over there, Equity members and those with them on contract cannot join another union’s strike, and if they do, they can be subject to strenuous lawsuits, which could see one made penniless.

As of this story’s filing, there is no sign of anything ending. A presently unnamed executive said the studio plan is to wait until those striking begin to start losing their homes, and this has elicited a wave of scorn from entertainers like Ron Perlman, who claimed he knew who said this and just where they live right now.