Disney joins other studios in suspending overall and first-look producer deals

Disney has joined several other US studios in suspending first-look and overall deals with some of the top producer talent it has under contract.

Justin Hartley (photo: Ron Batzdorff)

The deal suspensions, which come almost four-and-a-half months after the Writers Guild of America (WGA) first hit the picket lines, affecting non-writing producers from across Disney Entertainment’s TV divisions including 20th Television, ABC Signature, Disney Television Studios, Disney Branded Television and FX Productions.

Among those impacted by the suspensions are actress and producer Gina Rodriguez and This Is Us stars Justin Hartley, Milo Ventimiglia and Mandy Moore, all of whom have deals in place with 20th Television. Meanwhile, Hiro Murai, exec producer of The Bear and Billy Porter (Pose) had deals with FX Productions.

These deals have been paused on the grounds that these producers are not performing the duties detailed in their contracts as a result of the strike.

Sources said Disney will continue to pay the salaries of the talents’ assistants until the end of the year. The media giant will also pay the salaries for the talents’ development executives until the first week of October.

NBCUniversal’s Universal Studio Group, Paramount-owned CBS Studios and Warner Bros Television have also moved to suspend first-look and overall deals over the past week. It should be noted that these are suspensions, not cancellations, and can be reactivated as soon as the WGA strike ends.