David Simon’s Deal Was Suspended Today By HBO; ‘The Wire’ Creator Has Written 25 Years For Network
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The Wire creator David Simon has become one of the many writers/producers whose overall agreements have been suspended because of the strike.
Simon announced via Twitter Monday that HBO just suspended his deal “after 25 years of writing television for them.” Besides The Wire, Simon wrote on Generation Kill, Treme, The Deuce, The Plot Against America, Show Me a Hero and We Own This City.
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#WGAStrong. On the day that HBO called to suspend my deal after 25 years of writing television for them, I was doing the write thing. pic.twitter.com/WMWZbXAp41
— David Simon (@AoDespair) May 8, 2023
The language in the overall deal suspension letters varies slightly — from “suspended engagement” (NBCUniversal) to “suspended services” (Warner Bros., Disney, CBS Studios) as all notify showrunners that the compensation they receive under their term deals have been suspended effective May 2 when WGA went on strike following the expiration of the guild’s contract with the studios as the two sides could not reach a new agreement.
Some, like Disney and NBCUniversal, do not go into detail while others, like WBTV and CBS Studios, specify areas that are being impacted, including overhead/executive pay and business expense reinforcement, access to office space, etc. Disney notes that all pay is suspended “except as specified in the Agreement.”
The suspension of overall deals comes as the major TV studios last week also informed writer/producers that they are expected to continue rendering producing services during the WGA strike. At a meeting Saturday, showrunners shot back, saying that “there is no non-writing aspect” to what they do.
Like many of his fellow union members, Simon hit the picket lines Monday.
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