Why Jenna Ortega and Matthew McConaughey Movies Can Still Film Amid SAG Strike

Here's why some movies and TV shows are still in production during Hollywood's ongoing strike — and why more projects might join them

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to reflect a distinction from SAG-AFTRA that interim agreements are not waivers or exemptions, but rather separate contracts that include the terms and conditions in the union’s last offer to the studios and streamers during negotiations.

While most Hollywood productions are paused amid both the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, a handful of projects will continue filming.

Dozens of truly independent productions have been approved for SAG-AFTRA's interim agreement, which allows members to resume filming without violating strike terms.

Movies featuring major stars like Jenna Ortega, Anne Hathaway and Matthew McConaughey are among the productions granted agreements. Ortega’s Death of a Unicorn, which she will star in alongside Paul Rudd, and Hathaway’s Mother Mary will continue production, as will McConaughey’s The Rivals of Amziah King, all of which have been cleared by SAG-AFTRA.

Meanwhile, some shows like House of the Dragon have continued filming in the U.K., as the cast is primarily composed of U.K. actors who fall under a different union.

The strike started on July 13 when SAG-AFTRA announced negotiations had failed with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Actors joined writers, who are also striking, on picket lines the following day.

As a result, many Hollywood productions have stopped filming as actors follow strict rules to “cease rendering all services and performing all work covered by the TV/Theatrical Contracts." That includes “principal on camera work,” such as acting, singing and dancing, as well as promotion of their projects through any avenue, including interviews and red carpet appearances.

Following the SAG strike, highly anticipated movies like Deadpool 3, Beetlejuice 2 and Wicked joined the list of delayed shows — including Stranger Things, Abbott Elementary and Cobra Kai — that had already been halted after the WGA strike.

So, why have certain projects been given the green light when most of Hollywood is on pause? Here's everything to know about which movies and TV shows can continue filming amid the SAG-AFTRA strike — and why they're not breaking any union rules.

Why are some productions allowed to continue filming amid the SAG-AFTRA strike?

SAG-AFTRA has approved some productions with no direct ties to AMPTP members (which include major studios and streaming platforms) to resume or start filming.

In order to continue, these productions must obtain an interim agreement from the union. Agreements are granted if the productions agree to the updated contract set forth by SAG-AFTRA during negotiations.

The interim agreement is a separate, 70-page contract that producers must sign that includes all the terms and conditions in the union's last offer to studios and streamers.

As of July 25, the union has granted interim agreements to more than 50 approved productions, including certain projects by smaller studios like A24, which is responsible for films like Moonlight; Bodies, Bodies, Bodies and Everything Everywhere All At Once, among others. While some approved projects have already wrapped filming, an agreement is still necessary for the cast to do promotion.

SAG-AFTRA's national executive director and chief negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, spoke about the process to Deadline, explaining that for each potential agreement granted, the union considers several factors, including, "fundamentally, are there AMPTP fingerprints on the project or not? If there aren’t and we verify that through our staff, who review these things, then they’ll be eligible for an interim agreement.”

He added, "If there are AMPTP connections to the project, then they won’t be. That’s the big picture answer."

Meanwhile, some foreign projects can continue filming without needing interim agreements if the productions fall under a different union and don't involve SAG-AFTRA members. For example, House of the Dragon and Eddie Redmayne's Day of the Jackal are both under Equity, the British union equivalent of SAG.

While Equity shared in a statement that they have “unwavering solidarity” with SAG-AFTRA, they cannot legally encourage their members to go on strike as British law forbids them from staging a sympathy strike.

However, Equity's leader Paul Fleming told Deadline that their union will "use every means possible and legal to support [the strike]."

He added, "We are not going to have the UK used as a backdoor to undermine SAG-AFTRA’s dispute."

A month later, as of Aug. 14, SAG-AFTRA announced they will no longer grant interim agreements to independent projects that were written under WGA contracts, per Variety. While originally SAG-AFTRA argued the agreements supported the strike because the independent producers agreed to the union's demands, they amended their statement to support and stand in solidarity with WGA members.

“We have been advised by the WGA that this modification will assist them in executing their strike strategy, and we believe it does not undermine the utility and effectiveness of ours,” the guild announced. “It is a win-win change.”

The over 200 projects already approved would not be affected, they added.

Which movies and TV shows are still in production?

House of the Dragon

The HBO Game of Thrones spin-off will continue to shoot as filming takes place in the U.K. and the actors primarily work under Equity contracts. Though the showrunner, Ryan Condal, is a WGA member, he has remained on set and continued his duties without writing, since the scripts were finished months ago, per Vanity Fair.

House of the Dragon is therefore still expected to premiere in the summer of 2024.

Mother Mary

Deadline announced in March 2023 that Hathaway would be starring alongside Michaela Coel in Green Knight director David Lowery’s next film, Mother Mary.

Since the movie will be produced by independent production company A24, it was eligible for an interim agreement to continue filming. Mother Mary follows a musician’s (Hathaway) relationship with an iconic fashion designer (Coel). Euphoria’s Hunter Schafer also joins the cast as the designer’s assistant.

The Rivals of Amziah King

The McConaughey-led film, which has been shooting in Alabama since June 2023, was granted an interim agreement to continue filming on July 14, as it's not tied to AMPTP.

The crime thriller is being funded by Black Bear Pictures and will see McConaughey take on the titular role of the Amziah King. Though plot details have yet to be revealed, a press release described the film as a “deeply atmospheric, character-focused crime thriller set against the unique backdrop of remote Oklahoma,” per Variety.

Death of a Unicorn

In addition to Mother Mary, A24's Death of a Unicorn was also cleared by SAG-AFTRA. The movie, which stars Ortega and Rudd as a father-daughter duo, has yet to begin shooting as it is still in “deep development,” according to Deadline, but will eventually shoot in Hungary.

Bride Hard

This independent comedy starring Rebel Wilson was one of the first productions to announce it entered an interim agreement with SAG-AFTRA. The independently financed project is currently in production in Georgia, and stars Wilson as “badass secret agent Sam who has been tasked with one of her hardest missions yet – being a Maid of Honor for her childhood best friend.”

Per Deadline, it will debut at the Cannes Film Festival next year.

The Chosen

The Chosen, a faith-based show that airs on its own site and recently premiered on The CW, was in the midst of shooting its fourth season when the SAG-AFTRA strike commenced. The series was the first to announce that it had been allowed to continue via a tweet from its official Twitter account on July 17.

“As an independent show with two weeks remaining to film our current season, we appreciate SAG’s recognition that not all productions are the same,” show creator Dallas Jenkins told Deadline. “We’ve agreed to all the terms of their current interim agreement.”

While Lionsgate bought distribution rights to the show's first three seasons, the producers declined to comment on whether the deal also includes the fourth season. They did note, however, that the Lionsgate deal was not an impediment to getting their agreement.

Tehran

Apple TV+'s spy thriller Tehran entered an agreement and was allowed to resume filming its third season on July 20, leading to some confusion as the Israeli series is distributed by a major streamer.

Crabtree-Ireland offered some clarity on the situation while speaking to Deadline, saying, “In the case of Tehran, this is project that was produced by an Israeli-based company, that’s currently being shot in Greece."

He added that there are "multiple national laws" that apply to how the union addresses striking the production, which is something SAG-AFTRA considers when deciding whether to grant an interim agreement.

“So, there might be productions that have distribution through AMPTP companies, that nonetheless are eligible for interim agreements,” he explained of the loophole. “I don’t think you’ll see that be true a lot, but that might be the case in some cases.”

When Calls the Heart

Hallmark Media's When Calls the Heart has been granted an interim agreement by SAG-AFTRA and will continue to film season 11 while season 10 starts airing in July 2023, per Deadline.

The show, inspired by the book of the same name, follows Elizabeth Thatcher (Erin Krakow) as she moves to a small town in Western Canada.

Will additional productions be granted interim agreements?

More than 200 additional movies and TV shows have been granted agreements to start or continue production and allow actors to participate in promotion for the project. SAG-AFTRA is keeping an updated list of all the productions that have signed interim agreements on their website.

Additional productions can be granted agreements — and will be added to the list — once they commit to the proposal laid forward by SAG-AFTRA in their AMPTP negotiations and are cleared by the union. According to Crabtree-Ireland, however, each production must be thoroughly scrutinized before that happens.

"Everyone needs to be investigated and evaluated individually because obviously the question of ‘Are there AMPTP fingerprints or connections to the project?’ is a very specific question," he explained to Deadline. "That means it takes a few days to a week depending on volume, maybe a little more for us to evaluate whether a project can receive an interim agreement."

However, per SAG-AFTRA's Aug. 14 announcement, interim agreements will no longer be granted to independent projects if they were written under a WGA contract.

Which other productions can continue to film?

Some productions, including reality shows, soap operas, game shows and news programs, will be allowed to film amid the ongoing strike without an interim agreement. Soap actors and the stars of reality and game shows operate under a different contract, so they are not impacted by the current strike.

While soap actors are part of the SAG-AFTRA union, they have a contract with the National Code of Fair Practice for Network Television Broadcasting, also known as the Network Code or Netcode.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Netcode operates contracts with soaps like General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, The Young and the Restless and The Bold and The Beautiful. Those contracts will run for another year, through July 2024.

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