To be sure, the first wave of suspensions came in the spring — and by all accounts, was swift and extensive. It included the vast majority of pure writer deals and many major overalls, from Mike Schur and Sam Esmail to Chuck Lorre and John Wells . More recent suspensions include pacts for Dan Fogelman , Dan Levy , Donald Glover and Lisa Joy and Jonah Nolan .
One studio chief explains their calculus this way: “If you were in active post or production on something and willing to work [in a non-writing capacity], we’d keep paying you. If you didn’t have anything or didn’t want to work, we stopped.” Additionally, there are some high-profile producers who have deal language that doesn’t allow the studio to suspend them unless other top producers are suspended as well, which may explain why multiple blows came at once.
The studio rationale for keeping those writer-driven pods whose deals remain active four-plus months into the strike: some are attached to ongoing animation and reality projects; others were still rendering meaningful post-production services on key shows. Shonda Rhimes, whosestopped filming in the spring after running out of scripts, and the Duffer brothers are among the Netflix pacts that are still active.