Katie Kilkenny

Behind the Writers Guild’s Internal Revolt As “Scabby the Rat” rears on hind legs front of the union’s headquarters, the arguably disastrous optics of the Writers Guild West’s schism threatens to impede major contract talks with the studios.

I wrote a column about the disastrous optics of the Writers Guild staff strike www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...

Christopher Nolan Wants to Know Where All the Hollywood Jobs Are, Too In his first interview as president of the Directors Guild of America, the ‘Oppenheimer’ and ‘Dark Knight’ helmer called a recent downturn in employment at the union “very troubling.”

NEW: In his first interview as president of the Directors Guild of America, Christopher Nolan talked about AI, Netflix/Warner Bros. and Hollywood unemployment. It’s a “very worrying time for the industry,” he said.
www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...

Ahead of High-Profile Negotiations, Writers Guild West’s Own Staff Union Authorizes Strike Eighty-two percent of unionized staffers voted to empower leaders to call a work stoppage, just months before the labor group is set to face the likes of Netflix and Paramount.

What timing: Just ahead of the Writers Guild’s 2026 negotiations, its own staff union has authorized a strike www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...

His Film About the Proud Boys and Jan. 6 Hasn’t Yet Found a U.S. Home. So He’s Going Direct to Viewers With ‘Homegrown,’ Michael Premo presents a verité portrait of radicalized men before and after the siege on the U.S. Capitol.

"in the last two years major distributors have largely shied away from knotty stories that might generate political controversy or conversation." www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...

Guilty Pleasures 2025: THR’s Guide to the Stuff We Can’t Quit From 'Love Island USA' to decades-old computer mystery games, this is what we turned to when the going got rough.

In which I discuss the Nancy Drew computer games 🔎
www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/guilty...

SAG-AFTRA to Kick Off the 2026 Union Negotiations Cycle The performers’ group will begin bargaining on Feb. 9, making it the first major labor group to tackle bargaining with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers next year.

Labor news: SAG-AFTRA is set to kick off Hollywood’s 2026 negotiations cycle in February. www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...

Is the Netflix-Warner Bros. Deal “Pro-Worker”? Lindsay Dougherty Wants to See the Data The Teamsters entertainment leader also would like to see Warners CEO David Zaslav “leave our industry and never come back,” she said in a recent interview.

The Teamsters’ Lindsay Dougherty on all the merger possibilities for WBD: “Ultimately I think the best-case scenario for everybody is for David Zaslav to leave our industry and never come back.” www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...

Feelings Don’t Matter: How the Ellison Era Is Transforming Paramount It’s a brand-new day at the legacy studio, where prestige films are out, testosterone-heavy tentpoles are in and Brett Ratner is back on the call sheet.

A must-read from my colleague Pamela McClintock. www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...

Hollywood Guilds Make Historic Push to Unionize YouTube Content Studio Theorist Media (Exclusive) The Editors Guild and Writers Guild West are looking to organize more than two dozen workers at the L.A.- and Raleigh-based production company, which has several popular YouTube channels.

New: The Writers Guild West and Editors Guild are attempting to unionize a YouTube content studio -- acknowledging the new balance of power in entertainment www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/dig...

The Microdrama Production Gold Rush Is Here As shoots dry up for features and episodic TV in Los Angeles, there have been a few big-money bets placed by Hollywood veterans that soapy, short "vertical" stories are the next big thing — even if so...

Jeffrey Katzenberg once talked about spending $100,000 a minute on projects for Quibi. Now, verticals are spending that much for a 60-90 minute series. How Hollywood is trying to get in the microdramas game (without blowing up budgets): www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...

As Condé Nast Folds Teen Vogue Into Vogue’s Website, NewsGuild Condemns the Plan The union, which reps staffers, says the move was "clearly designed" to blunt the journalism of the brand, which has leaned in to progressive politics.

The Teen Vogue union on today’s consolidation news: The changes are “clearly designed to blunt the award-winning magazine’s insightful journalism at a time when it is needed the most” www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...

Out to Pasture: Why Hollywood’s Animal Actors Can’t Find Work They’ve helped fetch Oscars, boosted box office and upstaged their A-list co-stars — but these days, Hollywood’s animals can’t seem to book a gig.

New: The Hollywood AI threat through the lens of animal actors (and their trainers and wranglers) www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/li...

Docs’ New Selling Point: Celebrity EPs Political projects that need the exposure (and distribution) are increasingly turning to issue-driven A-listers to get out their message.

As studios/streamers are shying away from docs and scripted films considered too political or controversial, the celeb EP has stepped into the void. A look at this world! www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...

Christopher Nolan Elected President of Directors Guild of America The celebrated helmer behind ’The Dark Knight’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ ran unopposed to lead the more than 19,000-member union.

Wow. The Directors Guild of America has elected Christopher Nolan as its new president -- couldn’t get more high-profile than that. www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...

What Happens When AI Tries to Replace a Showrunner? We asked real TV writers to test a buzzy new AI platform: “I don’t feel my job is under threat. Yet.”

We asked some actual showrunners to try Showrunner AI, the platform that allows you to create short animations with a text prompt and some choices. They did not feel particularly threatened. www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-featur...

‘Abbott Elementary’ Production Assistants File for Union Election Staffers on the ABC sitcom are following the lead of crew members on ‘The Pitt’ in attempting to join a Hollywood laborers’ union.

ICYMI: The production assistants on ‘Abbott Elementary’ have filed for a union election www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...

SAG-AFTRA Finally Establishes Fran Drescher’s “Robin Hood Fund” The announcement comes almost two years after the fund was touted as a major win in the 2023 strike-ending contract and includes provisions for background actors, stunt riggers and stand-ins.

It’s been almost 2 years since the SAG-AFTRA strike ended, and the union has finally set up its streaming bonus fund just as Fran Drescher, who pushed for its creation, is ending her term as president. From @katiekilkenny.bsky.social:

Trump’s Man With a Plan in Hollywood Opens Up Producer and manager Steven Paul says the president "loves" the entertainment business. Enough to push Congress for a federal incentive? Maybe.

I visited the offices of Steven Paul, Jon Voight's manager and one member of a team working to represent Hollywood interests at the White House. Here's what I learned about him, the plan and a potential federal film/TV tax incentive: www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...

‘The Pitt’ Production Assistants Vote to Unionize In a landmark election that took place Friday, support staffers unanimously voted to join a group affiliated with an established Hollywood laborers’ union. “This is only the beginning,” says a union l...

Big news for Hollywood support staffers: The PAs and office assistants on ‘The Pitt’ S2 have unionized. “This is only the beginning,” says a union leader www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...

The Deadest Dead-End Job in Hollywood? Production assistants have long endured brutal hours, low salaries and abuse in the hope of moving up the food chain. But contracting budgets and blatant nepotism have turned a job that was supposed t...

Being a production assistant is a rite of passage for some workers in Hollywood, but during the industry contraction it’s turned into a bit of a holding cell. We talked to PAs across the country about their experiences in 2025. www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...

Sean Astin to Run for SAG-AFTRA President, Fran Drescher a Question Mark for Another Bid (Exclusive) The ‘Lord of the Rings’ star will be campaigning alongside secretary-treasurer hopeful Michelle Hurd and Joely Fisher, who is targeting L.A. Local president.

Late-breaking Hollywood union news: Sean Astin, of ‘Lord of the Rings’ fame, is running for SAG-AFTRA president www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...

Food Stylists in the Writers’ Union? That’s a Reality in an Innovative New Labor Deal The Montclair, New Jersey-based Garden Slate Productions has inked a contract with the Writers Guild of America East that has revealed the expanding boundaries of the union.

WGA East and the company that produces “The Kitchen” and other Food Network shows have a new contract that includes culinary producers, food stylists, set PAs and others. From my colleague @katiekilkenny.bsky.social

Hollywood Heavyweights Hound Sacramento for a $750 Million Lifeline In California's capitol, A-listers delicately push to expedite a bulked-up tax incentive to halt a production exodus.

Winston Cho and I somehow got to follow Jonathan Nolan, Patty Jenkins, Damon Lindelof and others around Sacramento for a day. They were there to talk about film and TV tax credits, but other things were going on. Our story: www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...

Production Assistants, Seeing Work Dwindle, View a Union as Their Future Though local levels of film and TV shoots have plunged, Production Assistants United is forging ahead with a rally on Sunday that aims to convey, “We’re here and we’re not going away.”

Even at a time when Hollywood crews are struggling, production assistants (PAs) are pushing ahead with an ambitious, sprawling effort to unionize their entire cohort nationwide. Inside their effort: www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...

In a statement, the WGA West said a staffer was recently fired for cause and that the union “supports the staff’s right to organize and collectively bargain and recognized the staff union in a week.”

Writers Guild West Staff Union Voluntarily Recognized Around 81 percent of the bargaining unit voted to join the Pacific Northwest Staff Union in a card count that took place Tuesday.

The Writers Guild of America West has voluntarily recognized its own staff union. Still, there were allegations of union-busting during the campaign, which we’ve detailed here: www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...

Writers Guild West Staffers Launch Their Own Unionization Drive (Exclusive) The employees behind the famously hard-charging labor organization say they want a workplace where “our voices are heard” and “our work is valued.”

New: The Writers Guild of America West has its own unionizing drive on its hand, with staffers in legal, contracts, residuals, etc. looking to join the Pacific Northwest Staff Union www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...

Writers Guild West Names Members Who’ve Been Expelled or Disciplined for Breaking Strike Rules Of the seven that were disciplined, four have appealed: Julie Bush, Tim Doyle, Edward Drake and Roma Roth have all sought to overturn rulings from the WGA West board of directors.

New: The WGA West has gone public with the members disciplined (expelled, suspended, censured) after its 2023 strike trials — and four have appealed www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...

Staffers at L.A.’s Natural History Museum and La Brea Tar Pits Form Union Around 300 workers at the iconic SoCal institutions will join AFSCME as part of a voluntary recognition agreement with management.

Some fun L.A. news: The staff of the La Brea Tar Pits and L.A.'s Natural History Museum have unionized www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/local-n...

Gregory Hessinger to Replace Carol Lombardini at AMPTP The longtime labor and employment lawyer has worked on both sides of the bargaining table, having headed up labor relations for CBS and also led negotiations for the unions SAG and AFTRA.

The new head of the AMPTP has been named: Greg Hessinger, who has worked on both the union and employer side www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...