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Lesley Goldberg
Television Editor, West Coast
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Lesley Goldberg is an award-winning reporter who has covered the business of TV for two decades. In addition to development, renewals/cancellations, overall deals, castings and larger trends, she co-hosts the award-winning weekly podcast TV’s Top 5, which features showrunner/executive interviews and analysis. The L.A. native and diehard Dodger fan has been with THR since 2003. She lives in Burbank with her wife (a TV writer) and dog.
Showtime’s Head of Scripted Amy Israel Exits
Another important executive is leaving their post at Showtime. Amy Israel is stepping down from her position as head of scripted programming for the Paramount Global-backed network. The news, which was announced internally Thursday via a memo from Chris McCarthy and Nina Diaz, follows the February departures of Gary Levine and Jana Winograde from their […]
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Energy at Writers Guild Deal Meeting Akin to a “Rock Concert”
The Writers Guild of America, on the union’s first day after its historic 148-day strike, staged a “rock concert” — as one showrunner described it — Wednesday night at the Hollywood Palladium as the guild celebrated its leadership and solidarity while outlining the deal points in its tentative Minimum Basic Agreement to its membership. The […]
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SAG-AFTRA, Studios to Resume Negotiations on Oct. 2
For the first time since SAG-AFTRA went on strike in July, the performers’ union and Hollywood studios and streamers have set a date to return to the bargaining table. “SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP will resume negotiations for a new TV/Theatrical contract on Monday, October 2. Several executives from AMPTP member companies will be in attendance,” […]
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Suspended Overall Deals Are Already Being Reinstated
On Wednesday, hours after the Writers Guild of America’s strike officially ended, studio and streaming executives were busy making scores of calls to the writers and producers whose deals were suspended during the five-month walkout. To that end, sources say Warner Bros. Television is lifting suspensions that were issued to top showrunners including Greg Berlanti, […]
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Many Writers See Tentative Deal as Blueprint for Hollywood’s Future
“It’s a road map. People are going to study it like the Torah.” That’s how one prolific showrunner describes the Writers Guild of America’s tentative new three-year Minimum Basic Agreement, a deal that was reached as Yom Kippur, the day of atonement that serves as the holiest of Jewish holidays, was beginning as the sun […]
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Writers Guild Reveals Details of Tentative Deal With Studios on AI, Data Transparency, Mini Rooms and More
Restrictions on the use of AI, minimum staffing in television writers rooms and a viewership-based streaming bonus. Those are some of the many deal points in the Writers Guild of America’s tentative three-year contract deal with studios and streamers, the details of which were released to union members Tuesday. The highly anticipated pact also includes […]
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How the Writers Deal Got Done: Inside the Room
On Saturday, Sept. 23, Disney CEO Bob Iger was in Beverly Hills, seemingly living his best life. He was at dinner with Paul McCartney and Eagles alum Joe Walsh at La Dolce Vita, an Old World Italian restaurant with long white tablecloths and dark red leather booths. Some people were discreetly snapping photos, as was […]
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“Fake Carol’s” Message to the Real AMPTP President: “Babe, You Don’t Have to Keep Doing This”
While the industry will undoubtedly debate the winners and losers from the writers strike, there is one indisputable victor during the 146-day-long work stoppage: the “Fake Carol” Lombardini Twitter/X account. The self-professed parody account became a viral sensation during strike, taking shots at the president of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, Drew […]
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Hollywood Reacts to Tentative WGA, AMPTP Deal: “We Did It!”
Striking writers and other members of Hollywood are calling the tentative deal reached by the Writers Guild and the AMPTP on Sunday a “victory.” The deal was announced Sunday, which was 146 days after the writers strike began on May 2 and following five back-to-back days of negotiations that ran through the weekend. In its […]
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Studios Present “Best and Final” Offer to Writers Guild
The Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers appear to be nearing the finish line on a deal that could end a historic, 145-day strike after the studios presented an alleged “best and final” offer to the union. The companies’ latest offer was made on Saturday, according to studio-side […]
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After Marathon Session, Writers Guild Negotiations Conclude Friday Without Deal
The Writers Guild of America met again with chief executives and studio and streamer negotiators on Friday in a marathon bargaining session that failed to produce a deal, though management-side insiders did claim that progress was being made. Talks went well into the night on the third day that union negotiators met with a group […]
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Writers Turn Out in Force On Picket Lines Amid Hopes of a Deal Breakthrough
On day 144 of the writers strike — a week and a half shy of becoming the longest in Writers Guild of America history — there was a renewed sense of optimism on the jam-packed picket lines Friday as guild members heeded their union’s call to hit the pavement as negotiations with studio CEOs and […]
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