NBCU & CBS Studios pause producer deals with talent incl Dwayne Johnson & Lorne Michael

(CC: Izayah Ramos – unsplash)

NBCUniversal and CBS Studios have become the latest US majors to pause overall and first-look deals with talent, as the US writers strike nears its fifth month.

NBCU’s Universal Studio Group, which houses Universal Television, Universal Content Productions and Universal Pictures, has suspended deals with its non-writing producers on strike, with Dwayne Johnson’s Seven Bucks Prods. and Lorne Michael’s Broadway Video affected.

CBS Studios has also suspended deals with Franklin Entertainment and Phil McGraw, according to US reports.

US studios suspended a raft of deals with writers when the strike first started in May, but more recently the deals of non-writers and producers have also been paused.

It emerged last week that Warner Bros. Discovery’s TV division has suspended overall deals with talent including Greg Berlanti and JJ Abrams last week, affecting Greg Barlenti, JJ Abrams, Ted Lasso‘s Bill Lawrence, Maid’s John Wells and Sex Lives Of College Girls‘ Mindy Kaling.

The deals have, however, not been cancelled because the studios will need to get production up and running quickly once agreements are struck and strikes end.