Advertisement

‘Hysteria!’: Peacock Series Halts Production For Duration Of Writers Strike

Production on the Peacock series Hysteria! starring Julie Bowen and Anna Camp has shut down production in Atlanta for the remainder of the WGA writers strike.

Deadline understands the WGA picket line was respected by Teamsters and IATSE early Monday morning, the 35th day of the strike.

More from Deadline

While production shutdowns have become a regular occurrence in New York and Los Angeles as a result of picketing by striking writers, this is believed to be the first series to suspend filming in Atlanta. WGA East and West members are organizing in key cities outside of New York City and Los Angeles to help set up pickets with local members where productions have expanded in recent years, including Atlanta and Albuquerque.

Created by Matthew Scott Kane who writes and executive produces and co-showruns alongside David A. Goodman, former WGA President who is a co-chair of the negotiating committee. Hysteria! explores America’s dark history of mass hysteria through the shocking story of the teenage Satanic Panic. It follows a group of 1980s high school misfits as they exploit the growing hysteria around teen occult activity.

The series, which also stars Emjay Anthony, Chiara Aurelia, Kezii Curtis and Nikki Hahn, is produced by UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group. Alongside Kane and Goodman, John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein, Chris Bender and Jake Weiner will also executive produce. Jordan Vogt-Roberts is directing the first episode. Scott Stoops is supervising producer on behalf of Good Fear.

Daley and Goldstein showed their support for the WGA on May 17 across the street from Paramount Studios with food from Taco 1986.

Deadline spoke with WGA negotiating committee member Greg Iwinski on Saturday about the importance of shutting down productions.

“Nobody is happy or enjoys that productions are shut down because we want to be back at work and making stuff. There’s been an incredible amount of solidarity and support from the Teamsters and IATSE and them saying, ‘We will honor your lines.’ We want this to be done as soon as possible so that all 11,500 writers and the Guild are back to work, and so we can get back to full production as an industry,” he said.

“We believe the fastest way to do that is to close the pipeline of production so that— although it is painful and we acknowledge that it’s awful— the hope is that it’s a sharp, quick, fast pain now so that we do not have a prolonged thing later. We want the strike to be over tomorrow and so this is hopefully moving that forward faster,” Iwinski added.

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.