Robert De Niro’s series ‘Zero Day’ shuts down production amid writers’ strike

Los Angeles [US], June 8 (ANI): Robert De Niro’s series ‘Zero Day’ is the latest project to be hit by a writers’ strike in Hollywood.

According to Variety, the Netflix series which marks Robert De Niro’s first regular television role has shut down production.

The series had recently begun production in New York but is now on hold amid the ongoing writers’ strike. There is currently no set date for work to resume on the show.

More than 11,000 members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) began the strike in May, claiming they aren’t paid fairly in the streaming era.”Though we negotiated intent on making a fair deal … the studios’ responses to our proposals have been wholly insufficient, given the existential crisis writers are facing,” said a statement from the union leadership.”They have closed the door on their labor force and opened the door to writing as an entirely freelance profession. No such deal could ever be contemplated by this membership.”

The Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers (AMPTP), which is negotiating on behalf of studio management, responded by saying it was willing to improve on its offer but was not willing to meet some of the union’s demands.”The primary sticking points are ‘mandatory staffing,’ and ‘duration of employment’ — Guild proposals that would require a company to staff a show with a certain number of writers for a specified period of time, whether needed or not,” said the statement from management’s negotiating committee.”Member companies remain united in their desire to reach a deal that is mutually beneficial to writers and the health and longevity of the industry, and to avoid hardship to the thousands of employees who depend upon the industry for their livelihoods,” it added.