Production slowed because the studios had a backlog of product movie wise (they had ramped up movie production in the year prior to the writers strike, and that only slowed them down slightly before the end date of the SAG contract.) It never stopped television wise (except during the actual writers strike.) The same slow down occurred in 2001, as they had done the same thing because of a possible SAG strike then. When they would have begun to pick up production again the financial crisis had occurred and suddenly even Spielberg had to fight for financing. No one at SAG was stopping anyone from filming anything and this slow down should not be laid at the union’s feet. This was about the producers. And unfortunately all signs are that the pipeline wasn’t actually shut once they were out of backlog.

The increase in AFTRA television came mostly in the spring pilots, most of the television shows on the networks all this year were SAG, anything that had been SAG continued to be SAG. They didn’t stop working because of the SAG contract negotiations.

Another aspect of California’s production slow down is the increase in tax credits for other places. This was a big year for television production here in NY, and we’ve had a fair number of movies. Television series were produced in NY, NC, NM, and OR this year. Decisions of where to shoot are once again made by the Producers.

My point is that despite the way it is consistently portrayed, the production slow down is only minorly about the union. It is about the AMPTP.