George R.R. Martin on WhyHouse of the DragonIs Still Filming During the Strikes

As the WGA and SAG - AFTRA ’s strike march on , one genre yield has had perhaps the dubitable spotlight forcarrying on no matter : HBO ’s House of the Dragon . The Game of Thrones prequel ’s 2nd time of year has spent the retiring few month carry on production in Europe , even as writershave remained off - setand now as histrion bring production across the macrocosm to a stay in the name of fair contracts . But there ’s a cause for it — the UK ’s labor law , so bad that even George R.R. Martin ca n’t help oneself but bemock them .

Recently on hisNot a Blog blog , Martin put up an update on the current entertainment labor trend we get ourselves in , especially now that SAG - AFTRA ’s strike has begun in earnest . In exceptional , of class , he commented on how House of the Dragon will be impacted , just as he didwhen the WGA smash first began .

“ I am recite the 2d season is half done . ALL of the script had been finish calendar month before the WGA strike start out . No written material has been done since , to the best of my noesis , ” Martin wrote , before explain the next complicated facet of the show ’s continued output : how it ’s carrying on despite the actors ’ smasher . The simple answer is that , like Game of Thrones before it , House of the Dragon mostly despoil act talent from Europe and the UK , rather than the USA . “ HOT D is shot mostly in London ( and a slight bit in Wales , Spain , and various other localization ) , which is why filming has continued . The doer are members of the British labor union , Equity , not SAG - AFTRA , and though Equity strongly brook their American cousins ( they have a boastful rally planned to show that support ) , British constabulary forbids them from staging a sympathy bang . If they take the air , they have no protection against being fired for breach of contract bridge , or even sued . ”

Image: HBO

He ’s right : just as is the case with author ’s guilds in the country , entertainment professionals in the UK ca n’t officially go on strike in solidarity with the WGA or SAG , because they ’re part of different trade union , and would face severe punishment if they attempted to do so . It suck , but the UK also has a foresighted history of having its unionized working class movements being counteract by more and more draconian laws . “ Honestly , I was aghast to pick up that , ” Martin continued in an parenthesis . “ One of the two major UK political parties , Labour , has its roots in the craft union movement . How in the world could they have let such anti - labor regulation to be enact ? Seems to me that Labour Party really needs to do a well line of protecting the right hand to impinge on . ”

You allege it , George , I just doubt Labour leader Kier Starmer ’s going to take heed to you , regrettably . Instead he ’s probably just going to ask about Winds of Winter , but gratefully Martin has an update on that . Will the Winds of Winter blow before the strike are over ? Probably not , but they stand a damn good chance of blow out well before the UK ’s backwards labor constabulary get improved .

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