'The Full Monty' series writers Alice Nutter and Simon Beaufoy

Source: Alice Nutter

‘The Full Monty’ series writers Alice Nutter and Simon Beaufoy

The Full Monty series creator Simon Beaufoy and co-writer Alice Nutter have demonstrated their support for the US writers’ strike by picketing the Disney+ show’s premiere, which took place last night (Monday, June 5) in Sheffield.

Nutter posted on Twitter ahead of the premiere, on May 18: “Worked on The Full Monty TV show for 3 years with Simon Beaufoy but as WGA members @WGAWestwriters we are on strike so won’t be doing any promo, interviews or going to our own premieres. Love this show but it is important to win WGA writers strike. Solidarity.”

Nutter and Beaufoy didn’t attend the premiere, but greeted the queue outside the cinema with placards saying: “We wrote this show but we can’t go – fair deal for writers” and “The Full Monty, about people, for people, by people, no AI.”

Cast including Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy and Lesley Sharp were in attendance at the premiere, which reunites the characters from the 1997 film, and was also written by Beaufoy. It followed unemployed steel workers in Sheffield who get involved in the stripping business to earn a living.

Yesterday, the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (WGGB) set a date of June 14 for a protest in London’s Leicester Square in solidarity with WGA.

WGA members went on strike on May 2, after negotiations broke down between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture And Television Producers (AMPTP). The WGA is seeking better pay, particularly in relation to TV compensation, and support with the potential impact of generative A.I. on writers’ work.

In early May, the WGGB warned its members not to work on US projects during the WGA strike. It advised its members and all UK writers that they may be barred by the WGA from future membership if they do not comply.

If a writer has signed a contract under UK law with a streamer such as Amazon, Netflix and Disney+, and the writer was already under contract at the time the strike was called, the work is not considered “struck work” by the WGA.

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