By Garry Maddox
Hollywood was still celebrating the end of its longest actors’ strike when American director Will Gluck jumped back into production with two of the industry’s hottest young stars – Sydney Sweeney from The White Lotus and Glen Powell from Top Gun: Maverick – at Bondi Beach.
Given the strike had tentatively ended only hours earlier, it was one of the first movies – possibly the first – to get back into production.
After the end of the Hollywood actors’ strike, Sydney Sweeney was back in Bondi for additional filming on Friday.Credit: Louise Kennerley
Gluck, best known for Easy A, Friends with Benefits and the two Peter Rabbit movies, wanted to add some “beauty shots” of the city to the romantic comedy Anyone But You.
“We were hoping that the strike would finish so we could film these extra things we wanted to do,” he said from the set. “We were very excited that it ended in time.”
Gluck had his two stars standing by to fly to Sydney.
Sweeney was on the Gold Coast to shoot the Ron Howard survival thriller Eden, which was one of a number of non-studio productions given an exemption during the strike, later this month. The producers had been holding flights so Powell could jump on a plane from the US at short notice if the strike finished.
They play two antagonistic young Americans who pretend to be a couple for a destination wedding in Sydney. It’s a romcom – Gluck calls it a “love letter to Sydney”, then quickly adds “Australia” to differentiate city from star – so, naturally, romance follows.
After a brutal 118 days and a dramatic last week of negotiations the actors’ union, SAG-AFTRA, reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract with major studios, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
While its members still have to ratify the contract, the union declared the strike over at 12.01am on Thursday, Los Angeles time, which was 7.01pm on Thursday AEST.
Gluck took the chance to shoot two days of what the film industry calls pick-up shots.
As a member of both recently striking Hollywood unions – Writers Guild of America, which resolved its five-month action in September, and SAG-AFTRA – Gluck was delighted the disputes had been resolved.
“I think it’s been a very positive step for labour in general,” he said. “It’s great for both the actors and the writers.”
The new contract, which the union said was worth more than $US1 billion ($1.57 billion), includes improved minimum pay rates, residual payments for shows streamed online, and healthcare funding. It is also believed to stop studios from using artificial intelligence to create digital replicas of actors without payment or approval.
Gluck believes AI was a crucial issue to be resolved.
“It’s going to be a big part of our lives at some point so it was definitely important that the conversation had to begin,” he said. “[I’m] very happy with the gains that both the writers and the actors achieved.”
While Deadline Hollywood has reported the first scripted television TV series will resume production later this month, starting with the likes of Night Court, Abbott Elementary, NCIS and Young Sheldon, Gluck believes Hollywood will get back to making movies even quicker.
Director Will Gluck discusses a shot with Sydney Sweeney at Bondi Beach.Credit: Louise Kennerley
“It’s amazing how fast we can all go,” he said. “The movies that haven’t been finished yet are scrambling to go very fast.”
Anyone But You includes scenes shot at Sydney Harbour, the Opera House, Palm Beach, Maroubra beach, Marks Park at Tamarama, Sydney Cricket Ground, the helicopter rescue training centre at Bankstown, the old Qantas 747 at Albion Park and a house at Terrey Hills.
The pick-up shots are also down for the Opera House, Centennial Park and Barangaroo.
“Hopefully this ‘beautiful Australia’ stuff will make it so much better,” Gluck said.
Sydney Sweeney makes her way to her mark for a scene.Credit: Louise Kennerley
So what does he expect Anyone But You will do for Sydney as a tourist destination?
“It’s not going to hurt it,” he said. “It’s pretty beautiful.”
Email Garry Maddox at gmaddox@smh.com.au and follow him on Twitter at @gmaddox.
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