Apparently ‘The Rings Of Power’ Doesn’t Need Writers Or Showrunners To Finish Filming Season 2

Amazon’s big-budget Lord Of The Rings show The Rings Of Power is carrying on with filming on Season 2 despite the Hollywood writer’s strike that has caused numerous other productions to pause while the WGA hashes out terms with production studios.

Some of the points up for contention are the use of AI in writing scripts and “gig economy” practices that writers worry will make the profession economically unsustainable—valid fears for anyone in the creative business at the moment.

But a pesky writer’s strike isn’t stopping Amazon. Like many other studios, the race is on to wrap production before a potential actor’s strike at the end of June, which would make filming all but impossible.

According to Variety:

The sweeping fantasy series has 19 days of filming remaining, sources confirm to Variety, but per WGA strike rules, Payne, McKay and any other writer-producers are barred from participating in any writing-based duties during production while the strike continues — including making creative decisions on set. Instead, the show’s non-writing executive producers (like Lindsey Weber), directors (Charlotte Brändström, Sanaa Hamri and Louise Hooper) and crew are overseeing production on the U.K.-based shoot.

Showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay have apparently been preparing their teams for the WGA strike, hoping to ease the transition and make filming possible without any of the people responsible for creative decision-making around.

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As readers of mine know, I have little faith in The Rings Of Power after its disastrous first season. I’ve suggested in the past that it seems plausible that AI was involved in the writing of the first season, and that Amazon is using an algorithm-based approach to crafting the story and characters, which would explain the atrocious dialogue and myriad plot-holes, not to mention the bizarre tonal issues, fast travel and so forth.

My question is: If the script really is partly AI-generated, is the AI part of the union? Will it also be kept far, far away from production teams for the duration? Frankly, at this point I think anyone involved with the calamity that was Season 1 really ought to be kept as far from a sound-stage as possible.

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