July 24 (UPI) — George R.R. Martin says filming on House of the Dragon Season 2 is about “half done.”
The author and producer, 74, gave an update on the HBO series in a blog post amid the ongoing Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes.
House of the Dragon is a fantasy drama based on Martin’s book Fire & Blood. The show takes place in the world of Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire book series, which was previously adapted as the HBO series Game of Thrones.
In his post, Martin, who co-created House of the Dragon with Ryan Condal and executive produces the show, confirmed the series is one of the few still filming amid the writers and actors strikes.
“I am told the second season is half done. of the scripts had been finished months before the WGA strike began. No writing has been done since, to the best of my knowledge,” Martin said.
“HOTD is shot mostly in London (and a little bit in Wales, Spain, and various other locations), which is why filming has continued,” he explained. “The actors are members of the British union, Equity, not SAG-AFTRA, and though Equity strongly supports their American cousins (they have a big rally planned to show that support), British law forbids them from staging a sympathy strike. If they walk, they have no protection against being fired for breach of contract, or even sued.”
Martin himself had his overall deal with HBO suspended June 1 and said he has been picketing. He called the strike “the most important of my lifetime” and said he has “a bad feeling that this strike will be long and bitter.”
“I still have plenty to do, of course. In that, I am one of the lucky ones. (These strikes are not really about name writers or producers or showrunners, most of whom are fine; we’re striking for the entry level writers, the story editors, the students hoping to break in, the actor who has four lines, the guy working his first staff job who dreams of creating his own show one day, as I did back in the 80s),” Martin explained.
Martin is also developing The Iron Throne stage play and “making steady progress” on The Winds of Winter, the sixth book in the Song of Ice and Fire series.
