House of Cards Extends Hiatus, Targeting December Return to Production

Production on the sixth and final season of House of Cards has been on hold since Halloween, when it was suspended indefinitely. That hiatus has now been extended for another two weeks, with Dec. 8 pencilled in as the tentative date for a return to production. House of Cards producers Media Rights Capital announced the hiatus extension in a letter sent to the streaming series’ cast and crew, per THR.

MRC and Netflix announced they were suspending production on House of Cards in order “to give us time to review the current situation and to address any concerns of our cast and crew.” The “current situation” and cause of those concerns, of course, revolved around sexual misconduct allegations leveled at the political drama’s star, Kevin Spacey. Initial accusations against Spacey resulted in producers announcing that House of Cards’ forthcoming sixth season would be its last, and soon after eight current and former crew members from the show spoke out against Spacey with allegations of their own, the actor was fired from the series outright. An investigation into his on-set behavior remains ongoing. Spacey will all but certainly be written out of the show’s final season.

The House of Cards hiatus extension letter was signed by Pauline Micelli, MRC’s Senior VP of TV Business and Legal Affairs. Micelli covers the logistics of the continuing production stoppage, explaining that MRC “continue to work with Netflix with the hope of resuming production soon” and that “the crew will be paid for an additional two week hiatus—beginning on November 27th and continuing through December 8th,” with “a small contingency of office/accounting staff who will remain in the production office on a continuous basis.” She concludes by promising another update on Dec. 8, and offering a message of encouragement:

These last two months have tested and tried all of us in ways none of us could have foreseen. The one thing we have learned throughout this process is that this production is bigger than just one person and we could not be more proud to be associated with one of the most loyal and talented production cast and crews in this business.

Read Micelli’s letter in full below.

Dear Cast and Crew,

As we move into the holidays, we want to express our appreciation for all of the meaningful messages of support we have received from you and want to update all of our loyal cast and crew on our progress and where things currently stand.

We continue to work with Netflix with the hope of resuming production soon. As we continue these discussions, we have determined together that the crew will be paid for an additional two week hiatus—beginning on November 27th and continuing through December 8th.

In addition to the writers, there will be a small contingency of office/accounting staff who will remain in the production office on a continuous basis. Our hope is that the entire crew will be able to reconvene when production resumes, but we want you to know that we will certainly understand if crew members need to find other work in the interim, which will prevent them from re-joining us. We sincerely appreciate all you have done.

Cast and other union members who are not actively working will be paid in accordance with applicable union guidelines through this period and we will be reaching out directly to your representatives to work through the details; we will get to everyone as quickly as possible and appreciate all of your patience here.

These last two months have tested and tried all of us in ways none of us could have foreseen. The one thing we have learned throughout this process is that this production is bigger than just one person and we could not be more proud to be associated with one of the most loyal and talented production cast and crews in this business.

We will provide an additional update by 12/8/17.

Thank you all.

Pauline Micelli