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 Writers Guild of America West - 7000 W 3rd St, Los Angeles, California | |
| Abbreviation | WGAW |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | Screen Writers Guild |
| Founded | 1954 (1954) |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles,California, U.S. |
| Location |
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| Members | 10,559 (full members) 13,881 (other members) (2019) |
President | Michele Mulroney |
Vice President | Travis Donnelly |
Key people | Peter Murrieta, Secretary/Treasurer |
| Affiliations | IAWG |
| Website | www |
| [1] | |
TheWriters Guild of America West (WGAW) is alabor union representing film, television, radio, and new media writers. It was formed in 1954 from five organizations representing writers, including theScreen Writers Guild.[2] It has around 20,000 members.[3][4]
The WGAW and theWriters Guild of America, East (WGAE), though independent entities, jointly brand themselves together as theWriters Guild of America (WGA), and cooperate on activities such as launching coordinatedstrike actions and administering theWriters Guild of America Awards. The WGAE is an affiliate of theInternational Affiliation of Writers Guilds.
The WGAW is governed by its membership. Elections for a board of directors are held annually by secret mail-in ballot. Half of the board is elected each year to a two-year term of office, and a board member may not serve more than four consecutive terms. In 2022 the officers are:[5]
David Young is employed as the Guild's executive director and Tony Segall is general counsel. Young served as the Guild's chief negotiator during the 2007 contract negotiations and subsequent 100-day strike. On November 3, 2023, the guild announced that Young will be stepping down from his role and will be replaced with Ellen Stutzman.[6]
According to WGAW's Department of Labor records since 2006, over half of the guild's total membership is ineligible to vote, comprising the guild's "post current", "emeritus", and "associate" members.[7]
Since the formation of the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) in 1954 there have been 33 presidents.[8] The first President was screenwriterRichard L. Breen, followed by:
Edmund L. Hartmann, Curtis Kenyon,Ken Englund,Charles Schnee,James R. Webb,Nate Monaster, Christopher Knopf,Michael Blankfort,Melville Shavelson,Ranald MacDougall,John Furia Jr., David W. Rintels, Daniel Taradash,Frank Pierson,Ernest Lehman, George Kirgo,Del Reisman, Brad Radnitz,Daniel Petrie Jr.,John Wells,Victoria Riskin, Charles D. Holland,Patric M. Verrone,Christopher Keyser,Howard A. Rodman andDavid A. Goodman.
The current president is screenwriter and producerMeredith Stiehm.
TheScreen Writers Guild (SWG) was formed in 1921 by a group of tenscreenwriters in Hollywood angered over wage reductions announced by the major film studios.[9] The group affiliated with theAuthors Guild in 1933 and began representing TV writers in 1948.[9] In 1954, the SWG was one of five groups who merged to represent professional writers on both coasts and became the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAe) and West (WGAW).Howard J. Green andJohn Howard Lawson were the first two presidents during the SWG era.[10]Daniel Taradash was president of the WGAW from 1977 to 1979.
In 1952, the Guild authorized movie studios to delete onscreen credits for any writers who had not been cleared byCongress, as part of the industry'sblacklisting of writers with allegedcommunist orleftist leanings or affiliations.
From March to August 1988,WGAW members were on strike against the major American television networks in a dispute overresiduals from repeat airings and foreign/home video use of scripted shows and made-for-TV movies. The 22-week strike crippled American broadcast television and drove millions of viewers, disgusted with the lack of new scripted programming, tocable channels andhome video, a blow to ratings and revenues from which, some industry watchers argue, the networks have never fully recovered.[11]
In 2004, Victoria Riskin resigned as WGAW President after being accused by her opponent Eric Hughes during the 2003 election of using a sham writing contract to maintain her membership status.[12] She was replaced by vice-president Charles Holland, who resigned a few weeks later when questions arose about statements he had made about his college football career and his claim of having secretly served in combat as a Green Beret, a claim his army records did not support.[13] After Riskin's resignation, the U.S. Department of Labor investigated the sham contract and concluded that Riskin was indeed ineligible to run.[14] The WGAW entered into a settlement by offering to re-run the election under DOL supervision. A new election was held in September 2004 between Eric Hughes and Daniel Petrie Jr. which Petrie won.
On April 17, 2019, WGA West andWGA East filed a lawsuit inLos Angeles Superior Court against the four dominantHollywoodtalent agencies,William Morris Agency,Creative Artists Agency,United Talent Agency andICM Partners, citingmovie packaging fee practices, which the WGA asserts are a violation of state and federal laws.[15] Approximately 95 percent of Guild members voted "in favor of a code of conduct that would cease packaging fees."[16]
During the week following its lawsuit filing;en masse, over 7,000 Guild members fired their talent agents, as "not just drastically out-earning them, but preventing them from receiving better pay."[16] WGA presidentDavid A. Goodman was then quoted as stating toNPR "that in a period of unprecedented profits and growth of our business ... writers themselves are actually earning less".[17]
In June 2005, WGAW started a "reality rights" campaign to allow writers ofreality television shows to qualify for guild rights and benefits.[18] The union maintained that the storytellers who conceive the tests and confrontations on such shows werebona fide writers.[19] The Guild also expressed concern the1988 strike showed that lack of representation in the genre would weaken their future bargaining position.[20] Studio executives maintained that these employees were primarily editors, not writers, and that the shows needed to appear to be unscripted in order for viewers to feel they were "real."[21]
As part of this campaign, on September 20, 2006, the WGAW held aLos Angeles unity rally in support of theAmerica's Next Top Model writers'strike. PresidentPatric Verrone said, "Every piece of media with a moving image on a screen or a recorded voice must have a writer, and every writer must have a WGA contract."[22]
On November 6, 2006, the WGAW filed an unfair labor practice complaint with theNational Labor Relations Board afterTop Model producers said the show's next season would be produced using a new system that would not require writers. In response, Verrone said, "as they demanded union representation, the company decided they were expendable. This is illegal strikebreaking."[23]
On November 2, 2007, the Guild again went on strike, this time over writers' share of revenues fromDVD releases and fromInternet, cellphone shows, and othernew media uses of programs and films written by members. The strike vote followed the expiration of the guild's contract with theAlliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.[24]
Since March 2023, theWriters Guild of America had been in contract negotiations with theAlliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The current contract ended at 11:59 PM PDT on May 1, 2023.[25]
Since an acceptable new contract was not negotiated, WGA members officially voted for a strike commencing on May 2, 2023.[26] The vote by WGA members was: 9,020 (97.85%) in favor and 198 (2.15%) opposed. Total ballots cast was 9,218 (78.79% of eligible WGA members). The vote set a new record for both turnout and the percentage of support in a strike authorization vote.[27]
On April 22, 2023, theSAG-AFTRA National Board voted unanimously to pass a resolution in support of WGA negotiations with theAMPTP.[28]
In preparation, the WGA published its strike rules.[29] The WGA Negotiating Committee[30] is led by Ellen Stutzman (chief negotiator),David A. Goodman (co-chair) and Chris Keyser (co-chair).
On May 1, 2023, negotiations between WGA and AMPTP concluded without a deal.[31] Hollywood trade publicationDeadline reported that as of May 2, 2023 at 12:01 am PDT the Writers Guild of America was on strike.[32] On September 23, 2023, news outlets reported that the WGA and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers were close to a final resolution and expected a resolution to be had by the end of the weekend.[33] On September 24, 2023, it was announced that the writers and the studios reached a tentative agreement.[34][35]
Written By, the WGAW's official journal since 1997, is published six times a year.[36]
Writers Guild Theater, on South Doheny Drive, inBeverly Hills, is a 473-seat theater, with 2,000 square feet of "flexible space".[37][38]
In 1966, the Writers Guild Foundation was founded by Writers Guild members to raise money for writers to attend the International Writers Guild conference in Los Angeles.[39] The Writers Guild Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non profit organization that is affiliated with, but independent of, the WGAW.[40]
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