The Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) is a labor union representing film, television, radio, and new media writers. It was formed in 1954 from five organizations representing writers, including the Screen Writers Guild. It has around 20,000 members.WGAW Annual Report to Writers
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History

The Screen Writers Guild (SWG) was formed in 1921 by a group of ten

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

s in Hollywood angered over wage reductions announced by the major film studios. The group affiliated with the

Authors Guild The Authors Guild is America's oldest and largest professional organization for writers and provides advocacy on issues of free expression and copyright protection. Since its founding in 1912 as the Authors League of America, it has counted among ...

in 1933 and began representing TV writers in 1948. 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 and

John Howard Lawson John Howard Lawson (September 25, 1894 – August 11, 1977) was an American writer, specializing in plays and screenplays. After starting with plays for theaters in New York City, he worked in Hollywood on writing for films. He was the first pres ...

were the first two presidents during the SWG era. 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 by

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

, as part of the industry's blacklisting of writers with alleged

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

leanings or affiliations. From March to August 1988, WGAw members were on strike against the major American television networks in a dispute over residuals 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, to cable channels and

home video Home video is prerecorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD, Blu-ray and streaming me ...

, a blow to ratings and revenues from which, some industry watchers argue, the networks have never fully recovered. 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. 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. After Riskin's resignation, the U.S. Department of Labor investigated the sham contract and concluded that Riskin was indeed ineligible to run. 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 and WGA East filed a lawsuit in

Los Angeles Superior Court The Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, is the California superior court with jurisdiction over Los Angeles County, which includes the city of Los Angeles. It is the largest single unified trial court in the United States. The ...

against the four dominant Hollywood

talent agencies Talent has two principal meanings: * Talent (measurement), an ancient unit of mass and value * Talent (skill), a group of aptitudes useful for some activities; talents may refer to aptitudes themselves or to possessors of those talents Talent may ...

William Morris Agency The William Morris Agency (WMA) was a Hollywood-based talent agency. It represented some of the best known 20th-century entertainers in film, television, and music. During its 109-year tenure it came to be regarded as the "first great talent ag ...

Creative Artists Agency Creative Artists Agency LLC (CAA) is an American talent and sports agency based in Los Angeles, California. It is regarded as an influential company in the talent agency business and manages numerous clients. In March 2016, CAA had 1,800 emplo ...

United Talent Agency United Talent Agency (UTA) is a global talent agency based in Beverly Hills, California. Established in 1991, it represents artists and other professionals across the entertainment industry. , the company has more than 1,400 global employees. U ...

and

ICM Partners ICM Partners is a talent and literary agency with offices in Los Angeles, New York City, Washington D.C. and London. ICM (International Creative Management) Partners represents clients in the fields of motion pictures, television, music, publi ...

, citing

movie packaging In film industry terminology, ''movie packaging'' or ''film packaging'' is a type of product bundling in which a top level talent agency starts up a film or television project using writers, directors and/or actors it represents, before giving othe ...

fee practices, which the WGA asserts are a violation of state and federal laws. Approximately 95 percent of Guild members voted "in favor of a code of conduct that would cease packaging fees." 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." WGA president

David A. Goodman David A. Goodman (born December 13, 1962) is an American writer, producer, and president of the Writers Guild of America West. He has been a writer for several television series, such as ''The Golden Girls'', his first job; ''Futurama'', where he ...

was then quoted as stating to

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

"that in a period of unprecedented profits and growth of our business ... writers themselves are actually earning less".

Reality united

In June 2005, WGAw started a "reality rights" campaign to allow writers of

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

shows to qualify for guild rights and benefits. The union maintained that the storytellers who conceive the tests and confrontations on such shows were ''bona fide'' writers. The Guild also expressed concern the 1988 strike showed that lack of representation in the genre would weaken their future bargaining position. 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." As part of this campaign, on September 20, 2006, the WGAw held a

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

unity rally in support of the ''

America's Next Top Model ''America's Next Top Model'' (abbreviated ''ANTM'' and ''Top Model'') is an American reality television series and interactive competition in which a number of aspiring models compete for the title of "America's Next Top Model" and a chance to b ...

'' writers'

strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

. President

Patric Verrone Patric Miller Verrone (born September 29, 1959) is an American television writer and labor leader. He served as a writer and producer for several animated television shows, most notably ''Futurama''. Schooling and pre-television career Verrone g ...

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." On November 6, 2006, the WGAw filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the

National Labor Relations Board The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States with responsibilities for enforcing U.S. labor law in relation to collective bargaining and unfair labor practices. Under the Na ...

after ''Top 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."

2007–08 strike

On November 2, 2007, the Guild again went on strike, this time over writers' share of revenues from

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

releases and from

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

, cellphone shows, and other

new media New media describes communication technologies that enable or enhance interaction between users as well as interaction between users and content. In the middle of the 1990s, the phrase "new media" became widely used as part of a sales pitch for ...

uses of programs and films written by members. The strike vote followed the expiration of the guild's contract with the

Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) is a trade association based in Sherman Oaks, California, that represents over 350 American television and film production companies in collective bargaining negotiations with ente ...

Governance

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: * President:

Meredith Stiehm Meredith Stiehm (born 1968) is an American television producer and writer. She is the creator of the hit crime drama '' Cold Case'' and the FX thriller drama '' The Bridge''. She is President of the Writers Guild of America. Early life and ed ...

* Vice President: Michele Mulroney * Secretary-Treasurer:

Betsy Thomas Betsy Thomas (born 1966) is an American television writer and producer living in Los Angeles, California with her husband, writer and actor Adrian Wenner. Thomas is best known as the creator of the sitcom ''My Boys'' that debuted on the cable t ...

* Board of Directors: Liz Hsiao Lan Alper,

Raphael Bob-Waksberg Raphael Matthew Bob-Waksberg (born August 17, 1984) is an American comedian, writer, producer, actor, and voice actor. He is known as the creator and showrunner of the Netflix animated comedy series '' BoJack Horseman'' and the Amazon Prime Vid ...

, Angelina Burnett, Robb Chavis,

Adam Conover Adam Conover (born March 2) is an American comedian, writer, voice actor, and television host. He created and hosted the half-hour truTV show ''Adam Ruins Everything'', based on the CollegeHumor series of the same name. He was also the host of t ...

, Marjorie David, Travis Donnelly,

Ashley Gable Ashley Gable is an American screenwriter and producer who has worked on a variety of well-known television series including '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and '' Person of Interest''. She was an executive producer on the CBS crime drama ''The Ment ...

Justin Halpern Justin Samuel Halpern (born September 3, 1980) is the American author of the Twitter feed " Shit My Dad Says" and the best-selling book ''Sh*t My Dad Says''. He was also the co-writer and co-executive producer of a CBS television situation come ...

, Dante W. Harper, Eric Haywood, Deric A. Hughes, Zoe Marshall, Dailyn Rodriguez, John Rogers, and

Nicole Yorkin Nicole Yorkin is an American television writer and producer. In 1997, she shared an Emmy Award nomination with several producers of '' Chicago Hope'' in the category "Outstanding Drama Series". In 2003, she and her partner Dawn Prestwich won a Wr ...

. 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. 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.

Magazine

''Written By'', the WGAw's official journal, since 1997, is published six times a year, which it describes as "the magazine of America's Storytellers",.

Writers Guild Theater

''Writers Guild Theater'', on South Doheny Drive, in

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Bev ...

, is a 473-seat theater, with 2,000 square feet of "flexible space".

References

External links

*
WGAw Registry (wgawregistry.org)

List of the 101 Greatest Screenplays

101 Best Written TV Series List

Producer Writers Guild of America Pension & Health Funds

WGAw Reality TV organizing committee

Writer Action a BBS for Guild Members

Screen Rights
{{authority control Scriptwriters' trade unions International Affiliation of Writers Guilds Trade unions established in 1921 Trade unions in the United States American writers' organizations 1921 establishments in California