The Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) is a
labor union
A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
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.
The WGAW and the
Writers Guild of America, East
The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) is a trade union, labor union representing writers in film, television, radio, news, and online media.
The WGAE and the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW), though independent entities, jointly brand the ...
(WGAE), though independent entities, jointly brand themselves together as the
Writers Guild of America (WGA), and cooperate on activities such as launching coordinated
strike action
Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike in British English, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Working class, work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Str ...
s and administering the
Writers Guild of America Awards. The WGAE is an affiliate of the
International Affiliation of Writers Guilds.
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
* Vice President: Michele Mulroney
* Secretary-Treasurer:
Betsy Thomas
* Board of Directors: Liz Hsiao Lan Alper,
Raphael Bob-Waksberg, Angelina Burnett, Robb Chavis,
Adam Conover, Marjorie David, Travis Donnelly,
Ashley Gable,
Justin Halpern,
Dante W. Harper, Eric Haywood, Deric A. Hughes, Zoe Marshall, Dailyn Rodriguez,
John Rogers, and
Nicole Yorkin.
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.
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.
Past presidents
Since the formation of the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) in 1954 there have been 33 presidents. The first President was screenwriter
Richard L. Breen, followed by:
Edmund L. Hartmann, Curtis Kenyon,
Ken Englund,
Charles Schnee,
James R. Webb,
Nate Monaster, Christopher Knopf,
Michael Blankfort,
Melville Shavelson
Melville Shavelson (April 1, 1917 – August 8, 2007) was an Americans, American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. He was President of the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAw) from 1969 to 1971, 1979 to 1981, and 1985 to 1 ...
,
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 and
David A. Goodman.
The current president is screenwriter and producer
Meredith Stiehm.
History
The
Screen Writers Guild (SWG) was formed in 1921 by a group of ten
screenwriter
A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...
s in Hollywood angered over wage reductions announced by the major film studios.
The group affiliated with the
Authors Guild 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 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, as part of the industry's
blacklisting of writers with alleged
communist or
leftist 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 recorded media sold or Video rental shop, 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 and Blu-ray. ...
, 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 against the four dominant
Hollywood talent agencies,
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 ...
,
Creative Artists Agency,
United Talent Agency and
ICM Partners, citing
movie packaging 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 was then quoted as stating to
NPR "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 ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...
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, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
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. President
Patric 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."
On November 6, 2006, the WGAW filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the
National Labor Relations Board 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."
Work stoppages
2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
On November 2, 2007, the Guild again went on strike, this time over writers' share of revenues from
DVD releases and from
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
, cellphone shows, and other
new media 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.
2023 Writers Guild of America strike
Since March 2023, the
Writers Guild of America had been in contract negotiations with the
Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The current contract ended at 11:59 PM PDT on May 1, 2023.
Since an acceptable new contract was not negotiated, WGA members officially voted for a strike commencing on May 2, 2023. 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.
On April 22, 2023, the
SAG-AFTRA National Board voted unanimously to pass a resolution in support of WGA negotiations with the
AMPTP.
In preparation, the WGA publishe
its strike rules.Th
WGA Negotiating Committeeis 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. Hollywood trade publication
Deadline reported that as of May 2, 2023 at 12:01 am PDT the Writers Guild of America was on strike. 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. On September 24, 2023, it was announced that the writers and the studios reached a tentative agreement.
Magazine
''Written By'', the WGAW's official journal since 1997, is published six times a year.
Writers Guild Theater
''Writers Guild Theater'', on South Doheny Drive, in
Beverly Hills, is a 473-seat theater, with 2,000 square feet of "flexible space".
Writers Guild Foundation
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.
The Writers Guild Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non profit organization that is affiliated with, but independent of, the WGAW.
See also
*
Writers Guild of America, East
The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) is a trade union, labor union representing writers in film, television, radio, news, and online media.
The WGAE and the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW), though independent entities, jointly brand the ...
(WGAE)
*
International Affiliation of Writers Guilds (IAWG)
*
Writers Guild of America Award
*
1960 Writers Guild of America strike
*
1981 Writers Guild of America strike
*
1988 Writers Guild of America strike
*
2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike
**
Effect of the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike on television
*
2023 Writers Guild of America strike
*
WGA screenwriting credit system
*
WGA script registration service
References
External links
*
WGAW RegistryList of the 101 Greatest Screenplays101 Best Written TV Series ListWriter Action, a BBS for guild membersScreen Rights*
Writers Guild Foundation
{{Authority control
1954 establishments in California
Trade unions established in 1954
American writers' organizations
Scriptwriters' trade unions
Trade unions in the United States
International Affiliation of Writers Guilds
Organizations based in Los Angeles
West