Talk:Writers Guild of America
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[edit] Writers Guild of America vs Writers Guild Association (of America)
Are those 2 unions different ? If not, I read at several places that John Wells was the director of it. The article doesn't mention him.
- John Wells was formerly the president of the Writers Guild of America, West. The union was previously known as the Screen Writers Guild and a reference to the Writers Guild Association is erroneous. PedanticallySpeaking 21:38, Jan 26, 2005 (UTC)
PedanticallySpeaking, pedantically speaking, shouldn't there be an apostrophe after the 's' in Writers? ;-) func(talk) 6 July 2005 04:18 (UTC)
- If I were doing it, yes. But, alas, laws governing corporate organization allow all sorts of horrid constructions, such as the capital letter in the middle of the name, e.g. PricewaterhouseCoopers. If only they'd listen to me. Sigh. PedanticallySpeaking July 6, 2005 17:35 (UTC)
[edit] Manditory ?
Is membership in the Guild Manditory to work in screenwriting ? I have been researching a television writer who began a career writing radio in the 1940's and continues in television to this day, but according to both the East & West branches that person has never been a member of the WGA ? I find this a little confusing. Anyone have any knowledge ? Dowew 22:38, 29 September 2005 (UTC)
First, you don't have to join the WGA as soon as you start working as a screenwriter. There's a point system, where you get a certain number of points for (say) writing a single episode of a TV show, and a different number for doing a rewrite on a feature film, and so on. You don't qualify to join the WGA until you get (I think) a total of 24 points.
Once you get those points, you do have to join the WGA... but only if you want to work for a "Guild signatory" (which means "a company that has signed an agreement with the WGA.) This agreement includes (in addition to many other terms) a legally binding promise to hire only WGA members (or people who aren't yet WGA members but will agree to join once they become eligible.) So, if you want to work for a Guild signatory, it is indeed mandatory to be a WGA member (or to join as soon as you're eligible.)
The major studios and networks are all Guild signatories, but many smaller or less prestigious studios and networks aren't. I'm pretty sure Roger Corman and the Troma folks aren't signatories, for example. I believe a lot of the smaller cable channels aren't, either. So, you could spend a lifetime writing for Roger Corman without ever joining the WGA. (In fact, if you DID join the WGA, you would then not be permitted to write for Roger Corman at all, unless he agreed to become a Guild signatory.)
Also--just to make things a little more confusing--there are some fields that have historically not been covered by the WGA. For example, animated shows and animated films have traditionally not been covered, although that's slowly changing.
And, finally, don't forget that the A in WGA stands for "America." A writer who has only worked for companies outside the US would probably not be a WGA member.
Hope that clears things up!
Best wishes,Jacobw 09:36, 30 September 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Writers Guilds East and west
Though affiliated the WGAE and WGAw are two separate organizations and should have separate pages. Syndicalista 03:58, 9 September 2006 (UTC)Syndicalista
[edit] Stubbed
There have been several WP:OTRS complaints about this article and I have stubbed it based on a lack of references and a good deal of speculative content. Please rebuild it with due attention to references for each assertion and particular care in coverage of any controversial materal. The Uninvited Co., Inc. 03:21, 15 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] new articles
I created very basic pages for Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, west. I hope that others will assist in filling in additional information about the two guilds, using verifiable sources. This original page "WGA" had a lot of NPOV problems, which hopefully we can avoid moving forward. I think this page should serve more as a disambiguation-type page. Syndicalista 19:33, 16 September 2006 (UTC)
