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Writers Guild of America

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Writers Guild of America, East logo
Writers Guild of America West logo
A Writers Guild of America strike sign, 2007

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is the generic term of two different American labor unions, representing writers in film, television, radio, and online media:

Although both organizations operate independently, they perform some common activities, including negotiating contracts and launching strike actions in unison.

Background and founding

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The Los Angeles headquarters of the Writers Guild of America West

Both organizations of the Writers Guild of America were established by 1954 after the merging of groups from other writers labor unions. The Authors Guild (AG) was originally founded in 1912 as the Authors' League of America (ALA) to represent book and magazine authors, as well as dramatists. In 1921, the Dramatists Guild of America split off as a separate group to represent writers of stage and, later, radio drama. That same year, the Screen Writers Guild (SWG) was formed to represent film screenwriters, but operated primarily more as a social organization until 1933 when the group affiliated with the AG and took on a more active role in labor negotiations. With the emergence of the television industry by 1948, the SWG and a Television Writers Group within the AG began to represent TV writers. In recognition of the growing complexity of representing members in many different fields of entertainment writing, the unions reorganized in 1954. Both the Authors Guild and the Dramatists Guild would continue to represent writers in print media, the SWG would fold, and those working in motion pictures, TV, and radio would be represented by two new guilds, headquartered on both coasts: the WGAE and the WGAW.[1][2][3]

Common activities

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Although the WGAE and the WGAW run independently of each other, they jointly perform some regular activities, including the following:

Strikes

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Picket line formed by writers that are on strike in New York City. Outside on location of the Marvel Studios Disney+ TV show, Daredevil: Born Again (working title Out the Kitchen), 2023.

The WGAE and WGAW negotiate contracts in unison as well as launch strike actions simultaneously.[8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "A Brief History". wgaeast.org. Archived from the original on February 28, 2017.
  2. ^ "WGAE official website history". Archived from the original on November 5, 2007.
  3. ^ "WGAw website historical timeline". Archived from the original on November 5, 2007.
  4. ^ "Wga awards". www.wga.org. Archived from the original on December 26, 2011.
  5. ^ Kilkenny, Katie (January 12, 2023). "Spike Lee to Receive WGA East Award for Career Achievement". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on February 7, 2023. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  6. ^ Welkos, Robert (May 11, 1998). "Giving Credit Where It's Due". Los Angeles Times.
  7. ^ Fleming, Michael (April 4, 2008). "WGA, Clooney at odds over credit". Variety. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023.
  8. ^ Robb, David (December 20, 2022). "Historically, The WGA Is Overdue For A Strike, With Residuals Again A Key Issue Of Upcoming Talks". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 23, 2023. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  9. ^ a b c d e "A History of WGA Contract Negotiations and Gains". Writers Guild of America West. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  10. ^ "WGAE Condemns Use of AI-Generated Articles | Press Room". Writers Guild of America, East. 2023-07-12. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  11. ^ Kilkenny, Katie (May 1, 2023). "Writers Guild Calls First Strike in 15 Years". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 2, 2023. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
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