Writers Guild Of America

In a protest staged by the Writers Guild of America, West, about 150 pickets rallied outside the production studio of the new TV game show "Temptation" Thursday morning to support a walkout by most of the show's writers.

Chris Keyser, co-creator of the Fox television series "Party of Five," defeated the better-known Patric Verrone in the closely watched presidential contest for the Writers Guild of America, West. "I want to congratulate Patric in what I thought was an excellent race, and I look forward to getting started," Keyser said Friday. Keyser, 51, campaigned as a moderate alternative to the more strident Verrone and had garnered the backing of a majority of the union's high-profile members, including outgoing President John Wells, J.J. Abrams, Susannah Grant and Shawn Ryan, executive producer of the TV series "The Shield.

Woody Allen received his 19th screenplay nomination from the Writers Guild of America on Wednesday, when he was named for his romantic comedy "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." Allen, 73, has previously won the WGA award for original screenplay for "Annie Hall," "Broadway Danny Rose," "Hannah and Her Sisters" and "Crimes and Misdemeanors."

"Bring It On: The Musical," which begins performances at the Ahmanson Theatre on Oct. 30, promises flashy dance numbers and high-flying acrobatics as rival high school cheerleading squads battle for first place at the national championships. Off stage, a different sort of battle is shaping up between the producers of the musical and the screenwriter of the 2000 motion picture "Bring It On," who is arguing that the show is based on the original movie. Jessica Bendinger, the sole credited screenwriter for the film, claims the musical's producers never acquired or received permission to use her exclusive rights, according to a request for arbitration filed by the Writers Guild of America.

Two of this summer's biggest movies--"The Cable Guy," starring Jim Carrey, and "The Rock," with Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage--are at the center of a raging controversy in Hollywood over how the Writers Guild of America determines screenwriting credits. In "The Rock," the guild's decision leaving screenwriter Jonathan Hensleigh's name off the credits has so infuriated the director, Michael Bay, that he has written an open letter to the guild calling its arbitration process "a sham, a travesty."

The pre-Oscar wave of acclaim surrounding independent films continued Thursday with the announcement of the 49th annual Writers Guild of America nominees, which leaned more toward the offbeat than the mainstream. The independent film writers nominated for best original screenplay were Joel and Ethan Coen (Gramercy's "Fargo"), John Sayles (Castle Rock's "Lone Star"), Mike Leigh (October Films' "Secrets & Lies") and Jan Sardi and Scott Hicks (Fine Line's "Shine").

They had come to Beverly Hills to be recognized by their peers, each one nominated for writing some of last year's best movies. But amid the glitzy festivities that marked the Writers Guild of America's annual awards show Sunday night at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, there was no getting around it: The breakdown in labor talks last week between the guild and Hollywood's major studios and TV networks was on everyone's mind.

The Writers Guild of America West filed a federal lawsuit Monday that challenges the constitutionality of a new Los Angeles city ordinance that would require writers working at home to register with the city and pay a business tax. The new law, known as the Home Occupation Ordinance, went into effect in March, after being introduced more than a decade ago.

Upon returning to Hollywood from a fact-finding trip to the civil war-torn areas of Somalia, "A River Runs Through It" screenwriter Richard Friedenberg found it ridiculous to hear a movie director complain about his salary, his perks and the studio's cheapness. "(The director) was paid enough salary to inoculate every single (Somali) refugee for a year. I wanted to say, hey . . . hullo?" he said. (An inoculation cost $2 per person.

The warring Eastern and Western branches of the Writers Guild of America have made peace, ending a dispute over money and jurisdiction. The Writers Guild of America, East will annually pay the Writers Guild of America, West for services it provides, beginning with nearly $500,000 this year. The unions, which last month suspended lawsuits against each other, also pledged to avoid "drawn out conflicts." Richard Verrier

Until recently, Chris Keyser was a largely untold story inside the Writers Guild of America, West. Now he is making waves as an unexpectedly strong contender in the union's upcoming and heated presidential contest. The co-creator of the Fox television series "Party of Five" is locked in an usually close race against the better-known Patric Verrone, a former two-term guild president who led the 8,000-member union during the 2007-08 strike and who remains a polarizing figure. The outcome of the election, to be announced Sept.

The screenplays for "The Hurt Locker" and "Up in the Air" won top honors Saturday evening at the Writers Guild of America awards. "The Hurt Locker's" Mark Boal received the WGA award for original screenplay for his gripping drama about a bomb disposal unit in Iraq. Boal, who is also nominated for an Oscar, thanked the American soldiers in the war-devastated region who let him "get up close and personal" to the "chaos and hellishness" when he was embedded there as a journalist. "Up in the Air's" Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner won for adapted screenplay for their dramedy about a corporate downsizer.

Aleen Leslie, a screenwriter from the 1930s to '50s who wrote the popular "A Date With Judy" radio show that became a hit film and early TV sitcom, died three days before her 102nd birthday. Leslie, who was also a novelist and playwright, died Feb. 2 of pneumonia at her Beverly Hills home, said her daughter, Diane Leslie. "A Date With Judy" was originally conceived as a radio vehicle for her friend, actress Helen Mack, whose "crazy stage mother" kept pestering Leslie to write a show for Mack, Diane Leslie said.

Two sci-fi blockbusters and a raunchy box office hit comedy were nominated Monday for the Writers Guild of America Award. James Cameron, who earned a Directors Guild of America nomination last week, received a WGA nod in the original screenplay category for the sci-fi fantasy phenomenon "Avatar," which so far has made $1.3 billion worldwide. And Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman picked up a nomination in the adapted screenplay category for the acclaimed "Star Trek" reboot based on the original Gene Roddenberry series.

As a 20-year member of the Writers Guild of America, Jonathan Prince was startled to learn that his union was accusing him of being a scab during the writers strike. But he was even more stunned when he learned that the guild had been relying on a secret informant, code-named Clyde, who he and his attorney said had gained unauthorized access to his private e-mails. Prince, executive producer of recent TV dramas "Cane" and "The Cleaner," was among a dozen writers who were investigated for picking up their pens and working -- or failing to report those who did -- during the 100-day writers strike that began in November 2007.

The Writers Guild of America, West elected John Wells, executive producer of the hit TV shows "ER" and "The West Wing," to be the union's new president, in a partial repudiation of the man who led the guild during last year's strike against the Hollywood studios. Wells, a past guild president and a powerful figure in the television industry, narrowly defeated Elias Davis by a 53%-to-47% margin, capping an unusually close race to lead one of Hollywood's most powerful unions. Davis, a former writer for "MASH" and "Frasier" and the union's secretary-treasurer, was endorsed by outgoing President Patric M. Verrone, who led the union during a 100-day strike that ended last year.

The Writers Guild of America and major public broadcasting stations announced agreement on a three-year contract that includes salary increases and more creative control for writers. The 8,200 members of the Writers Guild of America East and Writers Guild of America West have been without a contract since July 1. The pact provides for increases of 6% and 6 1/2% for each script written during each year of the contract, with the increases retroactive to July 2.

The contest to elect a new leader of the Writers Guild of America, West, took an ugly turn Friday when the union's current president and a key figure in last year's contract negotiations blasted John Wells, the writer and producer who is campaigning to be the union's next president. In an e-mail to guild members, Patric M. Verrone, the union's outgoing president, and John F. Bowman, the former head of the negotiating committee, accused Wells of undermining their efforts during last year's contract negotiations.

The Writers Guild of America's "foreign levies" headache is growing. The guild's West Coast union had amassed about $30 million in funds that have yet to be paid to writers as of March 31, according to its recently released annual report. That's up from $20 million in 2007. Most of the funds belong to hundreds of writers, or their estates, whose movies or TV shows were viewed in foreign countries that levy special taxes to compensate authors for the reuse and copying of their work.