Writers Guild Of America

With ratification of a hard-fought contract imminent, the Writers Guild of America has shifted its fight with movie and television studios to a new front: the state Legislature. The guild and two labor allies, the Screen Actors Guild and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union, on Monday announced that they were sponsoring a bill that could boost their share of revenues when programs are licensed to be shown on affiliated cable networks or stations.

Writers Guild of America members overwhelmingly approved a new three-year contract Tuesday, officially ending a labor dispute that resulted in Hollywood's biggest strike in two decades. More than 90% of the 4,060 members who cast ballots in Los Angeles and New York voted in favor of ratifying the contract, a show of support that was widely anticipated after guild leaders touted the pact as a landmark agreement. "This contract is a new beginning for writers in the digital age," said Patric M.

The writers strike ended two months ago. But many in Hollywood remain on the brink. Some are at risk of losing their homes. Some can't afford groceries. Others have filed for bankruptcy. Still others struggle to work enough hours to hold on to their health insurance. Across Los Angeles, many crew members who work behind the scenes and on the sets of television shows and movies are still quaking from the temblor of the 100-day writers strike that shut down scripted TV production.

Reality TV producer FremantleMedia North America fired back at the Writers Guild of America, West, dismissing its "American Idol" Truth Tour as nothing more than a caravan of misinformation.

No one really had any idea how many Native American writers there were in Hollywood. But when the Writers Guild of America West sent out the call for qualified writers to form their own diversity committee, only three turned out for the first meeting. Fewer than a dozen working professionals eventually signed up. "It was shocking to find out how few of us there actually were," said Micah Wright, the chair of the new WGAW American Indian Writers Caucus.

Woman-in-jeopardy thrillers have long been a popular staple of cinema. The terror the audience experiences while watching a vulnerable woman suffer through a horrible situation -- "Wait Until Dark," "Alien," "High Tension," Emma Thompson in "Junior" -- provides just the kind of visceral (and often perverse) pleasure we want from the movies.

As Borat might say, "\o7Niiiiiiice!"\f7 The raucous mockumentary with a mouthful for a title -- "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" -- was one of the 10 screenplays nominated Thursday by the Writers Guild of America awards. In all, five of the 10 films nominated were comedies, including "Thank You for Smoking," "Little Miss Sunshine," "Stranger Than Fiction" and "The Devil Wears Prada."

Maybe it's another sign of the approaching apocalypse or simply a signpost along the evolutionary trail of comedy screenwriting, but "Borat" -- a film that relies heavily on the unscripted reactions of nonactors -- had no fewer than \o7four \f7screenwriters, including the hit film's star, British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen.

The Writers Guild of America, West, and its sister union on the East Coast took the first step to lay the groundwork for negotiations with Hollywood studios. The guilds named a 17-member committee headed by Emmy-award winning writer John Bowman, whose credits include "In Living Color" and "Martin," to set the framework for talks. The committee includes "Desperate Housewives" writer Marc Cherry and Shawn Ryan, a writer for "The Shield."

"Little Miss Sunshine," the dark comedy about a dysfunctional family, and "The Departed," a visceral gangster epic, won the top feature prizes at the 59th annual Writers Guild of America Awards on Sunday. Michael Arndt received the original screenplay honor for "Little Miss Sunshine," also nominated for several Oscars, including best film and screenplay. It was his second win of the night -- he also won the best original screenplay prize from the British Academy Film Awards.