The veteran comedienne and longtime Writers Guild of America member doesn’t want to talk, she wants to call the union out. “This is such a bunch of bullshit. E! should hire Anthony Weiner to work with these people. He’d fit right in,” Joan Rivers said in a statement Friday about the WGA East setting a trial board hearing over her role on Fashion Police. Variety first reported the statement by Rivers. Three unnamed judges will determine if Rivers “violated the union’s rules by writing and by performing showrunner duties for the E! Network show Fashion Police.” The result of the hearing, which will go to the WGA East council for final affirmation or rejection, holds serious implications for both Rivers and the guild because WGA members are not permitted to work on non-union shows. The WGA East first announced back on July 10 that it was taking the opening salvo disciplinary measure.
Former writers for the E! Entertainment show have been out on strike since mid April for over $1 million in back wages and overtime. Since they first filed claims with California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement in early April, the non-unionized FP writers have been backed by the WGA in their fight. On April 10, the writers added Rivers’ production company to their claims. Both Rivers’ management and E! have said repeatedly that Rivers played no part in the situation in dispute on Fashion Police. The striking writers insisted in an online video and other venues that Rivers could solve the dispute if she wanted to.
Joan Rivers Calls WGA Hearing “Bulls**t”
WGA And Academy Tribute To Fay Kanin
The Writers Guild Of America and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences held a tribute Monday night for Fay Kanin, past Academy and WGA Screen Branch President among many other accomplishments. Kanin died in March at the age of 95. How fitting that the tribute was held at the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre on a day when the Academy announced a record 14 women are now serving on the Board Of Governors. When she became only the 2nd female President in Academy history in 1979 (Bette Davis served for two weeks in 1941 but enraged committee members and had to resign), Kanin was the sole woman on the entire Board. The 4-term Acad Pres was a true groundbreaker and a real giver as was clearly evident in the many speeches praising her life and career Monday night for an audience that included several past and present Academy Presidents and Board members. Read More »
Striking ‘Fashion Police’ Writers Slam “Non-Receptive” Joan Rivers: Video
At the same time as Fashion Police‘s writers have been embroiled in a labor dispute with E! and host Joan Rivers‘ production company, the show has been airing new episodes every week — some of … Read More »
Deadline Awards Watch With Pete Hammond, Episode 29
Listen to (and share) episode 29 of our audio podcast Deadline Awards Watch With Pete Hammond. This week, Deadline’s awards columnist vents with host David Bloom about the many omissions in the WGA’s recently released list of best-written TV series; previews the coming Emmy nominations season and whether House Of Cards will be competing for Best Drama with such stalwarts as Mad Men, Breaking Bad and Game Of Thrones; discusses whether a crucial date change for Lone Survivor will put it in the Oscar hunt; and analyzes the week’s notable movies, led by the small but smart The Purge and the Vince Vaughan-Owen Wilson comedy of Google manners, The Internship.
Deadline Awards Watch, Episode 29 (MP3 format)
Deadline Awards Watch, Episode 29 (MP4a format) Read More »
‘Sopranos’ Named #1 By WGA-TV Guide: Hammond On What Series Were Snubbed
Here’s the full list of the 101 Best Written TV Shows Of All Time revealed tonight by the Writers Guild of America and their sponsor TV Guide in an event at the WGA theatre in Beverly Hills. This one seems tailored to some very … Read More »
UPDATED: Why Is TV Guide Sponsoring WGA’s 101 Best-Written TV Series?
SATURDAY UPDATE: Who in the world at the WGA thought it was a good idea to let TV Guide sponsor this? And why didn’t more of the union’s scribes know about this online WGAW and WGAE member vote on both coasts? How … Read More »
‘Fashion Police’ Writers Chant On Picket Lines: “Give Us Back Our Paycheck B****”
Ross Lincoln is a Deadline contributor
UPDATE, 12:25 PM: The protest just wrapped up around its scheduled 12:30 PM target. Among the speakers was writer Bryan Cook, who addressed the picketers that reached about 150 in number and … Read More »
WGA Sets Rally For Striking ‘Fashion Police’ Writers
Less than a week after E! President Suzanne Kolb told striking writers on Fashion Police that their guild is the real enemy, the WGA has organized a rally in support of the picketers. In … Read More »
2ND UPDATE: ‘Fashion Police’ Writers Accuse E! Of Employing “Stalling Tactic”
2ND UPDATE 5 PM: The striking Fashion Police writers just issued a statement in response to E!’s memo earlier today:
The election the Company is calling for is a well-known stalling tactic. By ignoring for weeks our repeated requests for negotiation of a fair deal, E! has forced us to vote with our feet. The best way our fellow Guild member Joan Rivers can show us her support is by putting down her pen until a WGA contract is in place.
UPDATE 1:20 PM: E! is reacting to this morning’s move by the writers on the cable network’s popular series Fashion Police to walk off the job in a quest for WGA representation. In an internal memo to E! staff, the network’s president Suzanne Kolb said E! brass are “disappointed” by the action and ready to sit down immediately for negotiations with WGA representatives. (full memo below). Meanwhile, Fashion Police co-host Joan Rivers, whose company co-produces the series with E!, “has gone on record repeatedly that she supports the Fashion Police writers and wants a fair agreement for them,” E! said. Read More »
WGA Ratifies New Deal With CBS News
The new collective bargaining agreement takes effect Saturday and runs through April 2016, replacing the previous deal that was set to expire Friday. The WGA‘s East and West branches voted 159-31 to accept the new terms, which include wages … Read More »
2014 WGA Awards Set For February 1
Los Angeles and New York – The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) have announced that the 2014 Writers Guild Awards will be held on Saturday, February 1,
Does ‘Argo’s’ WGA Victory Seal The Deal For Oscar?
Tonight’s Writers Guild of America awards show brought further clarity to this year’s topsy turvy awards race but it also brought some embarrassment to the guild. Is there any reason the WGA can’t coordinate the so-called “simutaneous” ceremonies between east … Read More »
2013 WGAW Awards Announces Talent
Executive Producer Cort Casady and Talent Producer Carole Propp have confirmed additional presenters to the talent line-up for the 2013 Writers Guild Awards L.A. ceremony this Sunday: Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty), Modern Family co-stars Julie Bowen and Rico Rodriguez, Jane Lynch … Read More »
With Many Contenders Ineligible, What Do WGA Film Nominees Mean For Oscar?
Like the Producers Guild earlier this week, the WGA did not produce a list of film nominees in the Original Screenplay and Adapted Screenplay categories that had any surprises. This in itself is not surprising since the WGA (I’m a member) — due to restrictive rules regarding eligibility of films only produced under the guild’s MBA or certain international affiliated collective bargaining agreements — had far less of a field from which to choose. The number of screenplays eligible overall is slightly more than a third of all scripts the Academy’s much smaller voting body is picking from (polls for Oscar nomination voting close today at 5 PM). As usual, we can look for several differences when the Academy reveals their writing nominations January 10th. Although nominees often vary between the two orgs, the final winners are usually much more in sync. Last year, both WGA Award-winning scripts — Midnight In Paris and The Descendants – went on to repeat at the Oscars. In 2010 though, only WGA Adapted Screenplay winner The Social Network repeated at Oscar time, while the Oscar winner for Original Screenplay, The King’s Speech, wasn’t even nominated at the WGA because it was ineligible.
WGA West Tells Members To “Stop Working” On Comedy Central Shows
UPDATE, 6:42 PM: Comedy Central has issued a response to the “stop working” email from the WGA sent out earlier today. “We’re continuing to move forward on our negotiations with the Writers Guild and are hopeful that we’ll come to an agreement soon,” they told Deadline.
PREVIOUSLY, 5:53 PM: The Writers Guild today sent out an email telling its members that they are not to work for “uncovered” Comedy Productions shows. The company is the production arm of Comedy Central. The WGA West says that the company is not a signatory to the Guild agreement despite the claim that Central Productions has been telling people it is. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report do have contracts with the WGA East and are not a part of this action. Deadline is told that only a handful of Comedy Central shows do not have full agreement with the WGA so any work stoppage would be limited. The WGA’s email today comes as the company and the Guild are in the middle of negotiations on a comprehensive contract. Read the WGA email below:
Dear Writers Guild Member,
We are writing to alert you that you must refrain from writing for Central Productions, the production arm of Comedy Central, without first contacting the WGAW contracts department (323-782-4501) to ensure that the writing is Guild-covered. If you are currently writing on a Central Productions project, please contact us immediately. Central Productions is not signatory to the MBA, and if there is no Guild contract in place specifically for the project you are working on, you are now required under Working Rule 8 to stop writing.
EMMYS: WGA Panel Reveals Angst & Jokes
The Walking Dead’s executive producer and writer Glen Mazarra moderated the evening. Although the popular AMC zombie show received a few 2012 Creative Arts Emmy nominations, it was dramatically overlooked this year when the primetime nods came out. … Read More »
FX Sued For Copyright Infringement Over ‘The League’
Writers Joseph Balsamo and Peter Ciancarelli say the network ripped off The League from their The Commissioner. In a nine-page civil complaint (read it here) filed last week in New York, the pair claim FX and League co-creator-executive producer Jeff Schaffer, also named as a defendant, lifted significant elements of the duo’s series about a group of friends who form a fantasy football league. “Given the numerous and striking similarities between the two works, there can be no dispute that defendants Schaffer and/or FX had access to and copied protectable elements of the treatment,” the suit says. The suit then outlined 10 similarities between the two works. The plaintiffs filed Commissioner with the WGA back in 2006 and put the script online soon afterwards in an effort to attract attention. The League, created by Schaffer and wife Jackie Marcus Schaffer (who is not named as a defendant), has been on FX since October 2009.
Related: FX Renews ‘The League’ For Fourth Season Read More »
WGA Getting Out The Vote For ’101 Best Written TV Series’ List
Los Angeles and New York – From its beginnings in the 1940s through present day, American television has been shaped by the words and stories of writers. In recognition of the role of writing in sustaining this extraordinary medium, the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) are launching 101 Best Written TV Series, the WGA’s list of outstanding television writing. Writers will be able to vote for their choices beginning on May 15, and results will be announced in the fall. The “101 TV” list will celebrate the craft of television writing over seven decades and follows the WGA’s 101 Greatest Screenplays list announced in 2006.
WGA Holds Memorial Tribute To Comedy Writing Legend Hal Kanter
It was a very funny, sometimes touching, but mostly uproarious tribute Sunday afternoon at the Writers Guild Theatre in Beverly Hills. The WGA West and the Writers Guild Foundation along with the Kanter family held a well produced and attended memorial for one of their most illustrious members, Hal Kanter, who passed away in November at age 92. The three-time Emmy winner (and seven time nominee) was also believed to be the only person ever to win all three of the Guild’s prestigious special honors – the Morgan Cox award for service to the WGA, the Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award, the Valentine Davies Award.
And why not? As was very evident from this memorial, Kanter was one of the most versatile and productive comedy writers ever. He belonged to a golden era when that was possible. It’s hard to imagine a young writer today forging the same kind of long-lasting career Kanter, and others in his generation, were able to have over the course of seven decades in the business. Writing is tough and unforgiving – and most of its practitioners, particularly in television, are used up and tossed out after several years. It was clear from all the clips and personal anecdotes that the show business Kanter loved and lived in doesn’t exist anymore. Writers who want that kind of longevity in a career probably will have to try another profession. But keeping relevant was never a problem for Hal Kanter who it was noted was still preparing to write another screenplay, even in his 90s. He was also a producer, director, raconteur, master of ceremonies, playwright, author and all around wit. As Kanter said in a clip from one of his many appearances at a WGA awards show banquet, “I was born with a compulsion to amuse. And if my work has inspired anyone to become a comedy writer, I apologize.” Read More »
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