Writers Guild of America
Sesame Workshop Averts Strike: Tentative Deal Struck With Writers
The Sesame Workshop has averted a picket line outside its New York headquarters, as a new contract deal with its unionized writers was reached on Friday night. Sesame Workshop announced the five-year agreement hours before the educational nonprofit’s current labor contract with its writers expired. “We value our writers and their significant contributions to the […]
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Jane Nefeldt, Former WGA West Exec, Dies at 71
Jane Nefeldt, a 35-year veteran with the Writers Guild of American West, has died. She was 71. The WGA West said she died April 16 in Hermosa Beach, California. No cause of death was specified. Nefeldt joined the guild in 1972 in the operations department, rose to the position of assistant executive director in 1986 […]
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‘Ridiculousness’ Writers Reach First Union Contract
About nine months months after the writers on MTV’s viral comedy clips show Ridiculousness launched their attempt to unionize, the group has reached a first labor contract with its employer. The deal covering a group of 11 creative consultants who are unionized with the Writers Guild of America West was signed on Tuesday, The Hollywood […]
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Sesame Workshop Writers Authorize Potential Strike
Unionized writers at Sesame Workshop have unanimously voted to authorize a potential strike as their negotiations over a new labor contract continue. Thirty-five workers at the nonprofit organization that produces Sesame Street have greenlit a potential work stoppage to begin on April 24 if a new contract deal isn’t reached by its current expiration date, […]
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Drew Carey Speaks Out About Funding Writers Meals Amid Strike: “It Was the Right Thing to Do”
Drew Carey is opening up about the hefty investment he made by paying for striking writers meals at two Los Angeles-area restaurants in 2023. In an appearance at the Writers Guild of America awards ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday night, the comedian addressed his decision to pay for WGA members’ meals at Bob’s Big […]
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Writers Guild Spoofs Studios’ Top Labor Negotiator at Awards Ceremony: “See You on the Picket Line in 2026”
The Writers Guild of America resurfaced its 2023 strike in a comedy bit that unfurled at the union’s Los Angeles awards ceremony Sunday night. More than half a year after the union ended its 148-day strike, the union spoofed the top negotiator representing studios and streamers during those talks, Carol Lombardini, in a raunchy and […]
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2024 Writers Guild Awards: ‘The Holdovers,’ ‘American Fiction,’ ‘Succession’ Among Winners
The Holdovers, American Fiction and Succession were among the winners at the 2024 Writers Guild Awards, which were handed out Sunday night in simultaneous ceremonies in New York and Los Angeles. Best adapted screenplay was presented to American Fiction, the winner for the best adapted screenplay Oscar, while The Holdovers won the award for best […]
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Global Screenwriters Pass Resolution Calling for AI Regulation
The members of two screenwriter unions, the Federation of Screenwriters in Europe (FSE) and the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds (IAWG), have passed a joint resolution calling for the “ethical use” of artificial intelligence based on guidelines that respect their copyright. The move comes amid the rapid rollout of new high-powered AI tools that some […]
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Global Screenwriters’ Guilds Vow to Push for “Robust Licensing Mechanisms” for AI Training Data
A global coalition of screenwriters’ organizations and unions, including the Writers Guild of America East and West, has collectively resolved to push for “robust licensing mechanisms” that require clear consent if scribes’ material is used to train AI tools. The Federation of Screenwriters in Europe and International Affiliation of Writers Guilds is set to announce […]
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“I’m Scared”: Why It’s a Brutal Time to Be a TV Writer
Emily Cheever’s career was just getting started. The 36-year-old began her TV writing career in 2020 as a writers’ production assistant and script coordinator for Legends of Tomorrow before getting hired as a staff writer for ABC’s The Company You Keep. After the drama that marked Milo Ventimiglia’s follow-up to This Is Us was canceled following a single season shortly after the […]
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Journalists’ and Writers’ Unions Call on Congress to Consider Threats to Their Work in AI Legislation
Major unions representing U.S. journalists, writers and other creative professionals are calling on Congress to make these workers’ needs a “core priority” in any upcoming artificial intelligence legislation. Presidents of the Writers Guild of America East and West, The NewsGuild and the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians wrote to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) […]
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WGA Awards: Cord Jefferson to Receive Paul Selvin Award
The Writers Guild of America West announced on Tuesday that American Fiction writer-director Cord Jefferson has been named recipient of the 2024 Paul Selvin Award for the Amazon MGM Studios film, for which he won the Oscar for best adapted screenplay earlier this month. Additionally, American Fiction — based on the novel Erasure by Percival […]
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