Searching for Power in Numbers

In honor of Women’s History Month, a look at the early days of the WGAW Women’s Committee.

In 1971, a young screenwriter named Diana Gould, inspired by the nascent women’s liberation movement, approached the WGAW Board to request the formation of a group for women writers. Many would consider her request unusual because it would exclude a majority of the membership from participating, given that women comprised only about 10% of the membership. (In 1974, the committee voted to allow men to join.) As Gould later recalled in a 1978 oral history interview, some of the Board also worried that allowing a women’s group would lead to other groups demanding their own committees. Read more >>

Ask a Mentor: Your Second Act

Showrunner Oliver Goldstick encourages TV writers to focus on three things when looking for work after their first staffing job.

There’s no shortage of advice on how to land your first TV writing job. But how do you find work again when that gig ends? What steps can you take to turn that first hire into a second one and beyond? Showrunner Oliver Goldstick (High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, Pretty Little Liars) encourages writers to focus on these three things after leaving their first staff position.

Question: “What advice do you have for a new writer looking for work after their first staffing job?” Read more >>

2021 Writers Guild Awards Puts the Union in Unity

The 73rd annual awards ceremony was the first ever of its kind.

After a year unlike any other, the Writers Guilds West and East accomplished another first: staging a joint, virtual ceremony to honor outstanding achievement in writing for film, TV, new media, news, radio/audio, and promotional categories. Accordingly, the show’s theme was “Unity,” because as host Kal Penn said in his opening monologue, “You can’t spell ‘UNITY’ without, what? U-N-I-O-N…plus a T…and a Y…and no O.”

The award for Original Screenplay went to Emerald Fennell for Promising Young Woman (Written by Emerald Fennell; Focus Features). “It’s such an enormous deal to me to even be a member of the Guild,” she said, “and to be nominated alongside such exquisite writers.” Read more >>

Eight Screenwriters Tell Us Which Movies Inspired Them to Write Their Own

Publicity & Marketing Committee teams up with Los Angeles Magazine to tell their stories.

As the COVID vaccine rollout continues and movie theaters prepare to reopen, we’re reminded of the shared experience of cinema that we’ve all missed. In conjunction with WGAW’s Publicity & Marketing Committee, Los Angeles Magazine shares writers’ memories of the movies that made them want to become screenwriters. Writers Adele Lim (Crazy Rich Asians), Dustin Lance Black (Milk), David E. Talbert (Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey), Nicole Perlman (Guardians of the Galaxy), Steven Canals (Pose), Felischa Marye (Bigger), David Seidler (The King’s Speech), and Cathryn Michon (A Dog’s Purpose) recount defining films that impacted and inspired them to write their own. Read their stories >>