WGA screenwriting credit system
The WGA, originally the Screen Writers Guild, has since 1941 been the final arbiter of who receives credit for writing a theatrical, television or new media motion picture written under its jurisdiction.
A variety of credit forms can be given to indicate technicalities such as whether a writer contributed to the original source material, the chronological order of contributors working on different drafts, or whether there were writing teams.
This process asks all writing parties involved to provide evidence and supporting statements to help determine how much of the final product was each writer's work.
However, several of the WGA's arbitration decisions have been criticized by WGA members, including how the process handles existing source material that is adapted to the screen, or whether writers of a particular draft should still be credited if subsequent drafts completely removed their contributions.
[4] The credit system can affect eligibility for membership in the trade union, as one way in which a person becomes a member of the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) is by accruing "points" based on the individual's writing credits.
Although the SWG was formed in 1933, it encountered resistance until May 1941, when it signed a deal with the studios that gave the Guild, among other rights, the final say on writing credits.
[9] The MBA stipulates also that the production company must supply all participant writers—anyone who has contributed, or been hired to contribute, written material; anyone who has been paid for their prior written material whether purchased or licensed; anyone who contributed in any of the aforementioned ways to the original script, in the case of a remake—and the Writers Guild a notice of tentative credits, and give all participant writers a copy of either the shooting script or latest revised script, promptly upon the conclusion of photography.
[10][11] Any participant writer, even deceased, has the right to be involved in the credit determination process (this may be through a representative, such as an agent).
[8][9] Scripts as well as substantial story ideas and other literary material are counted for credit decisions.
[14][35][36] The MBA describes story as "distinct from [screenplay/teleplay] and consisting of basic narrative, idea, theme or outline indicating character development and action".
[38][39][40] Writers entitled to created by credits will have developed a significant part of the format, story, and teleplay, and also get sequel rights to the material.
[15][16][42] A pseudonym may be used if the writer is to be paid less than US$200,000 (for film) or less than three times the applicable minimum in their MBA (for television), if the pseudonymous name is deemed reasonable,[h] and if the writer requests this within five business days of the final credits being determined (for film) or within a preset time frame (for television).
[45][47][i] A member of the Screen/Television Credits Committee will be designated to each arbitration case to advise the arbiters and help them to come to a decision.
[54][49][55][50][k] Participant writers have 24 hours to give their statements, their only means of providing supporting evidence to the arbiters, to the guild.
When this happens, they teleconference with the advisor to, while remaining anonymous to each other, discuss the reasoning for their choices in an attempt to come to a decision.
[53][57][56] The arbitration committee's decision, once written confirmation has been received by the Screen/Television Credits Administrator, is communicated to the interested parties.
[57][56] That board consists of three members of the Screen/Television Credits Committee, usually including either the Chair or Vice-Chair; none should have an interest in the decision.
The Policy Review Board only serves to determine if there was any "serious deviation from the policy of the Guild or the procedure as set forth in [the Screen/Television Credits Manual]" through the process of the arbitration, and do not read any of the submitted written materials nor judge the writers' contributions.
[43][63] WGA members have criticized how the process handles existing material, such as a book that is adapted to film.
[64] Barry Levinson, the director of Wag the Dog, and a disputant over screenwriting credit for the film (which was adapted from a novel), said:[64][n] If a writer creates an idea from scratch, that's one thing.
Even if little of the initial efforts remain in the final script, original writers are often awarded credit because they were first on the scene.Frank Pierson, former WGAW president (and former president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences), said that "the large majority of credits are still straightforward and uncontested [but] when they go wrong, they go horribly wrong."
According to director John Frankenheimer, "the credits should read: Story by J. D. Zeik, screenplay by David Mamet.
After the controversy over credits for Wag the Dog,[n] Mamet decided to attach his name only to movies on which he is the sole writer.
[69] Variety's Michael Fleming wrote that "Clooney took a languishing 17-year-old project and got a greenlight after personally giving the script a major overhaul that transformed it into a screwball comedy", with Clooney asserting that he wrote almost the entire script, but only Duncan Brantley and Rick Reilly, who came up with the original concept, were credited.
