Zooey Deschanel 'Excited' to Talk to Hundreds of Writers
Novelty ukulele tune Zooey Deschanel is "excited to host the WGA awards. It should be a lot of fun!"
Screenwriters Are All Nerds, Basically
Think about the great things in Avatar and of course the script sticks out. [WGA]
No Screeners Probably Means No Screenplay Awards for Weinstein Movies
Did you write a movie for Weinstein Co., and would you like a Writers Guild of America award for doing so? Too bad: Weinstein's not sending WGA members any screeners. Sorry, Nine, Inglorious Basterds, The Road, and A Single Man.
WGA Still Weighing Their Jay Leno Scab-Flogging Options
A number of notable talk show hosts made the controversial choice to cross picket lines and not grow out a strike beard during last year's WGA strike, Jay Leno and Ellen DeGeneres among them.
Jay Leno Faces Surprise Suspension Threat
It's one thing for Jay Leno to be mocked endlessly by rival David Letterman for moving to an earlier timeslot. Far more insulting: Being branded a scab by his own union .
WGA Noms 'Burn' Charlie Kaufman and Jenny Lumet
As shocked as we were by The Spirit being shut out of the Razzies, we're a little more surprised to see two of Hollywood's most high-profile writers snubbed in today's WGA nominations.
WGA Hopes You Won't Remember Who Directed 'The Dark Knight'
When we received an awards consideration copy of The Dark Knight last week, there was clearly something missing — or, to be more accurate, censored with black felt-tip pen.
WGA Awards Recognize Every Half-Decent Show On TV With Its Own, Worthless Nomination
The Writers Guild unveiled its 2009 TV nominees this afternoon, revealing a radical shift in taste that rotated only one new drama and two new comedies into the year's Best Series nominations — all replacing old nominees that weren't on the air this year. Let's hear it for attrition!
Hottest Hollywood Scab Tyler Perry Gives In, Opens Studio to WGA
It took four fired writers, a Will Smith-defied picket line, an open letter from Tina Fey (among others), and an intervention by the NAACP, but we're happy to report that the impossible dream has finally landed at Tyler Perry Studios: The mogul is finally coming around to a deal with the WGA.The Guild sends word…
Unruly WGA Mob Protest 'Project Runway' Rodeo Drive Shoot
A Defamer operative going about his daily Rodeo Drive chores let us know about a standoff that went down this morning between the forces of good (underpaid and undervalued reality show writer-producers) and evil (Heidi Klum, and anything—sorry Tim Gunn fans!—Heidi Klum-adjacent). He writes:
WGA Issues Fatwa Against Cheapskate Producers of 'Osbournes' Variety Show
On the heels of the Tyler Perry's House of Payne labor controversy—in which WGA heads Patric Verrone and Michael Winship filed an angry grievance with the National Labor Relations Board, demanding restitution for "an abused writing staff forced to churn out sitcom dialogue with a pistol pressed to their temples by the…
Tyler Perry's How to Bust a Union and Bully Employees
Writer/actor/director/producer Tyler Perry knows what's best for his writers. And what's best for them, apparently, is to churn out sitcom scripts without union protection or representation. The Writers' Guild of America West has filed a complaint against Perry's production company for unfair labor practices, claiming…
Hollywood writers seize the means of production — and, more importantly, distribution
A group of television and film writers got together during the Writer's Guild strike looking to put on a show, and now the project has evolved into Strike.TV, scheduled to launch next month on Independence Day. Professionally produced content wholly owned by the creators and distributed online? Crazy talk. [NewTeeVee
Fi-Core 28 Mere Pawns In Bitter WGA-AMPTP Blood Feud
Last week ended with a jaw-dropping memo from the desks of Patric Verrone and Michael Winship, in which the WGA presidents stated their desire to see the "puny few" who elected financial core during the writers strike to be "held at arm's length" by the rest of the membership, adding, perhaps a tad indiscreetly,…
This Is Fi-Core: Presenting The WGA Blacklist
As Hollywood braces for the possibility of yet another work stoppage, this one by the actors' unions (as represented by their universally recognized symbol of a laughing hammer superimposed over a weeping sickle), the fallout from the last bitter labor war to hit our shores continues: In a "Letter from the…
George Clooney Withdraws From WGA Over 'Leatherheads' Snub
Remember yesterday when we posted about how incorrigibly charming George Clooney is? Well, according to Variety, the WGA might not agree. After an arbitration hearing where the Guild failed to give Clooney a writing credit for Leatherheads, he decided to become a Financial Core member. That means he can't vote, run…
Their Contract Now Official, WGA And AMPTP Reps Are Free To Engage In Shameless PDAs
We must say, when we envisioned a scenario in which AMPTP president and chief negotiator Nick Counter took WGAw president Patric Verrone into his strong yet tender embrace on the balcony of the famed Warner Bros. water tower, and kissed his striketime adversary truly, madly, deeply on the lips to the exuberant cheers…
Here's a list of when your TV shows are coming back
30 Rock back April 10 with five episodes! 24 can't torture anyone until January 2009!! [EW]
Tina Fey Welcomes You Back To Glorious Scripted Television
The writers strike is truly, finally, mercifully over. Here's what it means to you, the crazed television junkie hustling madly for your next fix: Writers come back right away for Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Tina Fey hustles Saturday Night Live back on the air Feb. 23rd as host while her…
Writers Strike Still Not Actually Over
The Writers Guild of America strike that has crippled our nation's entertainment industry these last few months will end today, once striking writers vote to approve the deal hammered out last weekend by their management and the producers' guild. Wouldn't it be funny if they rejected it, though? We're finally getting…
