The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merged with the Radio and Television Directors Guild in 1960 to become the modern Directors Guild of America.
The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) was a performers' union that represented a wide variety of talent, including actors in radio and television, radio and television announcers and newspersons, singers and recording artists, promo and voice-over announcers and other performers in commercials, stunt persons and specialty acts—as the organization itself publicly stated, "AFTRA's membership includes an array of talent". On March 30, 2012, the members of AFTRA and of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) voted to merge and form SAG-AFTRA.
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) credit system for motion pictures and television programs covers all works under the jurisdiction of the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW). 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.
Residuals are financial compensations that are paid to the actors, film or television directors, and others involved in making TV shows and movies in cases of the cable reruns, syndication, DVD release, or licensing to streaming media. Residuals are calculated and administered by industry trade unions like SAG-AFTRA, the Directors Guild of America, and the Writers Guild of America. The word is typically used in the plural form.
Patric Miller Verrone is an American television writer and labor leader. He served as a writer and producer for several animated television shows, most notably Futurama.
The WGA script registration service is a service run by both the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) to establish the date of creation of literary property, typically a motion picture screenplay, useful in the often-contentious US entertainment field.
The Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) is a trade union representing professional writers working in film, television, radio, and digital media production in Canada. Members of the WGC write dramatic TV series, feature films, Movies of the Week, documentaries, animation, comedy and variety series, children's and educational programming, radio drama, as well as corporate videos and digital media productions. The organization administers the annual WGC Screenwriting Awards.
David Avram Goodman is an American television writer and producer. He has been a writer for numerous television series, such as Family Guy, The Golden Girls, Futurama, and Star Trek: Enterprise. In film, Goodman produced Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, and wrote the 2010 comedy film Fred: The Movie, based on the Fred Figglehorn YouTube series, as well as its sequel, Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred. In 2022, he wrote the critically-acclaimed film Honor Society for Paramount+.
The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) is a labor union representing writers in film, television, radio, news, and online media.
The Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) is a labor union representing film, television, radio, and new media writers. It was formed in 1954 from five organizations representing writers, including the Screen Writers Guild. It has around 20,000 members.
Katherine Fugate is an American film and television writer and producer.
From November 5, 2007 to February 12, 2008, all 12,000 film and television screenwriters of the American labor unions Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), and Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) went on strike.
The 1988 Writers Guild of America strike was a strike action taken by members of both the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) against major United States television and film studios represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The strike, which ran from March 7 to August 7, 1988, affected production on movies and TV shows. At 153 days, it remains the longest strike in the history of the WGA, surpassing the 1960 strike and the 2023 strike by 5 days each.
The 1960 Writers Guild of America strike was a labor dispute between the Guild and the Alliance of Television Film Producers. It lasted 148 days, from January 16 to June 12, 1960.
The 2007–2008 CBS News writers strike is a strike action by news writers working for the U.S.-based news broadcaster CBS News. The strike began on November 19, 2007. In addition to CBS News, CBS's locally owned and operated station news operations have been without a contract with the network since April 2005. While most news writers are members of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, a labor union representing workers in the entertainment industry, CBS News and CBS-owned news station employees are represented by the Writers Guild of America. On November 19, 2007, employees voted to authorize strike action along with the rest of the guild. Democratic presidential candidates John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Chris Dodd, Joe Biden and Bill Richardson said they would not cross picket lines for appearances on interview shows or a candidate debate.
Del Reisman was an American television producer, story editor and screenwriter whose lengthy credits included The Twilight Zone and The Untouchables.
The 1980 actors strike was a labor strike held in July–October 1980 by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), two labor unions representing actors in the American film industry. The strike was caused by a breakdown in labor contract negotiations between the two unions and representatives of film studios, television networks, and other independent producers. The primary point of contention regarded residuals from home media, such as videocassettes and pay television. Specifically, the union was seeking a form of profit sharing wherein they would receive a percentage of the revenue made from home media releases. Additionally, the unions wanted a 35 percent salary increase across the board for their members. By mid-July, the union and industry representatives were at an impasse, and the strike started on July 21. Several days later, the American Federation of Musicians also went on strike for similar reasons.
From May 2 to September 27, 2023, the Writers Guild of America (WGA)—representing 11,500 screenwriters—went on strike over a labor dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). With a duration of 148 days, the strike is tied with the 1960 strike as the second-longest labor stoppage that the WGA has performed, only behind the 1988 strike. Alongside the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, which continued until November, it was part of a series of broader Hollywood labor disputes. Both strikes contributed to the biggest interruption to the American film and television industries since the COVID-19 pandemic.
From July 14 to November 9, 2023, the American actors' union SAG-AFTRA was on strike over a labor dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). As the longest strike in SAG-AFTRA history, its combined impact with the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike resulted in the loss of 45,000 jobs, and "an estimated $6.5 billion" loss to the economy of Southern California. According to Deadline Hollywood, the "harshest pain" was "perhaps felt among the below-the-line workers who've had to sell or mortgage their homes, and wipe through IRAs to survive."
From May 2 to November 9, 2023, a series of long labor disputes within the film and television industries of the United States took place, mainly focused on the strikes of the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA. It was the second time two Hollywood labor unions were striking simultaneously — the first having occurred in 1960 – and as such, the American news media named this phenomenon the "Hollywood double strike", and surpassed the 1960 dual strike as well. By November 9, 2023, both the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA had reached tentative deals with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and ended their strikes.
