Here's my situation: I'm not in the WGA. I wrote a short-form series for a production company last year. They hired a WGA writer to rewrite me, though the story, the structure, and, in fact, many of the words remain mine (or paraphrasings of what I wrote).
The company recently sold the series to a distributor and are going into production any day now.
I have a deal with the company guaranteeing me "Written By" credit. The WGA, of course, has its own arbitration process. So here are my questions:
1) *Can* the WGA even award me "Written By" credit, even if they think I deserve it? It was my understanding that the WGA could only award that credit to a guild writer.
2) If I'm right about #1-- that the guild can't award me "Written By" credit as a non-member-- then the company would, it seems to me, be in breach. Is there any way for them to resolve this situation? Could they get me into the WGA, since I worked on a WGA project (which was a non-guild project at the time I worked on it)? How does this work?
Before someone tells me "Get a lawyer"-- I have lawyers, but they were not, on the advice of my agents, commissioned on this deal (I was told the deal was so standard that lawyers were unnecessary and would just hold things up-- lesson learned there).
My reps are dealing with this, but I want to do my own due diligence. I have no reason, at this point, to believe that the production company is sleazy or out to get me. But, of course, it's important for my career that I receive the credit to which I think I'm morally and legally entitled.
Thanks in advance for any guidance you can give!
The company recently sold the series to a distributor and are going into production any day now.
I have a deal with the company guaranteeing me "Written By" credit. The WGA, of course, has its own arbitration process. So here are my questions:
1) *Can* the WGA even award me "Written By" credit, even if they think I deserve it? It was my understanding that the WGA could only award that credit to a guild writer.
2) If I'm right about #1-- that the guild can't award me "Written By" credit as a non-member-- then the company would, it seems to me, be in breach. Is there any way for them to resolve this situation? Could they get me into the WGA, since I worked on a WGA project (which was a non-guild project at the time I worked on it)? How does this work?
Before someone tells me "Get a lawyer"-- I have lawyers, but they were not, on the advice of my agents, commissioned on this deal (I was told the deal was so standard that lawyers were unnecessary and would just hold things up-- lesson learned there).
My reps are dealing with this, but I want to do my own due diligence. I have no reason, at this point, to believe that the production company is sleazy or out to get me. But, of course, it's important for my career that I receive the credit to which I think I'm morally and legally entitled.
Thanks in advance for any guidance you can give!
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