WGA

WGA is a non-specific acronym used when referring to both the Writer's Guild of America East and the Writer's Guild of America West. Both are regional labor unions for screen and television writers. The organizations mark their beginning in 1933 when ten screenwriters formed the Screenwriters Guild just as the Great Depression hit. Like any other labor union, the WGA offers its members many benefits including registration of one's work, education, and health benefits.

Though they have also launched strikes in 1960 and 1988, it was the strike in 2007 over DVD and Internet residuals that nearly brought production in Hollywood to a crawl. It was at this time the blogosphere exploded with posts both supporting and opposing the writers and their plight. Also using the Internet for their benefit, both east and west unions came together and communicated to their members and supporters via a blog, United Hollywood, during the strike.

Not all actions by the WGA have received the same attention and scrutiny of the 2007 strike. In October 2008 a protest at a single studio (Tyler Perry Studios) over what the Guild viewed as unlawful termination of four writers went virtually unnoticed as mainstream media focused its attention to the highly charged political race taking place at the time.

by Connie Phillips Are you a writer, passionate about this or any other topic? Join Blogcritics!

Latest blogosphere posts tagged “WGA”

• Weinstein – Apple – Sony BMG – Amazon – Echostar – CBS – FCC

  
  Discover The Best eBay Alternative — Authority: 145
  APPLE will reportedly offer iTunes movie rentals from Warner Bros., Fox, Paramount, and Lions Gate. Rentals will cost $3.99 for 24 hours. An announcement is expected during the Steve Jobs keynote at Macworld on January 15th. HARVEY WEINSTEIN told reporters that WEINSTEIN CO. has signed an interim deal with the WGA. ...
  6 days ago

• Win7 Pirating Tools Out, Malware to Follow

  
  Security Watch — Authority: 575
  Two different tools are out to bypass copy protection in Windows 7 according to the My Digital Life blog . RemoveWAT and Chew-WGA both allow Windows to run without activation by tampering with the activation software. A report in Computerworld .on the tools says that Microsoft is aware of them and will deal with them ...
  1 week ago

• WGA Fix 3.-omnia - SymbianPinoy® Resources - Mobile and PC Resources Online Community [del.icio.us]

  
  SymbianPinoy Resources — Authority: 179
  WGA Fix 3.-omnia
  1 week ago

• Windows 7 Activation Hacks Created

  
  Windows 7 News — Authority: 528
  Microsoft has wanted to stop software piracy since its early days. As their software got more sophisticated, so did their methods to separate legitimate from pirated copies of their software. Product keys, evaluation time periods, activation processes are all designed to make the product a genuine copy. Two Windows ...
  1 week ago

• In the War Of Cops & Pirates, The Pirates Have Just Pulled Off Another Victory

  
  Revelations From An Unwashed Brain — Authority: 584
  It’s been with us since 2001, and still hangs on. No, it’s not the specter of Al Qaeda in the Middle East, waiting to attack, it is the activation scheme for Microsoft Windows. The activation scheme is something that makes Microsoft happy, as they mistakenly believe that they are keeping piracy down, and annoys ...
  1 week ago

• Remove WTA and Chew WGA: Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) Patch for Windows 7, Out Already!

  
  Technology Nerd — Authority: 136
  It didn’t take too long for the hackers to come up with piece of code that deactivates or completely removes Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) from Windows 7 . Currently there are two utilities (there is a third one too but it involves quite a bit of manual work) which will help you deactivate WGA or remove ...
  1 week ago

• Writers Were Warned-Off Osbournes Show

  
  Weird Ink — Authority: 100
  The Osbournes last American TV stab failed famously, with only one episode airing. I never saw it, but enough coverage was given it that I can tell you someone was pressured into getting married (I... Read More...
  1 week ago

• Written By magazine

  
  Go Into The Story — Authority: 516
  The WGA has a bi-monthly journal called Written By and occasionally Ill post something about how good it is, tons of interviews with TV and movie writers, lots of articles about the professional life of a screenwriter, how you should subscribe to it, blah blah. Well. Check this out. Thats right. You can ...
  1 week ago

• Hollywood Babble On & On #392: A Brief Note About Death & Words

  
  The Fantastic Adventures of Furious D — Authority: 121
  Welcome to the show folks... NICK COUNTER IS DEAD...ALAS.... The Writers Guild of America released a statement about the passing away of AMPTP honcho Nick Counter . "The Writers Guilds of America, West and East mark the passing of Nick Counter, longtime president of the Alliance of Motion Picture and ...
  2 weeks ago

• WGAw screenwriter survey

  
  johnaugust.com — Authority: 506
  WGAw screenwriters should have received an email yesterday about an online survey the Guild is conducting. Please find the email — it might get stuck in your spam filter — and click the link. 1 The survey takes five minutes, and will help set priorities for the Guild. I was one of the beta testers for the ...
  2 weeks ago

• New Windows 7 Activation Crack – “Chew-WGA”

  
  Technically Personal! — Authority: 525
  Few days back I had told you about RemoveWAT , a Windows 7 Activation crack utility by a hacker named Hazar. Now, there is an alternate Windows 7 crack tool called “ Chew-WGA “. Chew-WGA is a Windows 7 crack which is designed to test the security resistance of various software protections built ...
  2 weeks ago

• WGA Screenwriters: Take The Survey!

  
  The Artful Writer — Authority: 92
  If you’re a WGAw screenwriter, you should have just received an email from the guild inviting you to take an online survey. While I can’t print the link (the survey is for Guild members only…each of you gets your own link…), I can strongly urge you to take the five or ten minutes necessary to fill it out. ...
  2 weeks ago

• Windows 7 Activation Crack – RemoveWAT

  
  Technically Personal! — Authority: 525
  It’s not even a week since Windows 7 was launched officially and the hackers have succeeded in cracking the activation technology used in Windows 7. A hacker who is popular by the name Hazar has come out with a tool – RemoveWAT which claims to completely remove Windows Activation Technologies ( WAT ) from ...
  4 weeks ago

• Crackers Get Their Way Past Windows Activation Technologies On Windows 7 Allowing Pirates To Enjoy Genuine Status And Updates

  
  Megaleecher.Net - Making technology work for you... — Authority: 425
  Hackers succeeded in cracking Microsoft Windows 7 activation even before it got officially released on 22 October 2009, now the same guy Hazar has came up with another utility RemoveWAT which claims to completely remove Windows Activation Technologies (WAT) from the operating-system allowing users with illegal ...
  4 weeks ago

• Harlan Ellison bests CBS Paramount over 42 year old Star Trek episode

  
  TV Squad — Authority: 719
  You have to admire the tenacity of writer Harlan Ellison . He filed a lawsuit against CBS Paramount accusing the company of not paying him for all the ancillary income the company earned from the episode of Star Trek he wrote in 1967, "City on the Edge of Forever." Yesterday, Ellison announced on his web site ...
  4 weeks ago

Comments about WGA