NOW PLAYING @ wga.org
May 3, 1999
Vol. II, Issue 9
The official e-newsletter of
The Writers Guild of America
http://www.wga.org
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IN THIS ISSUE:
1. SPECIAL WEB REPORT: Opportunities for Professional Writers
2. THE WRITERS WORKBENCH: MS Publisher & Internet World Freebies
3. HOT RESEARCH LINKS: Screaming in the Celluloid Jungle, and more!
4. LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: Banning Home Permits; WGA's Privacy Amendment
5. WORDS INTO PICTURES: '99 Film & TV Writers 3-Day Forum
6. MEMBERS ONLY: May 12 Vote on Executive Director, Amendments
7. WRITTEN BY: Richard Stayton Named New Editor of Magazine
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1. SPECIAL WEB REPORT: Opportunities for Professional Writers
The potential for professional writers to find work on the
Internet is increasing, according to What's Happening on the
Web? A Writer's Perspective of an Emerging Medium, a web
study report written by Carolyn Miller & Liz Mitchell of the
Creative Media & Technologies Committee of the Writers Guild
of America, west.
"At this point," says the report, "a large amount of
original content on the Internet is being written in
information areas such as news, sports, finance, health and
science but the information is presented distinctively, with
attractive graphics, stills and increasingly, audio and
video."
In terms of entertainment on the web, the report points out
that although the emphasis currently remains on production
and information about show business, "original
entertainment content on the web has grown dramatically in
recent months, largely due to the emergence of streaming
video technology." The report also mentions recent
convergence ventures and the formation of new
entertainment-rich "networks," and discusses how these
developments might affect opportunities for writers.
The report focuses on websites that are making interesting
use of the Internet's unique capabilities and its
possibilities for screenwriters. It divides the web into
online categories - including original entertainment, online
games, online sites for children, news and information
sites, corporate sites and networks/communities sites aimed
at particular groups of people like women or seniors. The
report also includes three pages of highlights, information
about the web as a marketplace for writers, and lists the
"top 20 must-see sites" from a writer's point of view.
"The time is coming when writers could make their living
writing films and shows exclusively for the web," says
Daniel Petrie, Jr., President WGAw. "It's an exciting time,
and one that presents the possibility of a whole new market
for the work of writers."
The Writers Guild covers writers working in the interactive
industry as well as the traditional entertainment industry.
The guild offers a special agreement to interactive
producers who want to work with the professional writers
represented by the guild.
The web study report is available to Guild members as well
as non-members by contacting the Guild's Industry Alliances
Department. The complete report can be found at:
http://wga.org/tools/Internet/index.html
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2. THE WRITERS WORKBENCH: MS Publisher & Internet World
Freebies
Microsoft Publisher has always been a seriously impressive
program. On the one hand, very easy, filled with macros and
templates for even the most graphically-befuddled, according
to Robert J. Elisberg, yet powerful and sophisticated for
professional application.
With Publisher 98, the program has extended itself on both
ends. Publisher is pretty basic. And comprehensive. And a
breeze. If you have even the slightest inclination towards
creating graphical publications -- whether or not you have
the talent to do so -- Publisher is an impressive program to
check out.
Bonus Drawer: At the Spring Internet World convention in Los
Angeles, Elisberg got a taste of some hot new products and
services, including the best kind of all -- freebies! He
gives us a glimpse of four promising new technologies:
Punch, FaxWave, Aplio, and McAfee.Com.
http://www.wga.org/tools/workbench/0499/index2.html
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3. HOT RESEARCH LINKS: Screaming in the Celluloid Jungle,
and more!
New Screenwriter Links This Week
Screaming in The Celluloid Jungle - A site for screenwriters
and filmmakers featuring regularly-updated script sales and
deals; featured agents, WGA signatory agencies, and an
agency contact list; production company contact lists;
industry news; a filmmakers glossary; writing software
reviews; research resources; a screenwriters forum; and
monthly links of interest to writers.
Stars' Agents - A section of the Moviepartners.com site,
this is a fairly extensive list of Hollywood's hottest
performers and the agents and managers who represent them.
The Online Communicator Website - This rich and diverse site
is divided into main sections that include film, video,
writing, talent, audio, and multimedia. Each of these
sections has a wealth of varied and valuable links to real
information that real writers can use.
The Internet Movie Database - First and foremost, the site
contains the best searchable online database of information
about films. Over 180,000 of them! But the IMDB site doesn't
stop there. This vast resource also includes current and
near-future movie releases, recent box office numbers, movie
quotes, daily entertainment news, and much more.
These research links are compiled by Craig Schiller, who
also happens to be Chair of the WGA Website Editorial
Committee. If you have a favorite research link that you
think would be helpful to screenwriters, please send it to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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4. LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: WGA's Privacy Amendment; A New
Writers Tax?; Banning Home Permits
*Guild's Privacy Amendment Accepted*
A.B. 385 by Assemblyman Wally Knox, passed out of the
Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee on Monday, April 19
with a key amendment submitted by the WGA.
Under the Guild's "privacy amendment," the Franchise Tax
Board will not be able to release a creative artist's
address, social security number or occupation to a charter
city unless the FTB has first contacted the creative artist
and he or she fails to confirm by return mail that they are
indeed a creative artist.
For a creative artist to have this privacy protection, they
must be identified on their income tax return by
professional activity code number 711510 (encompassing
writers, artists and performers).
Guild representatives have also proposed additional
protections in A.B. 385 for creative artists that are now
under consideration by Assemblyman Knox.
*A New Tax on Writers?*
One WGA writer was recently sent a tax inquiry by the Los
Angeles County Assessor's Office about business personal
property, i.e., office equipment.
In addition to real property such as homes and commercial
property, the state's property tax laws also apply to office
equipment. It is taxed at the same rate--about $1.25 per
thousand of value.
Since this writer does not have a business license, a
personal services corporation or a Fictitious Name
Statement, it is unclear why he was contacted. However, he
does rent a small office in a commercial building. This
writer may have been identified during the annual canvass
the Assessor's Office conducts in commercially-zoned areas
to locate businesses that it believes should be paying
property tax on their office equipment.
As it turns out, the Assessor's Office does not apply the
tax to businesses with office equipment less than $2,000 in
assessed value. Since the writer's equipment was worth less
than that amount, the Assessor's Office advised the writer
to simply return the form with a note indicating this.
The Guild would like to determine the extent of the
application of property taxes to writers' office equipment.
If you received a similar notice, please call the WGA's
Legislative Hotline at (323) 782-4560
*Gain Support for A.B. 83*
The Guild's legislation to ban permit requirements to write
in your home and business license fees, A.B. 83 by
Assemblyman Tony Cardenas, has been rescheduled for hearing
on May 12th. If you have not already sent in your postcards
in support of A.B. 83, it's not too late.
You can also help by placing calls to key legislators and
asking them to support A.B. 83. Phone numbers are available
at:
http://www.wga.org/pr/0499/Legislative.html
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5. WORDS INTO PICTURES: '99 Film & TV Writers 3-Day Forum
Words Into Pictures is back -- and it's the best three days
of informative discussion and lively networking you'll ever
spend...
The Writers Guild Foundation presents for the second time
an uncensored public dialogue between Hollywood's top motion
picture and television writers, and agents, lawyers,
industry executives, producers, directors and critics. What
are the major issues affecting the way writers work today?
What can writers and other creative players in the industry
learn from each other? What can we all do to make better
motion pictures and television programs?
This is an opportunity to analyze important issues with your
colleagues through a comprehensive series of panel
discussions, interviews and case studies. For seasoned
writers and newcomers alike, there will be a stimulating
cross fertilization of ideas, lively networking
opportunities, and, above all, plenty of fun.
Note that Words Into Pictures is not a craft or How To Write
seminar; rather it is a discussion forum designed by writers
for writers in order to present and discuss the issues
affecting writers and other creative participants in the
industry today.
June 4 - 6, 1999, Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, Santa
Monica, California
http://www.wordsintopictures.org/
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6. MEMBERS ONLY: May 12 Vote on Executive Director,
Constitutional Amendments
The WGA west Constitution gives all voting members an
opportunity to make their voices heard on the Board's
appointment of a new Executive Director. As the Guild
reported in a recent issue of Written By Member News, the
Board of Directors unanimously voted to appoint John McLean
as the Executive Director of Writers Guild of America, west.
The Constitution requires that the appointment be submitted
to the general membership "for approval at the first annual
or special membership meeting following such appointment."
There will be a special membership meeting held on
Wednesday, May 12, 1999 in connection with a vote on two
proposed amendments to the membership rules in the
Constitution. As the Constitution requires, the membership
vote on the Executive Director's appointment also will take
place at the May 12 special meeting. Current members in good
standing will be eligible to vote. A simple majority is
required to approve Mr. McLean's appointment.
http://www.wga.org/private/notice.html
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7. WRITTEN BY: Richard Stayton Named New Editor of Magazine
Playwright, theatre critic, and journalist Richard Stayton
has been brought onboard as the new editor of Written By
magazine. Stayton replaces former editor Lisa Chambers.
Previously, Stayton served as Executive Editor and Managing
Editor of Westways magazine. He has written on the
entertainment industry for a number of newspapers, including
The New York Times, Boston Globe and Los Angeles Times and
has published work in Harper's Bazaar, Mediaweek, Interview,
American Theatre and Weekly Variety.
Stayton was also theater critic for the Los Angeles Herald
Examiner and reviewed plays for the L.A. Weekly and Los
Angeles Times.
Stayton's play "After the First Death" won the Goshen Peace
Prize and has been produced throughout the U.S., Canada and
abroad. It was broadcast by the BBC in London after Harold
Pinter brought it to the network's attention.
Stayton commented about his new appointment: "My ambition is
to continue doing what the Writers Guild does best --
protecting and celebrating the work of the writer as the
prime creator of film and television -- while taking the
magazine to another level, the level where 'Written By'
becomes the writer's indispensable tool, roadmap, source
and, if need be, weapon. Roll it up and swing for the
fences."
Stayton has lectured at the Yale Drama School, the
University of Missouri Journalism School and the Hawaii
International Film Festival, among others. He received an
M.F.A. from San Francisco State University.
http://www.wga.org/WrittenBy/index.html
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FOR MEMBERS ONLY: http://www.wga.org/members/index.html
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Contents copyright 1999, Writers Guild of America.
All rights reserved. Newsletter published by Lazar
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