The Writers: A History of American Screenwriters and Their Guild

by Miranda J. Banks

Overview

The Writers is the only comprehensive qualitative analysis of the history of writers and writing in the film, television, and streaming media industries in America. Featuring in-depth interviews with over fifty writers—including Mel Brooks, Norman Lear, Carl Reiner, and Frank Pierson—The Writers delivers a compelling, behind-the-scenes look at the role and rights of writers in Hollywood and New York over the past century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813571393
Publisher:	Rutgers University Press
Publication date:	09/01/2016
Edition description:	First Paperback Edition
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	17 - 18 Years

About the Author

MIRANDA J. BANKS is an associate professor of visual and media arts at Emerson College, in Boston, Massachusetts. She is the coeditor of Production Studies Cultural Studies of Media Industries and Production Studies, The Sequel!

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
 
Introduction
 
1         The Artist Employee
 
2         Two Front Lines
 
3         The Infant Prodigy
 
4         Mavericks
 
5         Confederation
 
Conclusion
 
Appendix A: Screen Writers and Selected Credits
Appendix B: Methodology
Notes
Bibliography
Index
 

Editorial Reviews

"An original and immensely interesting book, addressing a topic of both scholarly and general interest."

University of California-Santa Barbara - Charles Wolfe

"[The Writers] is an important contribution to Hollywood history, to studies of the labour movement in the United States, and to explorations of cultural labour. It is an entertaining and compelling story of what is special about artists as workers and what is common to all workers faced with the volatile labour relations of modern neoliberal capitalism."

Labour/Le Travail

"A beautifully researched history. Miranda Banks digs deep into the archives to bring out a very powerful, moving--and, at times, gossipy--history of Hollywood and the writers who make it all possible."
--Matt Tyrnauer "director, "Valentino The Last Emperor""

"Well-informed survey of film and TV writers' decadeslong battle to defend their economic and creative interests. Banks writes lucidly about complex financial and technical issues, giving a solid, unromantic sense of working writers' lives."

-- "Kirkus Reviews"

"[The Writers] is an important contribution to Hollywood history, to studies of the labour movement in the United States, and to explorations of cultural labour. It is an entertaining and compelling story of what is special about artists as workers and what is common to all workers faced with the volatile labour relations of modern neoliberal capitalism."-- "Labour/Le Travail"

"Banks uncovers the role the Writers Guild of America (WGA) has played in the entertainment industry. With accounts from more than 200 writers and solid access to the Writers Guild Foundation, the book discusses the importance of authorship, name recognition, and membership boundaries. [The Writers] presents a previously lacking exploration of writers and the WGA itself, particularly educating readers on the precedents set for other entertainment guilds. Highly recommended for film buffs and aspiring screenwriters."-- "Library Journal"

"A comprehensive tome that will be appreciated by the film and TV writers who wrote, are still writing, or will someday write."--Carl Reiner "Director, Writer, Actor"

"An original and immensely interesting book, addressing a topic of both scholarly and general interest."--Charles Wolfe "University of California-Santa Barbara"

"What an important story Miranda Banks tells, and how brilliantly she tells it. The voices of hundreds of writers shine through this history of a neglected but crucial sector of Hollywood production culture. A vital contribution to the field."--Michele Hilmes "University of Wisconsin-Madison"

"A monumental task--no one has ever tackled anything like this in writing about writers. Well done."--Mel Brooks

From the Publisher

A comprehensive tome that will be appreciated by the film and TV writers who wrote, are still writing, or will someday write.

Director, Writer, Actor - Carl Reiner

"A monumental task—no one has ever tackled anything like this in writing about writers. Well done."

Mel Brooks

"A beautifully researched history. Miranda Banks digs deep into the archives to bring out a very powerful, moving—and, at times, gossipy—history of Hollywood and the writers who make it all possible."

director, "Valentino The Last Emperor" - Matt Tyrnauer

"What an important story Miranda Banks tells, and how brilliantly she tells it. The voices of hundreds of writers shine through this history of a neglected but crucial sector of Hollywood production culture. A vital contribution to the field."

University of Wisconsin-Madison - Michele Hilmes

11/01/2014
Banks (visual and media arts, Emerson Coll.; coeditor, Production Studies) uncovers the role the Writers Guild of America (WGA) has played in the entertainment industry. With accounts from more than 200 writers and solid access to the Writers Guild Foundation, the book discusses the importance of authorship, name recognition, and membership boundaries in relation to landmark events such as the formation of the Screen Writers Guild to the Writers' Strike of 2007–08. Throughout its history, the WGA has been rife with conflict from outside forces as members contended with powerful studios, as well as controversy from within. Besides struggling to adapt to the interests of various members, Banks describes how the WGA has also had to adjust to the changing meaning of a "screenwriter" as new technology emerged, such as television and video games. While information on some events included in this title can be found in other works, it presents a previously lacking exploration of writers and the WGA itself, particularly educating readers on the precedents set for other entertainment guilds. VERDICT While details of numerous contract negotiations may be dry for some readers, this book is highly recommended for film buffs and aspiring screenwriters.—Katie McGaha, Simi Valley P.L., CA

Library Journal

2014-10-01
Well-informed survey of film and TV writers' decadeslong battle to defend their economic and creative interests.Banks (Visual and Media Arts/Emerson Coll.; co-editor: Production Studies: Cultural Studies of Media Industries, 2009) focuses on the business rather than the art of screenwriting, which makes sense since the principle concession the fledgling Screen Writers Guild made in its initial 1942 contract was the acknowledgment that the movie studios owned its members' scripts and had final control over them. The SWG traded ownership for the right to determine screenwriting credits, a matter of vital importance to writers whose salaries and employability depended on their credits. Banks follows the union through the ugly blacklist period, when the SWG failed to protect its subpoenaed members and acquiesced to the establishment of loyalty oaths, and through the radical changes wrought by the rise of television, which resulted in 1954 in the merger of the SWG with the Television Writers Association to form the Writers Guild of America. TV writers' concerns came to dominate the guild as movie production declined in the 1950s; a strike in 1960 established the principle of writers' royalties on reruns and films sold to television. The thorny issue of "hyphenates" sunk several strikes in the 1970s and '80s, when TV writer-directors (now often called showrunners) crossed picket lines and failed to support the guild in its efforts to get fairer compensation for videocassette sales from the aggressive, increasingly corporate studios. The guild learned its lesson; new leadership in 2005 organized more effectively and persuaded the hyphenates to join the 2007-2008 strike, which wrested compensation for digital distribution (streaming, iTunes, YouTube) from the reluctant producers. Despite a few academic tics ("This chapter explores"; "The next chapters will explore"), Banks writes lucidly about complex financial and technical issues, giving a solid, unromantic sense of working writers' lives. An interesting case study in the impact of evolving technologies and distribution methods on a labor union's priorities and strategies.

Kirkus Reviews