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.