Writers Share Signed Termination Letters As Mass Firing Of Agents Begins After WGA-ATA Talks Fail
There was no respite for the two sides in the WGA-ATA dispute to absorb the news that their negotiations had broken down. As the writers guild informed its members that the talks were over, it sent each member a personalized form letter they can use to fire their agency if it has not signed the new Code of Conduct.
The new Code of Conduct, approved by the WGA membership last month, includes the elimination of packaging and agencies’ affiliation with production entities, and all of the major agencies have said that they will not sign it.
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The form letter was linked in WGA’s missive to members this afternoon for each to sign electronically. The letter, the guild says, “in plain and respectful language accomplishes the task” of notifying the writer’s agency that they cannot represent him/her until they sign the new Code of Conduct. According to the WGA, the letter also protects the writers legally “in case there is a further commission dispute.”
“The guild will forward all letters en masse to the appropriate agencies in a few days,” the guild email further said. “Many of you will also want to inform your agents in person. We encourage you to do so and ask them to sign the Code.”
Several writers immediately took to Twitter to share their signed letters with the #IStandWithTheWGA hashtag in support of their guild. The number grew steadily throughout the night, with top showrunners and actor/writers joining in later on, including Steven DeKnight, Tim Doyle, Danny Zucker, Alexi Hawley, Chrissy Pietrosh, Patton Oswalt and Jon Cryer.
By 11 PM PT, #IStandWithTheWGA was a Top 10 trending toping worldwide on Twitter.
Here are some of the tweets, most of which include heart-wrenching notes underlying how difficult the decision has been on writers. And then there was the tweet from David Simon who recently ripped his agency over packaging.
UPDATE: The letter posts continued on Saturday, with Damon Lindeloff and Hart Hanson among the top showrunners to share their signed documents. You can follow the list here. Meanwhile, a couple of Friday’s posts have been deleted by their authors.
Dammit. Just realized that the WGA-ATA midnight deadline is PST. So I have to stay up another three hours and one minute to send a pic of my naked ass to CAA. #WGA #UnionUnionUnion
— David Simon (@AoDespair) April 13, 2019
I love my agents at CAA. Wouldn't be where I am without their support and encouragement. I look forward to working with them again once their agency signs the Code of Conduct and eliminates the inherent conflict of packaging fees. #ClientsOverConflicts #IStandWithTheWGA pic.twitter.com/CZ8Om2KqMd
— Steven DeKnight (@stevendeknight) April 13, 2019
#IStandWithTheWGA #ClientsOverConflicts pic.twitter.com/Ldw3aiJfT0
— Alexi Hawley (@AlexiHawley) April 13, 2019
Look, I love my agent. I mean, I’m not IN love with him… although there was this one time at The Palm where the light danced in his eyes and… anyway I 💯 support the stand my union is taking! #IStandwiththeWGA #UnionStrong #KONY2012 pic.twitter.com/rYzdM75zKx
— Danny Zuker (@DannyZuker) April 13, 2019
I love my agents, but decades ago, their bosses decided to change their business model to something they KNEW was a total conflict of interest. #IStandwiththeWGA pic.twitter.com/7LZCYPekLI
— Jon Cryer (@MrJonCryer) April 13, 2019
I have an amazing agency that represents me. But I have an even better guild which stands for me. #IStandWithTheWGA pic.twitter.com/LfIjjM7Sov
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) April 13, 2019
I love my hard working agents. One of them is literally a lifelong family friend, but our guild needs us to stand together to get the conflict of interests sorted out so #IStandWithTheWGA. pic.twitter.com/gT7Q454yw5
— Jay Kogen (@JayKogen) April 13, 2019
Honestly, it was probably time for a change. #IStandWithTheWGA pic.twitter.com/yvaBx4z66V
— Daniel Chun 🇺🇸 (@dannychun) April 13, 2019
I love my agent, I love my work. But I’m a union man. #IStandWithTheWGA pic.twitter.com/tfrcHiT1QK
— Timothée Doyle (@FlakedAndFormed) April 13, 2019
I've had the same agent for almost 20 years. I owe him a lot. But I owe the writers who came before me and the ones who are still to come, so much more. #IStandWithTheWGA pic.twitter.com/2Ewtf3HoUG
— Chrissy Pietrosh 🌀 (@cpietrosh) April 13, 2019
like many of my brave and wonderful writing peers and colleagues who are similarly tweeting tonight… love my agents, but for more than obvious reasons, & after ten years of working together, I had to part ways w/them because #IStandWithTheWGA.#clientsoverconflict pic.twitter.com/XwvDjzUjk0
— Deric A. Hughes – SoCal War Dog (@dblackanese) April 13, 2019
#IStandWithTheWGA #ClientsOverConflicts pic.twitter.com/eDTU0yf0qW
— nancy kiu (@nancy_kiu) April 13, 2019
I haven't tweeted in a while, but I'm happy to do so to stand in solidarity with my fellow writers. I love my agents and hope that this negotiation gets resolved soon, but now is the time to address packaging fees and producing arms. #IStandWithTheWGA pic.twitter.com/G0Fx6Zt4ZZ
— Franklin jin Rho (@franklinrho) April 13, 2019
We've told our agencies that we, their clients, need them to change. We've acted thoughtfully. We've negotiated in good faith. We even gave them an extra week. I love my agent, and I hope his bosses do the right thing soon. #IStandWithTheWGA pic.twitter.com/Opt44OE5OZ
— Tom O'Connor (@MrTomOConnor) April 13, 2019
I love my film agent like family. He’s the first & only one I’ve ever had. He’s honest, loyal & kind. I know our relationship always comes before the agency. I can’t imagine my life right now without everything he’s done for me the last ~14 years.
Yet #IStandwiththeWGA. pic.twitter.com/rr1uAKbpaf
— Michael H. Weber (@thisisweber) April 13, 2019
I was an assistant at CAA in 2005 and I swore one day I would walk back in as a client. Ten years later I did just that. I'm not happy about this turn of events, but at the end of the day, #IStandWithTheWGA #ClientsOverConflicts pic.twitter.com/S4dFIHMML9
— Diana Mendez Boucher (@dianamen) April 13, 2019
signed my letter #IStandWithTheWGA pic.twitter.com/nFS2PaokAg
— Ben Rosen (@ben_rosen) April 13, 2019
I take no joy in this. But talent agencies need to return to being true representatives of their clients' fiduciary interests, which too many of them have been ignoring for too long. Do what you do, people. Make a deal. A real one. #IStandWithTheWGA pic.twitter.com/oYoGftVurR
— Robert Hewitt Wolfe (@writergeekrhw) April 13, 2019
My agents are good people. They’ve helped put me in some great situations. This isn’t easy for me. I love my #wga union and I’m standing with them. #istandwiththewga pic.twitter.com/KPIBciVvoO
— santasierra (@santasierra) April 13, 2019
Well, shit. I hoped it wouldn't come to this. @klikkonthis and I have been with our agent so long that the relationship is old enough to get a driver's license. We love him. But writers have sacrificed since the 50s to protect what I take for granted. So I will #istandwiththewga pic.twitter.com/HgNjE8JbRK
— John Hoberg (@HeidiHidyHoberg) April 13, 2019
Bad night. Will hopefully lead to a good tomorrow. Writers please watch out for each other. #IStandWithTheWGA pic.twitter.com/EwbdBtkxkZ
— David Guggenheim (@DBGuggenheim) April 13, 2019
I am grateful for the wga and promise to do whatever I can to help and support other writers*, now and always! #IStandWithTheWGA
(*not @jenstatsky)
— Megan Amram (@meganamram) April 13, 2019
I hate that this has happened, but looks like a doll is agent-less. I'm out!! #IStandWithTheWGA pic.twitter.com/jCxgx0QVhe
— Tina Andrews (@TinaAndrews) April 13, 2019
#IStandwiththeWGA pic.twitter.com/vMCPM13OOa
— Kristy Lowrey (@KLsnowdogs) April 13, 2019
So, is posting our termination letter the last step of DocuSign? Okay. If you say so, Twitter…#IStandWithTheWGA #ClientsOverConflicts #WGASolidarityChallenge pic.twitter.com/r9zrGu9vFT
— David Booth (@TheBoothatron) April 13, 2019
I like my agents. I don’t like that they’ve put us in this position. I hope they come to their senses soon, because writers aren’t caving on this. And the longer it goes on, the more writers are going to realize they can do this on their own. #IStandWithTheWGA pic.twitter.com/RzZxj1GANh
— Guy Endore-Kaiser (@GuyEndoreKaiser) April 13, 2019
Love my team. Love my union more. #IStandWithTheWGA pic.twitter.com/iXHn5EwPEa
— Chris Nee 🏳️🌈 (@chrisdocnee) April 13, 2019
I hoped it wouldn’t come to this. But I stand with my guild and I stand with my fellow writers. Together, we will get to what is fair and right for us all. #IStandWiththeWGA #ClientsOverConflicts pic.twitter.com/Uik9iXdx60
— LaToya Morgan (@MorganicInk) April 13, 2019
Love my agents but I gotta stand with my union, baby!!!!! How 'bout you sign that code of conduct @UTAFoundation ! #IStandWithTheWGA pic.twitter.com/w81TUn4RgB
— Lisa Hanawalt (@lisadraws) April 13, 2019
My agent of 20+ years is a great friend and fighter for my career. I would give him a kidney tomorrow. But this isn’t about him or any single agent. Until agencies put #ClientsOverConflicts we can’t work together. Simple as that. #IStandWithTheWGA
— John August (@johnaugust) April 13, 2019
Dear ATA — Have your people call my people. And by “my people” I mean a labor union composed of the thousands of writers who write television shows, movies, news programs, documentaries, animation, videogames and new media content. #IStandWithTheWGA #ClientsOverConflicts #WGA pic.twitter.com/w4tBsHLlU8
— Mary Leah Sutton (@maryleahsutton) April 13, 2019
The girl has no agent. #IStandWiththeWGA pic.twitter.com/fxaYbwLQxl
— Amy Snow (@aasnowbird) April 13, 2019
I hate that it’s come to this. I love my agents and I love my agency. But this isn’t about that. This is about fighting for a system that works for all of us and not just for some of us. #ClientsOverConflicts #IStandWiththeWGA pic.twitter.com/iOQ7F4K0J1
— Natasha Rothwell (@natasharothwell) April 13, 2019
I've only been with my agents at UTA for a few months, but they've been fantastic thus far. I can't wait to get back to working with them once their agency signs the Code of Conduct and eliminates the inherent conflict of packaging fees. #ClientsOverConflicts #IStandWithTheWGA pic.twitter.com/EFiYY7DI88
— Marc Bernardin (@marcbernardin) April 13, 2019
#IStandWithTheWGA pic.twitter.com/zH9JK3GrAs
— Yulin Kuang (@YulinKuang) April 13, 2019
It's happening… #IStandWithTheWGA pic.twitter.com/6FEYTLlUQa
— HilaryGraham (@HilaryGraham) April 13, 2019
Proud to be part of the #WGA & their stand against the #ATA. This current situation reminds me of an old saying in Orthodoxy, “They can kill us but they can’t hurt us.” That sums it up for me. No one can stop you from writing. Keep at it everyone! #IStandWithTheWGA #InSolidarity pic.twitter.com/VWXK5bQccW
— Charley Parlapanides (@Charlyp12345) April 13, 2019
Ten years ago I was selling cars for a survival job, writing every spare moment I could find. I will forever be grateful to the agents who took a chance on me and worked hard on my behalf. But change needed. Proud of my union, proud of my fellow writers, and I #StandWithTheWGA pic.twitter.com/aBueC3rNG7
— Brian Durkin (@BrianCDurkin) April 13, 2019
I feel both lighter and stronger. #IStandWithTheWGA #ClientsOverConflicts pic.twitter.com/8kzzUsTrdN
— She Got Problems (@shegotproblems) April 13, 2019
Now we take care of each other. pic.twitter.com/mOStSXlIAo
— Angelina Burnett (@Beckylooo) April 12, 2019
Kinda can’t believe this is actually happening. And yet, it is. My agents are wonderful people. But I will follow the #WGA into the great Unknown. I hope my agency does the right thing and we can put this all behind us. Here we go…. #IStandWithTheWGA pic.twitter.com/DrpO6XScYS
— Jon Herman (@hermjon) April 13, 2019
Something clever. #IStandWithTheWGA #ClientsOverConflicts #WeAreTheWGA pic.twitter.com/lhAszyC6B7
— (((Rob Forman))) (@robsforman) April 13, 2019
A girl has no agent.#IStandWithTheWGA pic.twitter.com/aR2uUXFqoD
— Sarah Watson (@SarahWatson42) April 12, 2019
Let me know what you need, friends. We'll get through this together. #IStandWithTheWGA pic.twitter.com/usB0weiBlO
— Kate Erickson (@katefromky) April 13, 2019
#IStandWithTheWGA pic.twitter.com/iv014pLbF8
— David Slack (@slack2thefuture) April 13, 2019
I love my agents and will gladly continue to do business with them once they sign the code. But we must hold agencies accountable and end the #conflictsoverclients that have plagued writers livelihood for decades. #IStandWithTheWGA pic.twitter.com/rjrUZalgtN
— Danny Tolli (@dctolli) April 13, 2019
#IStandWithTheWGA #ClientsOverConflicts
— Amy Berg (@bergopolis) April 13, 2019
#IStandWithTheWGA pic.twitter.com/1I7Gm0uyFX
— Kevin Costello (@KevinTCostello) April 13, 2019
I bet they never saw this coming. Okay, we actually just talked on the phone, but this is important and we will stand together nerd shoulder to nerd shoulder as we have done for generations to build this great guild. #IStandWithTheWGA #WGA #ClientsOverConflicts pic.twitter.com/USphJtEk4t
— Mike Mariano (@3mike3mike3) April 13, 2019
Here we go. #IStandWithTheWGA pic.twitter.com/7LJx6yeswV
— Paiman Kalayeh (@todaywithpay) April 13, 2019
I love my agents but I really love my Union. #IStandwiththeWGA pic.twitter.com/W6gVI5mAki
— Dailyn Rodriguez (@dailynrod) April 13, 2019
HELLO! I haven't tweeted in exactly one hundred years and was planning on going maybe one hundred more before this, but I felt compelled to express solidarity. I truly ADORE my agent, but I feel very lucky to be a part of a union that fights for me. #IStandWithTheWGA #signed pic.twitter.com/XT17jSX2LK
— alisha ketry (@keytree) April 13, 2019
#IStandwiththeWGA #WGA #ClientsOverConflicts pic.twitter.com/wqJautP9xP
— Austin Reynolds (@ReynoldsAustin) April 13, 2019
The WGA is a non-profit democracy whose only interest is the interest of writers. #IStandWithTheWGA pic.twitter.com/9M7UzHVOWx
— Luvh Rakhe (@luvhrakhe) April 13, 2019
I love my agents at WME. But the system needs to change. #IStandWithTheWGA pic.twitter.com/JALiSgCLtF
— TJ Fixman (@TJFixman) April 13, 2019
us what we our creations are actually worth. Despite it's uncomfortable, inconvenient and a bit scary. And because it's not personal. It's right. #IStandWithTheWGA pic.twitter.com/werbmQSlgG
— Monica Beletsky (@MonicaBeletsky) April 13, 2019
I've fired a few agents in my time. This one was by far`the easiest! Proud to stand with my union in changing a system that is corrupt, illegal and unfair to all of us writers! #ClientsOverConflicts #IStandWithTheWGA pic.twitter.com/gTe7Tgxfzn
— Curtis Kheel (@curtiskheel) April 13, 2019
This is a night that will not be an easy one for many friends and fellow union members. #IStandWithTheWGA and hope you all will, too.
— Mark Gaberman (@MarkGaberman) April 13, 2019
As a lower-lever writer hoping to staff on a comedy this year and who absolutely adores my agent, I’m nervous. But I believe in unions and collective action. This is not about my lovely agent, it’s about systemic practices by agencies. #IStandWithTheWGA #ClientsOverConflicts
— Sasha Stewart (@ArtfulStew) April 13, 2019
One of the greatest lines ever written.
From “Inherit the Wind” by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. #IStandWithTheWGA pic.twitter.com/cl10CuJXp4
— Nell Scovell (@NellSco) April 13, 2019
So, is posting our termination letter the last step of DocuSign? Okay. If you say so, Twitter…#IStandWithTheWGA #ClientsOverConflicts #WGASolidarityChallenge pic.twitter.com/r9zrGu9vFT
— David Booth (@TheBoothatron) April 13, 2019
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