Into the Black Hole: What’s at Stake for Comedy/Variety Writers in the WGA Strike

When <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8660569/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Greg Iwinski</a> joined the Writers Guild of America East, his work as a late-night writer was covered under what is known as Appendix A in the Guild’s Minimum Basic Agreement with the Association of Motion Pictures and Television Producers. “It’s called Appendix A because our contract is literally stapled to the back of the MBA,” he tells me over Zoom when I ask him to explain it to me. “It’s an appendix of all the weird shows that don’t fit in this thing.” This means, “Comedy/variety, late-night, daytime soap operas, news and documentary all fall under there,” according to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Conover" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Adam Conover</a> who is, like Iwinski, a member of the WGA’s Negotiating Committee with the AMPTP. “And then there’s this category ‘non-dramatic program’ which represents basically everything else. We like to call it the black hole.” Conover might describe it as a black hole, but to me, it sounds like Appendix A is the WGA’s equivalent of the Island of Misfit Toys. It’s a part of the WGA’s MBA that has always mystified me. Probably because I’m a feature/TV writer, one of the thousands of such writers who make up the majority of the WGA West and East’s membership. When I asked other film/TV writers in the Guild what they could tell me about Appendix A, or even the specific issues members who work in comedy/variety and late-night face, I received inadequate answers. I was not alone,  <a href="https://writingcooperative.com/into-the-black-hole-whats-at-stake-for-comedy-variety-writers-in-the-wga-strike-29d58b4c93c6">Visit Now</a>