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A Writers Guild arbitration upheld the WGA decision that Ashley Miller & Zack Stentz and Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn deserve screenplay credit on X-Men: First Class, with Sheldon Turner (who wrote an origin film about Magneto) and Bryan Singer (who wrote an outline for the film at the beginning) getting story credit. There were more writers on the films than mutants in it and a skirmish unfolded for script credit. The Vaughn-directed Fox film opens June 3.
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CONGRATS ASH AND ZACK!!!
They must be related to someone on the WGA arbitration committee. First Thor, now this.
Um, the ‘Arbitration Committee’ is just three randomly chosen fellow writers. The system can’t be gamed. You make your best argument as to why you deserve the credit you seek, and three of your peers decide.
First, congrats to the Ash and Zack, who I don’t know, but we have a friend in common who I think highly of. Know Sheldon, seemed like a nice guy. Met with Bryan, seemed cool. Don’t really have any skin in the game – just hope it the credits reflect who did the work fairly. I generally don’t have much faith in the system nor do most of the writers I know.
@sujata – it’s not a question of whether you can “game the system” or not. Randomly chosen doesn’t necessarily mean fair.
This is a small town, and if you don’t know the writer, there’s a decent chance you know someone who does, or you know them by reputation.
There are so many opportunities for conflict of interest it’s ridiculous. If one of the writers is a director or someone with a production shingle…do you want to deny a future employer credit? Or what if you’ve got a project with the same producer/studio etc. – hard to go against the studio’s choice.
More to the point – as you put it “the best argument” often wins. Meaning it’s not the strength of a writers claim that’s being rewarded, but how well they can argue their case.
I know writers who were clearly robbed. I know other writers who walked away with more than they deserved.
My point – I have no idea if the credits on this were determined fairly or not. But let’s not pretend WGA arbitration is anything other than what it’s name implies – arbitrary.
I smell John August…
TALK TO SOME OF US WHO’VE BEEN GAMED AND THEN RESTATE YOUR ANSWER…
Or, SR, what if there’s an off-chance that maybe, just maybe, they’re really good writers? I know, right? That’s just crazy talk! But if you truly believe these two guys are somehow related to every single member of the Writers Guild, then who I am to argue with crazy? :-p
I’ve read them. They’re not.
Really good writers close.
I guess at least sometimes
Coffee’s for closers, asshole
Indeed – who could possibly write two whole scripts? And feature length!
No. They just clearly contribute to the final shooting script.
Indeed! Congrats to two talented writers who amuse the heck out of me daily with their Twitter feeds!
And it’ll still be forgettable.
Six credited writers? Can’t say that bodes well. IIRC this only started shooting nine months ago. Too many cooks, and not enough time; if it gets a runtime of under 100 minutes, we’ll have found our first summer turkey!
This is Ash & Zach’s summer. Congrats.
is… is that a good thing that 20 people had a hand in shaping this movie’s story?
No, it’s not a good thing. Nor is it the least bit unusual.
Also so excited for Zack and Ash! Well deserved!
couldn’t be more happy for 2 nicer and more talented writers.
You know, if they believed they deserved credit, they did! Good writers, better people.
Can’t speak to this movie specifically but WGA has definitely gone through a sea change from favoring the original writer to favoring the final writers.
Yep… Sometimes good, sometimes bad.
Has anybody ever won an appeal of a WGA arbitration?
Craig Silverstein did on Nikita.
Just to clarify for the sake of the poster worried that “random doesn’t necessarily mean fair” and that there are “so many opportunities for conflict of interest” -
Actually, the arbitration process is anonymous, with writers assigned letters in place of their names on all material given to the arbiters. Yes, the arbiters could still figure out who the writers were, if they knew who worked on the project in what order.
BUT… the arbiters are also anonymous. The writers, producers and studio – no one, in fact – will ever know who the three arbiters were. So actually, no writer acting as an arbiter has ever worried “do you want to deny a future employer credit? Or what if you’ve got a project with the same producer/studio etc” because they have the protection of complete anonymity.
All participating writers are also sent an alphabetical list of hundreds and hundreds of WGA members (from which the possible arbiters will be chosen) and are allowed to remove names from it. That means all writers can avoid the possibility of encountering anyone that they fear might discriminate against them or favour another writer if chosen to be one of the arbiters. Also, trust me, oh anonymous poster – it may be a small town but most of the WGA members on the list of potential arbiters are not people you have met.
I’m not defending the system – arbitration is a bleak experience for all involved and I believe the process urgently needs replacing with something more fair. Just not for the reasons you stated.
Six writers getting credit for a story that appeared in the comics…It’s puzzled me since X2, which was a feature length adaptation of Chris Claremont’s seminal graphic novel “God loves, Man Kills”, when screenwriters got story and screenplay credit for something that appeared in 1982–and none of the credited writers were Claremont!
Seriously, how can the WGA, which supposedly looks out for writers, screw these comic book writers who came up with the characters, plots and stories? Especially since they were written for a pittance?
Len Wein and John Romita created Wolverine, a character who has sustained four huge grossing plus movies of varying quality. Those who like the character and only know him from movies and cartoons will never know that because they have never been given onscreen credit. Why hasn’t the WGA given them credit on any of these films, including the one that was all about Wolverine?
In 1973, writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita and Ross Andru came up with The Punisher in a “Spider-Man” comic. The reason no one in Hollywood knows this after 3 terrible adaptations is that these men were never given rightful credit for their creation in any of the movies.
These guys created these characters–The WGA should protect them. If you adapt somebody’s work from the comics, that storyline should be cited. Otherwise, the WGA is just aiding and abetting the thieves cheating the real creators of their product’s just reward.
Comics writers don’t have a real union, they assign their rights to the company when they make the comics. The WGA has shown that they’re not interested in writers who aren’t part of the guild, they only worry about getting credit for their members.
As an aside, take a look at how they treat video game writers and you’ll get the idea. People outside the guild don’t pay dues so they’re just not taken into account.
Folks,
As someone who had a had in previously hiring Ash and Zack on a feature (AGENT CODY BANKS), I can honestly say they are two of THE BEST screenwriters in the business. They’ve toiled long and hard to get where they are and their success is very richly deserved. They are, without a doubt, the very real deal.
Have worked with Miller and Stentz and Sheldon. Good guys all. But Jamie Moss got the short end on this one. He deserves to be mentioned here.
Well I know Ash and Zack (but no I’m not part of the process) and whatever else may be the case THEY certainly deserved credit on this one. No one more deserves this summer than this extraordinary team.
Good work, guys! It’s always great to see folks stand up for their work, and get justly rewarded.
I wouldn’t have seen the movie otherwise, but now I will. Looking forward!
Good for Sheldon Turner! I have a copy of his “Magneto” script which I haven’t read, but I will tonight. Good for him.