Events

The 78th yearly Writers Guild of America Awards served to display the importance and importance of writers in film and television production.

The event was highly cheerful and held in celebration where screenwriter, showrunner and showman personalities combined to promote writing that is of excellence and outstanding in film. The Los Angeles portion of the WGA Awards was canceled due to an ongoing strike. The New York show, went on as it was not affected by the strike at all.

On the red carpet, debates centered heavily on the intrinsic worth of the written word, the evolution of media and the need to be tough in a fiercely competitive field. Perhaps the most powerful story on the red carpet was one of the recognition of writing across many different artistic forms.

JunglePussy, a rapper and actress, launched into a deep conversation about her career, stating, “We treat musical lyrics, as well cinematic video treatments, like a screenplay,” and that’s fine. She added that no genre is the only way writers are defined.

Emphasizing her personal commitment to the craft, JunglePussy said: “I’m a writer. I’ve written all my music. I write poetry. I have actually written my video treatments,” she continued, adding, “I did it because I love it. I can’t help it.”

In addition, she cited the battle rap world as a high-stakes battleground for writers, saying, “Your pen is your sword. It’s your weapon.” She also said that this sector, where writing is at the very center of the performance, should be better recognized by traditional institutions like the WGA.

Asking about the creative team behind the nominated film Swiped gave viewers a small taste of some difficult work that goes into the writing of a screenplay inspired by a true story in the technology industry.

Rachel Lee Goldenberg and Bill Wheeler talked about this emotionally challenging process of moving a film from idea to screen, and how hard it takes to write a film that has a gripping take on the topic. Goldenberg pointed out the special obstacles and victories of production, saying, “How do you actually convert those barriers into creative opportunity, I think is always the end goal.”

This was a reflection of the collaborative and problem-solving nature of script writing.

Roy Wood Jr., who hosted the WGA Awards gave an unbiased look at how the industry was faring and said writers have always been the foundation of entertainment. He referred to writers as the “red blood cells” of the entertainment industry, saying that all begins with a blank sheet of paper.

Wood Jr. similarly ran down on how the internet has expanded access to the industry so that new creators do not feel beholden to old gatekeepers. “If you have an idea and you have a camera, you can reach the people, and I think one thing that we took from the internet is that the internet may not care much about the camera quality,”  he said. “A career that will get you [in this room] is really dependent on your ability to absorb rejection and let it roll off at you and ask yourself ‘can you do it again tomorrow?’”