William Richert talks about his experiences with Robert Redford, Aaron Sorkin, Rob Reiner, Alan Horn and Sally Burmester of the WGA, and why the WGA may not be good for writers.
By William Richert
IN 1995, executives at the Writer’s Guild of America conspired with executives at Castle Rock Entertainment and the “writer” Aaron Sorkin to defraud [...]
‘The American President’ and ‘The West Wing’ are household words to the millions of their devoted fans, and these fans deserve the whole story of how another, different president by different writers was the basis for the character and screenplays Aaron Sorkin plagiarized. On this site, and others, we are presenting evidence that Sorkin [...]
Grand Theft President
The Internet Trial of Aaron Sorkin
By William Richert
On January 13, 1995, I received a rejection letter from Julia Bingham, Vice President of Legal affairs for Castle Rock Pictures.
The letter was re: ‘THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT AKA THE PRESIDENT ELOPES’. In it, Ms. Bingham wrote that “the two leading members of the cast of [...]
Richert’s Letter to Judge Carl J. West, April 10, 2008
Notice from Neville Johnson that Joel Grossman was appointed WGA mediator on the foreign levies question, dated February 26, 2008l
PUBLIC NOTICE TO ALL WRITERS IN SUBCLASS 3, CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT RICHERT V. WGA West, Inc., FOR MONEY ILLEGALLY TAKEN FROM WRITERS AND HEIRS TOTALING MILLIONS OF [...]
STATEMENT OF WILLIAM RICHERT TO THE WGA SPECIAL BOARD OF ARBITRATION SEPTEMBER 9 REGARDING AUTHORSHIP OF "THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT"
I’m gonna try to be brief, but I’ve been nursing this baby since 1969, and even though it’s dressed different and has been to the opera, it’s still my kid and I’ll have my say about it. [...]
AARON SORKIN
124 WEST 60TH SREET #52B
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
10023
August 30, 1995
Ms. Sally Burmester
Screen Credits Administrator
Writer’s Guild of America
8955 Beverly Boulevard
West Hollywood, California
90048-2456
Re: “THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT”
Dear Ms. Burmester,
I understand that, prior to the formal credit arbitration with respect to “THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT”, the Writer’s Guild of America will hold a pre- arbitration hearing to determine whether [...]
THE FOLLOWING IS AN EXCERPT FROM A WGAw OFFICIAL LETTER OFFERED IN EVIDENCE, AND THE AUTHOR IS SALLY BURMESTER, WGA CREDITS ADMINISTRATOR. IT CONCERNS THE AD HOC HEARING SET UP BY MS. BURMESTER PRIOR TO THE ARBITRATION OF “THE PRESIDENT ELOPES” AKA “AN AMERICAN PRESIDENT”
Quote from the September 29, 1995 letter RE: “THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT”:
IRREDUCIBLE [...]
PLAINTIFF REQUESTS PUBLIC MEDIATION AND FULL DISCLOSURE OF SELECTION PROCESS FOR RICHERT WRITERS SUBCLASS 3
PLAINTIFF DEMANDS REVIEW OF SELECTION OF JOEL GROSSMAN
AS MEDIATOR BY J&J AND WGA, TONY SEGAL ET. AL.
PLAINTIFF REQUEST THAT ALL CLASS MEMBERS BE NOTIFIED OF ANY MEDIATION BY US MAIL. NO SECRET SETTLEMENT.
PLAINTIFF REQUESTS PUBLIC REVIEW OF COURT EVIDENCE
CC JOEL GROSSMAN
March [...]
Written on September 11, 2008 | Posted in
WGA |
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Directly below is the agreement the studios and unions signed in 1990 without approval of the WGA board of directors as required by law.
This agreement is the basis of foreign levy payments from europe and elsewhere totaling in the millions of dollars over 18 years.
The division percentage was studios get 85%, with the WGA - [...]
Written on September 11, 2008 | Posted in
WGA |
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AARON SORKIN
AUGUST 30, 1995
RE: THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT
Dear Ms. Burmester:
I understand that, prior to the formal credit arbitration with respect to ‘THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT” , the Writers Guild of America will hold a pre-arbitration hearing to determine whether Paragraph A6 of the WGA’s Policy on Credits relating to “irreducible story minimum” should apply to “THE AMERICAN [...]