Tags: DG Statement

As an organization formed to end the economic exploitation of theatrical writers, the Dramatists Guild has a heightened awareness of how all employees and independent contractors should be treated in any work environment. Those who work in the theatre industry, where people of disparate power must work closely, intensely, and intimately for prolonged periods to put on a show, are particularly vulnerable to predatory behavior.  So, as the conversation in our industry continues around unseemly...

The murders this past week in Atlanta of eight people, six of them Asian American women, at the hands of a white supremacist is the latest horrific example of the cancer of anti-Asian racism in America. We know, as writers, that narrative is a powerful tool that can be used for good or ill. It can illuminate lasting truths that ennoble us all, and it can also denigrate, diminish,...

Last week, unions Actors Equity and SAG-AFTRA came to an agreement regarding whether live-streamed performances should be considered theatre or television. Typically, live-streamed work falls under SAG-AFTRA's jurisdiction. However, for the duration of the pandemic (currently defined as taking place through December 2021), Actors Equity will be responsible for covering digital work that is presented as a supplement...

The Dramatists Guild of America strongly urges its members to read and sign The Author's Guild's letter to Audible, demanding that the online audiobook and podcast platform end its "easy exchange policy," which deducts earned royalty incomes from author's accounts. This problematic practice deprives writers of income that they are rightfully due under their Audible contract.  As stated on The Author's Guild's website, "Audible is...

Dear Guild members, We are writing to let you know that the Political Engagement Initiative will be undertaking a major effort to increase access to healthcare for dramatists. We wanted to explain why we’ve made this work a priority, to lay out some of the efforts we are planning to make, and to share information with any members who might be in need. As dramatists, most of us are members of the “gig economy,” earning our living in a piecemeal...

In May 1963, Robert F. Kennedy met with a small group of Black artists and activists, including Dramatists Guild members James Baldwin and Lorraine Hansberry. When Kennedy seemed unable to comprehend the pain of Jerome Smith, who had been beaten and jailed by the police, Hansberry reportedly said, "if you are insensitive to this, then there is no alternative except our going into the streets...and chaos." It has been 57 years since Lorraine Hansberry walked out of...

The Guild continues to protect copyright, so artists can be masters of the material they create. Often, the Guild is working on  your behalf behind closed doors, in ways you might not be aware. Defending your copyright is one of our core principles, and it has never been more important than in the current climate, when in both corporate and academic interests are deriding the essential nature of copyright. Eliminating it as a...

It has come to the attention of the Dramatists Guild that producing theatres around the country are asking (in some cases, demanding, and even coercing) writers to return options and advances for upcoming productions of their work that have been cancelled as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. It needs to be made clear that options and advances paid to dramatists are not returnable. They are payments to a copyright owner that give the producer an exclusive...