Tough Times for Women/Minority Writers

Is it just me or is WGA West president Patric Verrone one pretty cool cat. I've like this guy's style ever since I read Michael Cieply's New York Times profile of him and his take on the march up to the possible strike this summer. Yesterday, Verrone's office had some not-so-good news to report about employment and earnings for minority and female writers. "I wish we could say that we did not have to issue this damn depressing report," Verrone said (See what I mean? This guy is a straight shooter). Here are some key findings/numbers from the WGA commissioned "2007 Hollywood Writers Report--Whose Stories Are We Telling" written by Darnell Hunt, director of the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies and professor of sociology at UCLA, from Variety:

* "Business as usual" practices aren't adequate to address the lack of diversity among writers. With more than 30% of America nonwhite, minorities held only 9% of TV slots in 2005, down from 10% in 2004.

* 40% of all TV shows aired during the 2005-06 season didn't employ a minority writer. The report found an even bleaker outlook in features, with minorities accounting for 6% of film jobs during 2005 -- the same rate as previous years. The gap between average earnings for white and minority screenwriters had widened by nearly $2,000 in 2005 to $77,577 for whites compared with $66,666 for minorities.

* The report also found participation by women writers had remained virtually unchanged in both small-screen and features, staying at 27% in TV and creeping up to 19% from 18% in films.

* And in the one bright spot in the report, women managed to nearly match men in average TV earnings, at $94,123 -- just $267 short of the male figure. But the gender gap nearly doubled in film, with men earning an average of $90,000 while women's wages slid from $65,966 in 2004 to $50,000 in 2006.

* Top earners in both film and TV were writers between the ages of 41 and 50 -- $111,580 in TV and $90,000 in film. TV writers in that group accounted for 35% of employment in 2005, the same as in 2001 and 2003.