Where Credit Is Due
In the Sept. 25 article “War of Words” about the screenplay for “Beloved,” Times writer Amy Wallace states: “According to . . . the Writers Guild, first position [in a screenwriting credit] is awarded for one of two reasons: Either the writer wrote chronologically first or the writer contributed more substantively to the final script.”
Wallace’s interpretation of the guild’s credit rules omits the fact that regardless of whether a writer wrote first, he or she must still qualify for credit by contributing at least 33% of the script.
Your piece could leave the impression that writer Akosua Busia may have received credit only because she was the first writer on the project.
CHERYL D. RHODEN, Public Affairs Director, Writers Guild of America, West Los Angeles
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