Third talent agency sues Writers Guild of America in antitrust case

For a third time within a week, the Writers Guild of America has found itself named as a defendant in a talent agency's antitrust action.

A recent code of conduct change instituted by the WGA restrains competition "on a staggering scale using illegal means," the Creative Artists Agency LLC claims in a lawsuit filed Monday in the Central District of California, in a commercial market the union "has no authority to regulate."

The WGA moved in April to institute new language in its code of conduct, prohibiting writers from working with talent agents who practice "packaging" arrangements. As the CAA explains in its complaint, packaging occurs when an agency presents to a studio one or more of the key creative elements for a television production -- such as directors, actors, or the underlying intellectual property of a proposed production - pitched together to a studio as a group deal.

The practice has been standard for more than four decades in Hollywood, writes CAA counsel Richard B. Kendall of Kendall Brill & Kelly LLP. The talent agents are paid by the production entity purchasing the package, and agents waive their standard 10% cut of a writer's compensation, according to the complaint.

Kendall argues packaging promotes opportunities for unknown writers and unappreciated scripts that might not otherwise get a chance. Creative Artists Agency LLC v. Writers Guild of America West Inc., 19-CV05701 (C.D. Cal, filed July 1 2019)

"A television studio might perceive an unknown writer's brilliant story idea as too risky if she does not have a proven record of successful projects -- but combine that writer with a well-established producer, well-known director, stellar cast, and pipeline of talent, and the idea becomes much more attractive," Kendall wrote in the complaint.

The lawsuit echoes antitrust actions filed last week by fellow talent groups WME Entertainment LLC and United Talent Agency.

-- Steven Crighton