When Greg Iwinski joined the Writers Guild of America East, his work as a late-night writer was covered under what is known as Appendix A in the Guild’s Minimum Basic Agreement with the Association of Motion Pictures and Television Producers. “It’s called Appendix A because our contract is literally stapled to the back of the MBA,” he tells me over Zoom when I ask him to explain it to me. “It’s an appendix of all the weird shows that don’t fit in this thing.”
This means, “Comedy/variety, late-night, daytime soap operas, news and documentary all fall under there,” according to Adam Conover who is, like Iwinski, a member of the WGA’s Negotiating Committee with the AMPTP. “And then there’s this category ‘non-dramatic program’ which represents basically everything else. We like to call it the black hole.”
Conover might describe it as a black hole, but to me, it sounds like Appendix A is the WGA’s equivalent of the Island of Misfit Toys.
It’s a part of the WGA’s MBA that has always mystified me. Probably because I’m a feature/TV writer, one of the thousands of such writers who make up the majority of the WGA West and East’s membership. When I asked other film/TV writers in the Guild what they could tell me about Appendix A, or even the specific issues members who work in comedy/variety and late-night face, I received inadequate answers. I was not alone,