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A general film writing question
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DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar ContributorCubbyUps
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Who determines film writing credits?

I thought it was the WGA (Writer's Guild of America)

Another question.

If a film is the second remake of a film, is it required to give writing credits to the first remake.

For example, King Kong 2005. Does the 2005 version have to give any credit to the writers of the 1976 version. Or because it's a remake it only has to give credit to the original film.

Any links would be helpful.
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Quoting CubbyUps:
Quote:
Who determines film writing credits?

I thought it was the WGA (Writer's Guild of America)

For Hollywood films, it is, indeed, the WGA.  You can find their Screen Credits Manual here.
Quote:
If a film is the second remake of a film, is it required to give writing credits to the first remake.

For example, King Kong 2005. Does the 2005 version have to give any credit to the writers of the 1976 version. Or because it's a remake it only has to give credit to the original film.

It depends...here is the rule that governs writing credits for remakes:

"In the case of remakes, any writer who has received writing credit under the Guild’s jurisdiction in connection with a prior version of the motion picture is a participating writer on the remake. As such, those prior writers are entitled to participate in the credit determination process and are eligible to receive writing credit pursuant to the rules for determining writing credits. The final shooting script written by a prior writer(s) shall be considered literary material.

If under the “Rules for Determining Writing Credits” (Section III.B.) the Arbitration Committee determines that such prior writer(s) is not entitled to receive writing credit, the Arbitration Committee may, within its discretion, accord such prior writer(s) a credit in the nature of a source material credit, such as “Based on a Screenplay by....”

However, the rules do not preclude a prior writer(s) from receiving both writing credit and a credit in the nature of a source material credit at the discretion of the Arbitration Committee."

Clear as mud, no?
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 Last edited: by TheMadMartian
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With my few encounters with the Guild, I feel they are trying to be thoughtful and consider all possibilities, and they believe that they can arrive at reasonable solutions to complex questions without attempting to create rules which rarely fit all the possible future messy situations. In the example of the King Kong remakes, if the third version included the credits from both prior films, the Guild would see that the third remakes acknowledges both sources for the material. If the latest remake only credited the first film, the writers of the first remake might appeal that list of credits and all sides would make their arguments to the Guild... how everything for the second film was ignored or how things unique to the second film appear in the third. The Guild decisions do not always make sense, even to those whose incomes depend on fairness. But writers seem to think that the Guild's record is far better than those of film producers.
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This begs the question "When is a remake a remake?"

Take, for example, The Hound of Baskervilles. There are 20 versions listed on IMDb. Does that mean that the 2002 film is a remake of the preceding 19? Should the credits for writing on this version include the writers on the preceding 19? It sure doesn't...
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DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile RegistrantStar ContributorTheMadMartian
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Quoting GSyren:
Quote:
This begs the question "When is a remake a remake?"

When it is based on the previous film and not the book.
Quote:
Take, for example, The Hound of Baskervilles. There are 20 versions listed on IMDb. Does that mean that the 2002 film is a remake of the preceding 19? Should the credits for writing on this version include the writers on the preceding 19? It sure doesn't...

Not if it was based on the book.  Take the 2001 version of The Planet of the Apes.  It was based on the book, by Pierre Boulle, and not the 1968 version.  That is why he, not Rod Serling or Michael Wilson, got the OMB credit.
No dictator, no invader can hold an imprisoned population by force of arms forever.
There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom.
Against this power, governments and tyrants and armies cannot stand.
The Centauri learned this lesson once.
We will teach it to them again.
Though it take a thousand years, we will be free.
- Citizen G'Kar
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Quoting CubbyUps:
Quote:
Who determines film writing credits?

I thought it was the WGA (Writer's Guild of America)

Another question.

If a film is the second remake of a film, is it required to give writing credits to the first remake.

For example, King Kong 2005. Does the 2005 version have to give any credit to the writers of the 1976 version. Or because it's a remake it only has to give credit to the original film.

Any links would be helpful.


the 1976 version wasn't anything like the 2005 version ..  I always gave credit to Peter Jackson by honoring Merian Cooper for his 1933 film .. and being more faithful to the original script.
Not the  updated remake by film producer Dino De Laurentiis.

there are lots of links out there . .but here is a fun page I found ....
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 Last edited: by widescreenforever
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Quoting widescreenforever:
Quote:
Quoting CubbyUps:
Quote:
Who determines film writing credits?

I thought it was the WGA (Writer's Guild of America)

Another question.

If a film is the second remake of a film, is it required to give writing credits to the first remake.

For example, King Kong 2005. Does the 2005 version have to give any credit to the writers of the 1976 version. Or because it's a remake it only has to give credit to the original film.

Any links would be helpful.


the 1976 version wasn't anything like the 2005 version ..  I always gave credit to Peter Jackson by honoring Merian Cooper for his 1933 film .. and being more faithful to the original script.
Not the  updated remake by film producer Dino De Laurentiis.

there are lots of links out there . .but here is a fun page I found ....



On IMDB FAQ of the 1976 there is a list of things that someone claims that the 2005 version took from the 1976 version and people who really like the 1976 version uses it to slam the 2005 version on the message boards there.

Link
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar ContributorGSyren
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Quoting TheMadMartian:
Quote:
Quoting GSyren:
Quote:
This begs the question "When is a remake a remake?"

When it is based on the previous film and not the book.

Ok, so who decides if a new version is based on the original book, or contains elements from any previous film version? Seems like a jungle to me...

Looking at this list one has to wonder how many ideas it's ok to borrow without giving credit to a previous film's writers.
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The WGA has people who mediate such things if there's a dispute.
DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile RegistrantStar ContributorTheMadMartian
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Quoting GSyren:
Quote:
Ok, so who decides if a new version is based on the original book, or contains elements from any previous film version? Seems like a jungle to me...

Looking at this list one has to wonder how many ideas it's ok to borrow without giving credit to a previous film's writers.

Not sure about other countries, but for US films, the WGA has final authority on this.  I posted a link, in my first post of this thread, that details their 'rules'.
No dictator, no invader can hold an imprisoned population by force of arms forever.
There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom.
Against this power, governments and tyrants and armies cannot stand.
The Centauri learned this lesson once.
We will teach it to them again.
Though it take a thousand years, we will be free.
- Citizen G'Kar
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar ContributorCubbyUps
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So if the writers of the 1976 had any dispute they could/would have disputed that and went to the WGA and an arbitration hearing would have taken place and they (WGA) would have determined if their case had any merit and made the final decision about the writing credits for the 2005 version.

Right?

So it really doesn't matter if what some people claim that the 2005 version stole from the 1976 version, because the WGA decision is all that matters. So it's wrong (in a legal sense) to claim that they stole from the 1976 version, right?
DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile RegistrantStar ContributorTheMadMartian
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You are correct, as I read it, the WGA has final authority.
No dictator, no invader can hold an imprisoned population by force of arms forever.
There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom.
Against this power, governments and tyrants and armies cannot stand.
The Centauri learned this lesson once.
We will teach it to them again.
Though it take a thousand years, we will be free.
- Citizen G'Kar
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar ContributorGSyren
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So I guess what the general public calls a remake and what WGA calls a remake may well be very different things?
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