{"id":76765,"date":"2025-08-12T08:40:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T08:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/76765\/"},"modified":"2025-08-12T08:40:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T08:40:08","slug":"park-chan-wook-can-keep-writing-despite-expulsion-from-wga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/76765\/","title":{"rendered":"Park Chan-wook Can Keep Writing Despite Expulsion From WGA"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tPark Chan-wook<\/a> is among the deans of Korean cinema, famous for writing and directing \u201cOldboy,\u201d among other films, and producing \u201cSnowpiercer.\u201d He also has a new film premiering later this month at Venice, \u201cNo Other Choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSo when it was announced Friday that Park and his writing partner, Don McKellar<\/a>, had been expelled<\/a> from the Writers Guild of America, it naturally raised a question about what it would mean for his career.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe answer is: Almost nothing.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt has absolutely no impact on employability,\u201d said Adam Levin, a partner at Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp. \u201cNeither the union nor the producers can discriminate against you based on your non-union status.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tPark can still write, produce and direct movies and TV shows, either overseas or in the U.S. Companies that are signatories to the WGA<\/a> contract are free to hire him in whatever capacity they want, or to buy his finished films. He can also work for non-signatory companies, domestically or abroad, without a waiver from the WGA.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd if there\u2019s another writer\u2019s strike, he can keep on writing.<\/p>\n

\n\tPark and McKellar were disciplined for writing their HBO mini-series \u201cThe Sympathizer\u201d during the 2023 strike. The WGA considers such conduct \u201cscab writing,\u201d and punishes it in order to deter future strike-breaking and to maintain a credible strike threat.<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to a source familiar with the situation, \u201cThe Sympathizer\u201d had been written and shot and was in post-production when the writers\u2019 strike began in May 2023. Park and McKellar worked to complete the show, believing they were following the strike rules, which forbid members from performing \u201cwriting services\u201d for a struck company.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe question of what constitutes \u201cwriting services\u201d is the source of a multi-decade dispute<\/a>, with the WGA and the Directors Guild of America offering conflicting advice. Under the DGA interpretation, members are allowed to do things like cut existing material for time or make minor adjustments in dialogue. The WGA sees those actions as \u201cwriting\u201d and forbids them.<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to the source, Park is adamant that he did not write during the strike. A WGA trial committee recommended a censure, but the board increased the discipline to expulsion, the source said.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe WGA did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

\n\tPark only joined the WGA in order to work on \u201cThe Sympathizer,\u201d as his previous work was not governed by the contract. He opted not to appeal the board\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

\n\tExpulsion is the most severe form of punishment the guild can mete out. But the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 outlawed<\/a> the \u201cclosed shop,\u201d meaning that the union cannot limit job opportunities solely to its own members.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe WGA can require that non-members who work under its contract pay a fee to compensate for the cost of union representation. So if Park or McKellar wanted to write another prestige cable drama, they could do so, but would have to pay the \u201cfinancial core\u201d rate to the union. The rate is currently 4.21% less than standard WGA dues.<\/p>\n

\n\tSignatory employers would also have to abide by the minimum terms of the WGA contract, and would have to pay pension and health contributions on their behalf. Park and McKellar would also be eligible for benefits on the same terms as members are, and would also be entitled to union representation in disputes with the employer.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe effects of the expulsion are limited. Park cannot vote in WGA elections, serve in WGA offices, attend WGA events, or be eligible for WGA awards.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe most significant effect may be the public stigma. The WGA maintains a website<\/a> listing ex-members who have elected to take \u201cfi-core\u201d status or who have been kicked out. For an early-career writer, that could hinder job opportunities even if, legally, it shouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut Park will be in good company on the list, along with other big names who have voluntarily opted out of WGA membership. Those names include George Clooney, Sylvester Stallone and George Lucas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Park Chan-wook is among the deans of Korean cinema, famous for writing and directing \u201cOldboy,\u201d among other films,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76766,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[236,50459,88,43399,18220],"class_list":{"0":"post-76765","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-don-mckellar","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-park-chan-wook","12":"tag-wga"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}