The Writers Guild Foundation was established in 1966 by a group of Writers Guild members. The initial impetus was the need to raise money to help writers from third world countries to attend an international meeting of writers held in Los Angeles that year. The purpose in setting up a foundation was to create a non-profit charitable corporation which could accept tax-deductible donations and undertake certain supplementary activities of value to the Guild and to film and television writers in general. The Foundation is registered in California as a 501(c)3 charitable and educational corporation.
The
Foundation's first President was James R. Webb. Other founding trustees included
Mel Shavelson (who succeeded Webb and served as President for 22 years - photo
left), Edward Anhalt, Fay Kanin (photo left), Christopher Knopf, Ernest Lehman,
Isobel Lennart (photo right), and Allen Rivkin. Members of the Foundation's
early Boards also included Carl Foreman, James Lee Mahin, Nate Monaster, James
Poe, Sy Salkowitz, Rod Serling , Leonard Spigelglass, Daniel Taradash and
Billy Wilder (photo right).
Early Foundation programs included the Watts Writing Workshops in the late 60's, tribute events (Robert Bolt, Julius Epstein, Phillip Dunne) and the film Words, a compilation of great moments in the movies which emphasize the writer's role in the process.
Beginning
in 1993, when it hired its first paid staff members, the Foundation worked
to revise its charter and update its by-laws. It developed a mission statement
and strategic plan, created new programs, and made major efforts to develop
a Board that is both representative of today's writing community and which
has the prestige, influence and fundraising capacity to best fulfill the Foundation's
goals. New program initiatives included the Visiting Writers Program, the
high school workshop program, an oral history program, workshops, seminars,
and speaker series, and the highly successful Words into Pictures conference,
held in 1997, 1999 and 2002.
The
Foundation established its first library, the James R. Webb Memorial Library,
on WGA premises in 1984. This first library was staffed on a part-time basis
by the WGA and was open three days per week. In early 1996, when the WGA moved
into its present headquarters, the Foundation conducted a successful small
capital funding campaign to furnish and equip a new library on the building's
ground floor, which included the first administrative office for the Foundation
on Guild premises. In 2003 the Guild granted the Foundation permission to
plan a new and considerably expanded library and executive offices provided
that all construction and furnishings costs would be the Foundation's responsibility.
Following a successful $2 million campaign, the Writers Guild Foundation Shavelson-Webb
Library officially opened on June 18, 2005.
For a list of library donors, click here.