Older Writers in Hollywood

I am a screenwriter. I am over 50. This makes me one of the “older writers” referenced in your Oct. 26 article covering the Bielby study commissioned by the Writers Guild of America to confirm what the WGA already knew. Before my union initiated the process that froze me out of the loop (the WGA has its own rule that removes writers from “active” membership if they fail to find employment in a timely manner), I attended meetings, read the mailings and analyzed the material wherein the guild decried age discrimination in the writing arena of the biz. The arguments were compelling.

However, I also have learned a thing or two since my last piece was sold. I write linear, narrative stories. I create reasonably vital characters with discernible motivation. I eschew my own moral fidelities in favor of fidelity to the story line. I consider budget and believability when I create my microcosms and macrocosms. In other words, judging from what is getting sold and made recently, I, as I suspect many of my fellow overage scripters to be, am way out of touch with contemporary filmmaking. Perhaps the film financiers, studio execs and television producers are dead on when they confine their talent searches to a more youthful crowd. And if we are unwilling or unable to get in touch with the zeitgeist of a younger audience, we have no more utility than a wrench applied to a computer chip.

JON GEORGE

Los Angeles

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Am I disappointed; I had thought that my boredom with the movies and TV was due to my maturity and sophistication. Now you tell me that it’s just bad writing.

ROBERT WAGNER

Sherman Oaks