Page 32 - RICHERT VS. SORKIN THEFT OF THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT AND THE WEST WING

"The American President" September 29, 1995 Page 3
concluded that the fairest way of determining the credits in this case would be to have the Arbitration Committee base their decision solely on the written material without applying the irreducible shared story credit.
SEOUENCING OF CERTAIN LITERARY MATER]ALS
As a general rule, the Guild's arbitration procedures as set forth in the Screen Credits Manual require that materials be submitted to the Arbitration Committee in chronological order as to the date the materials are written.
Richard Heller explained it is Aaron Sorkin's position that the materials in this arbitration should not be submitted to the arbiters in chronological order and that instead, Aaron Sorkin's final shooting script should be sequenced prior to the screenplay by William Richert & Kyle Morris. Richard Heller claimed that it would be prejudicial against Aaron Sorkin if the materials were submitted in chronological order. lt is Aaron Sorkin's opinion that if the arbiters read the materials in chronological order, the arbiters would make the presumption that his script was based on several previous scripts, which was not the case as he was employed to write an original screenplay.
William Richert & Kyle Morris contended that since their screenplay was written prior to Aaron Sorkin's material, the materials should be submitted to the arbiters in chronological order.
The Special Committee did not find sufficient evidence to support Aaron Sorkin's claim on this issue and determined that the materials should be submitted to the Arbitration Committee in strict chronological order pursuant to the Screen Credits Manual.
NECESSARY PERCENTAGES FOR SCREENPLAY CREDIT
Richarcj iieiier requested thar tire SpeciaiCo,,tmiitee not apiii'y'ihe 50?t, ruie fgr Aaron Sorkin to receive screenplay credit in this arbitration. lt is Aaron Sorkin,s position that he is the first writer since he was employed to write an original screenplay and theref ore it would be a misapplication of the rules to requirahim to contribute 50% of the final script to receive screenplay credit. William Richert & Kyle Morris stated that the 50% rule should apply to Aaron Sorkin in this arbitration because Aaron Sorkin is ctearly a subsequent writer.
Based on the testimony presented, the Special Committee found no reason to deviate from the percentages as set forth in the Screen Credits Manual in this case. The Special Committee determined that in accordance with the Screen
No contract has ever been shown about any employment to "write an original screenplay."
The Arbitration Committee couldn't possibly have been given the scripts in "chronological orfder" unless ALL the scripts had been given the "Committee" -- notice that she doesn't say "arbitrators," a key distinction -- .
The committee is not the kind to make these decisions.
It is preposterous for Ms. Burmester to say the committee found no reason to deviate from the Screen Credits Manual when one of the foremost and significantly similar scripts was never presented.
The evidence was withheld.
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