Page 44 - RICHERT VS. SORKIN THEFT OF THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT AND THE WEST WING

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Writer-directoroBil Richert is going public in frJifrpi@To overturn aoWriters Guild riiling denying him screenwriting credlt on Castle Rock Entertainnent's 'iThe Ameri can President. "
He's also demanding that Aaron Sorkin, the credited writer, admit knowledge of Richert's screenplay '"The President Elopes," and he wants comp€nsation for his work and an investigation into the Writ- ers Guild arbitration board to be financedby Castle Rock aad Wild- wood Robert Redford's produc- tion company, which developed Richert'sscript.
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secondhand information relating to ':The President Elopes," which he considers the basis of
the Castle Rock production. "There are a lot of villains in this piece,' ' fuchert said. ' 'But at the very least you have to point a fingerat the Guild arbitration pro- cess. It kies to reduce credit to the
fewest number of people, regard- less of who contributed to a fin- ished film. They simply want to keep things neat and manageable
it's not about being rewarded foryour labor."
It is rare in credit arbitration for the first writer of a project not to receive at leasta film story credit.
In the case of "American Pres- ident' ' a pre-artitration committee concluded that while there was a link between the two projects, they should be approached as separately developed original works. Thus it suspended the ineducible shared story credit minimum, which auto- matically would have given Rich- ertrecognition.
"'The American President" is a romantic comedy starring Michael Douglas as a widowed Oval Of- fice occupant whose romantic in- volvement with a Washington lobbyist, played by Annette Ben- ing becomes an issue as he cam-
paigns for re-election. It's sched- uled for domestic release Nov. I7 via Sony and will be disnibutedby UIP intemationally.
"The President Elopes" also centers on a single U.S. leader and covers similar ground but with a more screwball-comic slant. Rich- ert wroie the first draft with Kyle Morris in a development deal at WaltDisney Studios in I 98 l.
For l0 years it was a pet project ofRedford and came close to being made in 1991 at Universal, with Redford producing and staning and Fred Schepisi directing- Dur- ing pre-production, Redford pulled the plug and shifted his focus to "A RiverRunsThroughIt."
In a newspaper interview dur- ing filming of 'eThe American President," producer-director Rob Reiner said Redford told him about "Elopes" during a Iunchin 1989. Reineralso saidinthe inter- view that he was sent the script but never read it.
Richert, in tesponse, questions why Reiner lrired screenwriters LoweU Ganz andBabaloo Mandel to rewrite a script he neverread.
Turntopagel0
At this stage, Aaron Sorkin and Rob Reiner are still denying any knowledge of my screenplay.
Although the Writers Guild as- signed solerscreenwriting credit to Sorkin last month, Richert claims the determination was based on false information pre- sented to the arbitration panel- Richert
featured in the film's credit block and Barbara Maltby, its former head of development, is listed as associate producer. Daily Vaiety coyerage of the frlm in I 993 posi- tioned Reiner as a hired handbut, when Redford departed over ar- tistic differences six weeks prior to photography, Castle Rock took over stewardship.
Redford could not be reached forcomment.
Even in instances where the writer of the shooting script did not consult past versions, the WGA has maintained that scenes verlally related
who wrote and di- rected "Winter Kills" and "A Night in the Life of Jimmy Rear-
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says Sorkin had direct or
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Rhhert prots'American' script credit
/ontinuedVompage3 1 theme.
Before Sorkin was hired in I Sorkin issued this statement
1993, some of Hollywood's top I Wednesday: "I've never read a
credited or bolster a fust writ- er's authorship claims. A Guild rep, who requested anonymity, said the issue of access to earlier material is easier to determine than whether it was related or uti-
scribes
including Ron Bass, I single word this man (Richert)
Kevin Wade, Alice Arlen and bas ever wriften until I read
g I this
took a stab at I letterclaiming credit. 'TheAmer-
ican President' is an original Sorkin's lawyer, fuchard Hellea I screenplay."
argued before the pre-arbitration I Castle Rock chairman AIan committee that his client had been I Horn said Richert's claims were hired to write an original screen- | "utterlyfoundationless." play.Hesaidhewasnotassignedto I What rernains unclear is the do rewrites and thatRichert's;scnpt I exact connection between the two was acquired by Castle Rock f<ir I projects via Redfcird. His Wild- legal reasons because of its similar I wood Enterprises is prominenlly
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Ganz Mandel reshapingRichert'smaterial.
Iized in a shooting script.
Maltby, in an arlicle in the up-
coming December iszue of Amer- ican Scholar magazine, writes: "For one familiar with the many different versions of'The Pres- ident Elopes,' the draft of Sor- kin.'s screenplay I saw is still clearly derived frorn Bill's, de-
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otherwise
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Sorkin was doing rewrites for other scripts during the period -- he was under contract to Castle Rock for the purpose of doing rewrites, and was doing one for Spielberg also at this time.
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