Deep Stealth’s Calpernia Addams and Andrea James were invited guests at the “Groundbreakers” event sponsored by Writers Guild of America, west (WGAw). In celebration of its upcoming five-year anniversary, the WGA Gay & Lesbian Writers Committee hosted the event on March 1st. The panel featured an honor roll of TV and feature writers whose work broke new ground portraying gay and lesbian characters and stories. Speakers included William Link (That Certain Summer), Alison Cross (Serving In Silence), Barry Sandler (Making Love), Stephanie Liss (Second Serve), Winnie Holzman (My So-Called Life), Ron Nyswaner (Philadelphia and Soldier’s Girl), Duncan Tucker (Transamerica), Dava Savel (Ellen), and Donna Deitch (Desert Hearts). Moderator was Outfest’s Executive Director Stephen Gutwillig.
Deep Stealth’s Andrea James said, “The background stories behind some of the most important media events in LGBT history serve as important lessons and inspiring examples of what can be done. To have such a remarkable panel in one place, speaking to a standing-room only crowd, gave us renewed energy in our own fight to create trans-themed scripted entertainment.”
Founded in 1933, the Writers Guild of America , west represents over 7,000 writers of television and film and employees of television and radio news. For more on the guild, see:
http://www.wga.org