# WGA (Writers Guild of America) > The labor union representing film, television, radio, and new-media writers in the United States — two affiliated bodies, the Writers Guild of America West and the Writers Guild of America East, split by geography. Also known as Writers Guild of America, the Guild, WGAW, WGAE ## In practice The WGA negotiates the Minimum Basic Agreement, the contract that sets minimum terms for writers working for signatory companies: pay floors, credit rules, residuals, pension and health contributions. A writer's day-to-day experience of the Guild is usually one of those specifics rather than the institution as a whole. West and East are separate organizations with a shared agreement, divided roughly at the Mississippi. A new member joins the guild covering the region where they expect to spend most of their time, and a member who moves can apply to transfer. The distinction mostly matters for dues, elections, and which office handles a given service — the contract terms are negotiated jointly. Membership is earned through work: writers accumulate units of credit from employment with, or sales to, signatory companies, then apply and pay an initiation fee once they qualify. This is why so much Guild-adjacent vocabulary is about the boundary — a spec script is written outside it, a signatory company works inside it, and credit arbitration decides what a writer is finally named for. Guild membership is not a prerequisite for writing or selling a screenplay, and no software confers or verifies it. What tooling can do is keep drafts organized in ways that make the Guild's own processes easier when they arrive — knowing which version was submitted, and when. ## Official sources & context Sources reviewed Aug 24, 2026 General description of the Guild and its role. Not legal, membership, or employment advice, and not a statement of current MBA terms — membership requirements, dues, and contract provisions change and are governed by the WGAW/WGAE themselves. - [WGA — Screenwriters handbook](https://www.wga.org/members/employment-resources/screenwriters-handbook) ## Common questions ### What does WGA stand for? Writers Guild of America — the union representing screen and television writers in the United States, organized as two affiliated bodies, WGA West and WGA East. ### What is the difference between WGA West and WGA East? Geography, mainly. They are separate organizations divided roughly at the Mississippi that negotiate the Minimum Basic Agreement jointly. A new member joins the guild for the region where they expect to spend most of their time; a member who moves can apply to transfer. ### Do I need to be in the WGA to sell a screenplay? No. Writers qualify for membership through employment with, or sales to, signatory companies, and many sell material before joining. Membership follows the work. ### Is WGA registration the same as joining the WGA? No. The WGAW Registry is a paid dated-record service open to non-members; it creates a record of a submitted draft and has nothing to do with membership. ## Related terms - [WGA registration](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/wga-registration): A paid WGAW Registry service that creates a dated record of submitted literary material. It can document when a draft existed, but it is not federal copyright registration and does not prevent copying. - [WGA signatory](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/wga-signatory): A company that has agreed to be bound by the WGA collective-bargaining agreement for covered writing employment, including applicable minimums, credits, residuals, and pension and health contributions. - [WGA-compliant screenplay formatting](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/wga-formatting): Professional screenplay layout that conforms to WGA and industry submission conventions — familiar margins, element spacing, pagination, and production behavior that let readers focus on the story. - [2026 WGA MBA](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/2026-wga-mba): The current Minimum Basic Agreement between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, effective May 2, 2026, with minimums and working protections for covered writing. - [Read the pillar guide](https://www.inkwell.software/learn/wga-aware-screenwriting-workflows): A longer guide for this workflow --- Canonical page: