# Oscar movies/award question. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 9, 2009, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-movies-award-question/502499 "2009-07-09T21:49:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-movies-award-question/502499/21 "2009-07-10T18:54:33Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > I believe that was the “Guild” in **Team America** (“Fuck Yeah!”) that Matt Damon, George Clooney and the rest belonged to. > > Right, plus benefits such as health insurance. And you can get into screenings, get screeners, and vote on your Guild’s awards. Call me shallow, but that’s why \*I’d \*want to belong to a Guild. Indeed, I know someone who worked for the SAG health insurance plan for many years, paying the medical claims of the movie stars. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-movies-award-question/502499/22 "2009-07-10T19:23:21Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > I believe that was the “Guild” in **Team America** (“Fuck Yeah!”) that Matt Damon, George Clooney and the rest belonged to. > > Right, plus benefits such as health insurance. And you can get into screenings, get screeners, and vote on your Guild’s awards. Call me shallow, but that’s why \*I’d \*want to belong to a Guild. Two things here… Yes I knew that was the Team America guild (which is why I put the 😛 there) Also…man I never knew the guild did _those_ things. So what are the restrictions for this? What’s preventing someone from writing really crappy scripts, not selling them to anyone, but writing enough to be considered a “writer” and using the guild for benefits? Do you have to be published? Bought? (I’m sure I could google these things…but I’m a sucker for human interaction. Plus, this is all so damn interesting…I never knew these things.) ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-movies-award-question/502499/23 "2009-07-10T20:11:56Z")
I figured you knew it was the Guild from Team America, but I said that in case other people didn’t. I suppose slackers can belong to Guilds, I have no idea what it takes to join then stay in a Guild. I could look it up too but I have to go to work. One thing I know, there are dues to pay to stay in a Guild. The dues might be worth the benefits received. Speaking of Oscars, there are dues you have to pay to stay a member of AMPAS, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which you can only join via invitation. It’s funny, people would kill to get an invitation to pay AMPAS’s dues. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-movies-award-question/502499/24 "2009-07-10T21:37:34Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > Also…man I never knew the guild did _those_ things. So what are the restrictions for this? What’s preventing someone from writing really crappy scripts, not selling them to anyone, but writing enough to be considered a “writer” and using the guild for benefits? Do you have to be published? Bought? Yes, you have to sell a script to someone legitimate in order to join. More than a script. You have to amass [24 units of material](http://www.wga.org/content/default.aspx?id=84). Click on that link to see what units mean. 24 units is a full-length movie script, with smaller number of units for other forms of writing. The initiation fee is $2500. Ongoing dues ain’t cheap either. The Writers Guild of America is not a casual club. It’s a serious organization. They closed down Hollywood last year. You don’t do that with a few guys that sitting in their underwear screwing around at a keyboard. You really should click all over that site. You’ll be amazed. ---
**Author:** ![Satchmo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/satchmo/32/4223_2.png) [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-movies-award-question/502499/25 "2009-07-10T22:16:57Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > Interesting. > So then just to play devil’s advocate on the whole matter…Producers are generally an “anybody” type of position right? Actors have to be in SAG, writers in WGA, directors in DGA, but there isn’t anything for producers (to my knowledge). So if the company is nice enough (or whatever) if I could lobby them to make me a producer, without having any REAL responsibilities, I could get a statue? Day late and a dollar short, but this made me remember: "Joseph Turner White: What’s an associate producer credit? Bill Smith: It’s what you give to your secretary instead of a raise. " From **State and Main** 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscar-movies-award-question/502499.md?page=1)