Latest in John August

EXCLUSIVE: Aladdin screenwriter John August has been set to write Toto, an animated musical for the Warner Animation Group. Pic is based on the book Toto: The Dog-Gone Amazing Story of the Wizard of Oz, written by Michael Morpurgo and illustrated by Emma Chichester. Jared Stern's A Stern Talking To is attached to…

As the WGA prepares for its upcoming negotiations for a new film and TV contract, a possible writers' strike is on a lot of people's minds. Given the guild's ongoing dispute with Hollywood's talent agencies, which is now in its eighth month, many industry observers feel that a strike is all but certain. On their latest…

The WGA remains committed to reaching a deal with the Big 4 talent agencies, separate and apart from the Association of Talent Agents, according to John August, a member of the guild’s negotiating committee and an outgoing member of the WGA West’s board of directors. "Negotiations with the Big 4 agencies remains a…

John August, a member of the WGA's agency negotiating committee, says it's going to be a “slog" before the guild reaches a new franchise agreement with the major agencies – a standoff, now in its 115th day, that's already a long slog. On his latest blog, he also takes on the naysayers who claim the WGA hasn't been…

WGA West vice president candidate Craig Mazin has said that the guild needs a strategy shift and new leadership to resolve its ongoing feud with the talent agencies, but on his latest Scriptnotes podcast, he said there's not much “daylight” between him and the guild's current leadership on the issue. "I wish I weren't…

Chernobyl writer-creator Craig Mazin says he's "disappointed" with the WGA's rejection of the Association of Talent Agents' offer to share the backend profits of packaged TV shows with writers, and that he doesn't see the guild's three-month-long standoff ending without a change in leadership. The guild's election of…

Big Fish scribe and WGA activist John August has just signed with Verve. August had been with UTA most of his career. He has just tweeted out that despite expressing the sentiment he would give his agent his kidney and still would, he still made the move. August’s most recent credit is the Disney event film Aladdin; …

Packaging of TV shows has gotten most of the ink in the WGA's ongoing battle with Hollywood's talent agencies. But in a new video, Michele Mulroney and John August, members of the guild's negotiating committee, contend that agency affiliation to production companies through vertically integrated parent corporations is…

Screenwriter John August, a member of the WGA's negotiating committee, says he's hopeful that the guild and the talent agencies will resume discussions in the next few weeks to break their impasse over a new franchise agreement. Formal negotiations broke off Friday, after which the guild ordered all of its members to…

Deadline has confirmed that Aladdin screenwriter John August is writing a prequel to Paramount’s 1978 musical Grease. The pic will take its jumping off point from the song “Summer Nights” and focus on the fling that John Travolta and Olivia Newton John’s high school characters Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsson had before…

A Pittsburgh “family-friendly” community theater has canceled a production of the musical Big Fish after a dispute with the director over the inclusion of a same-sex couple as background characters, drawing a strong rebuke from the musical’s authors. Family-friendly “shouldn’t mean ignoring reality,” said the 2013…

Guy Ritchie is in talks with Disney to direct Aladdin, the latest in the studio’s efforts to re-imagine classic properties for contemporary audiences. Big Fish scribe John August has written the script, and The Lego Movie‘s Dan Lin is producing. Those franchise launches have included Maleficent, Cinderella and most…