Opinion ID: 755232
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Final Shooting Script

Text: 28 Wellman contends that he never received a final shooting script for Fair Game and that this omission was a bad-faith departure from the procedures specified in the Screen Credits Manual. Both Schedule A and the Credit Determination Procedure required Warner to send a copy of the final shooting script (or if such script is not available, the latest revised script available) ... to each of the participating writers. It is undisputed that Warner had not completed-and therefore, could not have provided to the parties-its final shooting script by the time the arbitration began. Therefore, we must determine whether the Guild's decision to commence the arbitration without a final script constituted a breach of its duty of fair representation. See Hines v. Anchor Motor Freight, Inc., 424 U.S. 554, 570-71, 96 S.Ct. 1048, 47 L.Ed.2d 231 (1976). Once again, we begin our inquiry by determining whether the Guild's decision to proceed with the expedited arbitration was an exercise in judgment or a ministerial act. 29 We conclude that the Guild made a judgment call. The terms of Schedule A do not tell the Guild what to do when-as in this case-neither a final nor a revised shooting script exists at the time of the arbitration. Warner was shooting from a continuity script that reflected up-to-the-minute cutting and revisions. The Credit Determination Procedure states that the Guild has the right to ask for a cutting continuity [script] which will be provided by the Company if it is available at the time of the arbitration. The Guild so requested, and Warner complied. To account for the fact that the continuity script was changing daily, the Guild allowed Warner to submit to the arbiters piecemeal any additional changes made to the continuity script. Because Guild rules or policies provided no clear guidance in this situation, we conclude that the Guild exercised its judgment. 7 30 We are not persuaded that the Guild exercised its judgment discriminatorily or in bad faith. Even though no rule or policy obliged the Guild to do so, it gave Wellman and the other screenwriters the pieces of the continuity script as the arbiters received them and allowed the writers to revise their statements in light of the changes that Warner had made. To prevent any screenwriter from turning this gesture to unfair advantage, the Guild made these pages available to all of the writers simultaneously. The Guild's willingness to bend its rules in the screenwriters' favor is inconsistent with Wellman's allegation that it acted in bad faith. That the Guild bent its rules even-handedly contradicts Wellman's claim that it acted discriminatorily. For these reasons, the Guild's failure to provide Wellman with a final shooting script did not violate the Guild's duty of fair representation.