Longitudinal Study of Screenwriters (1992)

Investigators: William Bielby and Denise Bielby

Population: Screenwriters

Identification method: Writers for television and feature films, from employment and membership records of the Writers Guild of America, West, for years 1987, 1990, and 1992.

Sampling method: No sample: Data on all members used.

N and Response rate: 8,819 persons; all data included in analyses.

Publications: Bielby, William T. and Denise D. Bielby. The 1998 Hollywood Writers’ Report: Telling ALL Our Stories. Los Angeles: Writers Guild of America, West. (similar reports published in 1993 and 1989).

Bielby, William T. and Denise D. Bielby. 1999. "Organizational Mediation of Project-Based Labor Markets: Talent Agencies and the Careers of Screenwriters." American Sociological Review, 64(1): 64-85.

Bielby, W.T. and D.D. Bielby. 1996. "Women and Men in Film: Gender Inequality among Writers in a Culture Industry." Gender and Society, 10(3): 248-270.

Summary: Bielby and Bielby (1999) used the data to examine trends in the extent to which type of agency representation affects writers' employment and earnings. In their 1996 article, they examines gender inequality in the labor market for writers of feature films.