As demonstrated by the insightful and highly compelling reports at Nikki Finke’s web presence, Deadline Hollywood Daily, the issues surrounding the Writers Guild strike are exceedingly complex and affect the future of all writers, union or non, as delivery methods of the written word expand and adapt to new electronic platforms.

But do not think for one nanosecond that the Writers Guild West and East, which began as a rival of the old Screenwriters Guild in 1921, only exists to protect card-carrying rank and file members. For instance, in 2004 I had a dispute with my then-agent that threatened to escalate into a small claims court affair. A colleague suggested that I take the matter to the WGA.

“I’m not a guild member,” I protested. “All of the script work I’ve done has been for non-signatories.”

That’s when he informed me that the guild has a mentor program, accessible via e-mail, where established writers volunteer to mentor and otherwise lend valuable advice to new and emerging writers. I was hooked up with a writer whose work I knew and respected and over the course of two simple e-mails I had the answer I needed to hear — which was, essentially, “This town is full of lying and cheating agents; find another one and move on.”

That’s but one example of the WGA reaching out and lending aid to a working but non-union writer. Here’s an even better one, which begins in late 2007, a year in which, due to illness and other setbacks I only earned about $5,000 as a writer:

In October I received an e-mail from the Writers Guild Foreign Levies Department. I’ll let the WGAW explain what that arm of the guild is all about:

Foreign Copyright Levies are funds received by the Guild on behalf of U.S. writers pursuant to a program established in 1990. Foreign collection societies send the WGA taxes and levies imposed by foreign governments in order to protect copyright holders of audiovisual product made available on public television, cable television, and through videocassette rentals. The primary source of these monies is “private copy” taxes on the sale of blank videocassettes and VCRs, although taxes are also imposed for cable retransmission of programs.

Much to my shock and pleasant surprise, the Writers Guild had money for me, money owed to me in foreign copyright royalties for a not-so-bad C-grade, non-union movie I scripted all the way back in 1993. And it was a pretty good chunk of change, especially arriving, as it did, a few days after Christmas.

“This is living proof that hack writing can have it’s dividends,” I declared to my girlfriend when the check arrived.

And living proof that the WGA is looking out for writers everywhere.