The Writers Guild of America West forbid its members from working on a project co-produced by Martin Scorsese because of Randall Emmett’s involvement. Emmett, a producer who formed Convergence Entertainment Group in 2022, previously collaborated with the Oscar-winning director on Netflix’s The Irishman and Silence.
Emmett is currently named on the Guild’s Strike/Unfair List, which functions in conjunction with Working Rule 10. The rule states:
“No member may enter into a contract for the rendition of writing services with any producer whose name is contained in the then current Guild [Strike/Unfair] list unless such producer shall have first posted a bond with the Guild guaranteeing the full amount of the writer’s proposed compensation pursuant to such contract.”
Members of the Guild who violate this rule are fined automatically.
Emmett joined the list in October 2020 after he allegedly failed to compensate four writers who worked on his television series. The writers are still owed over $700,000 according to the WGA. In 2024, another company involving Emmett was placed on the Strike/Unfair List. The company, operating under the name Fifty Feet, allegedly failed to post a surety bond.
According to the WGA, “Emmett has a long history of refusing to honor obligations to writers and the Guild has filed numerous arbitration claims against companies owned by Emmett over the last decade.”
The current proposed film adaptation, Wall of White, is based upon the 2021 documentary Buried: The 1982 Alpine Meadows Avalanche. It does not have a director attached.
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