More Events

Second PencilPALS event in Corona, Queens
WGAE Members attend FBI 103 Seminar
Ninth Screenplay Reading at the JCC
Free Speech Leadership Committee meets again

Past Events

Screening of Joe Berlingers's CRUDE
First PencilPALS event in Corona, Queens
Godfather IV Benefit
Talk Animation with Bill Plympton
TV and Film Writers Become ‘PencilPALS’
M*A*S*H Benefit

Screening of Joe Berlingers's CRUDE

Stranger Than Fiction @ IFC Center, Tues, June 22 @ 8 pm

Q&A w/ director Joe Berlinger, attorney Maura Wogan, Morgan Spurlock, Michael Winship (WGA East)

To support Berlinger's legal defense fund and shine additional light on the issues at stake, this special CRUDE screening featured a panel discussion with CRUDE filmmaker Joe Berlinger, Berlinger's lead attorney Maura Wogan of Frankfurt Kurnit, documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, and WGA, East President Michael Winship, among others. The panel discussed Berlinger's case and how it affects the roles and rights of documentarians and other independent journalists in today's global community.

Chevron served a subpoena to the makers of the feature documentary CRUDE in order to obtain nearly 600 hours of raw footage accumulated during the making of the film. In May, a US District Court ruled for Chevron and ordered CRUDE's director, Joe Berlinger, to produce the footage. In an effort to protect the footage, his sources, and his process, Berlinger immediately appealed. On June 8th Berlinger's legal team won a stay of the District Court's order. As a result, the district court's May 20th order directing Berlinger to produce the footage will be suspended during the pendency of the appeal. A full hearing before the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit will take place in July. Berlinger's legal team.

This case has made headlines across the country, and Berlinger has received an incredible outpouring of support from the film and journalism communities. Patrick Creadon and the IDA got the ball rolling and open letters from the DGA, WGA, as well as a friend-of-the-court brief from leading First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams on behalf of 13 major media companies followed. As eloquently articulated by many esteemed members of the press and independent film legends-from the editors of & others The Los Angeles Times to Michael Moore, Bill Moyers, Robert Redford and Norman Lear - a ruling in favor of Chevron would be a grave violation of Berlinger's First Amendment rights and will undoubtedly have a chilling effect on documentary filmmakers and journalists worldwide.

CRUDE debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2009 to overwhelmingly positive reviews, held its theatrical premiere at IFC Center in September 2009, and is currently available on DVD from First Run Features and Netflix. It has received numerous accolades including being named on of the Top Five Documentaries of the Year by the National Board of Review and Best International Green Film at Berlin's prestigious Cinema For Peace.