Ageism in Hollywood

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TV demands programs aimed at younger and younger people. But do writers have to be them to know them? Twenty-eight Hollywood writers have signed on to a class-action suit that accuses networks, producers and agents of discriminating against veteran professionals when they get to be 40 years old. Does the rage for hot new product makes experience a liability? Giving us their perspectives are TV a producer, writers -- including Larry Gelbart, and Jay Moriarty, one of 28 writers who signed on to the suit, its lead counsel, an agent with the talent firm named in the suit, and the Screen Actors Guild's affirmative action administrator.
  • Newmaker: The trial of the first four LAPD officers charged in the Rampart scandal is winding down. The prosecutor's office has confirmed that Rafael Perez, who touched off the scandal, won't be called to the stand. Anne LaJuenesse, who reports for the legal paper the Los Angeles Daily Journal, brings us up to date on the case.
  • Reporter's Notebook: "A Refugee Camp in the Heart of the City" is an extraordinary traveling exhibition. Staged by the Nobel Prize-winning humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders, it shows what life is like for 39 million people around the world. Besnick Doli was a civil engineer in Kosovo before he became a refugee. Now he's guiding tours at the interactive exhibit at its Southland stop. (At the Santa Monica Pier through Sunday before moving to Magic Johnson Park. (Free admission. Info: 310-277-2793.)

Writers Guild of America

Writers' class action suit

Screen Actors Guild

Credits

Host:

Warren Olney

Producer:

Frances Anderton