Excerpt:
An open invitation to a seminar for Muslim college students and recent graduates interested in Hollywood writing careers has placed the Writers Guild of America, West, at odds with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which was planning to hold the session on Tuesday.
Things started simply enough.
In a news release dated July 29, the council's Los Angeles-area chapter said it planned to join the guild in hosting a "Writing for Hollywood" seminar with "a leading Hollywood filmmaker and writer" at an undetermined location. The program was to include "an overview of resources and opportunities available at the guild" and a tour of the Writers Guild Foundation library, which is in the same building as the guild's Los Angeles headquarters.
The planned seminar would have been unusual for the guild, said Daniel Petrie Jr., a former president who now serves on the governing board of its foundation. The writers' union has conducted programs about employment discrimination for older or female members, he said, but appears not to have systematically reached out to specific religious groups.