Hugh Laurie 'stars' in Writers Give Back event

Turns out, Hollywood’s writers’ strike had at least one upside: It inspired a few writers to be a little more selfless. The organization Writers Give Back, founded during the strike by producer Brian Pines, is now seeking to help people in need and writers in need, often at the same time. Based in Los Angeles, WGB is staging table readings of unproduced screenplays — asking stars to donate their time to play the roles — and then finding creative ways to turn the events into fund-raisers. First out of the gate: House star Hugh Laurie, Ugly Betty star Chris Gorham, and others will perform a table read of Pines’ own screenplay, the romantic comedy Now in Paperback, at the Actors Gang Theater in Culver City on Monday, May 5. The event is by invitation to industry insiders only, and guests are asked to bring at least one book as the price of admission. All books will be donated to the children’s literacy organization, First Book. And here’s the best part: If the screenplay is sold, the writer will donate a percentage of the sale to First Book, too. “We already give 10 percent to our agent, 15 percent to our manager and 5 percent to our
lawyers,” Pines says. “Why shouldn’t we give a percentage to the world at large?”

Pines, a former production exec on House, hopes to turn these
table reads into a monthly series. First Book won’t always be the
benefactor, though. Pines is looking to find ways to pair the theme of
each screenplay with an appropriate charity. Now In Paperback
is about a rich-girl novelist whose ex-boyfriend writes a scathing
tell-all about their relationship. The feuding former sweeties find
themselves on dueling book tours. Pines figured a book drive was a
prefect fit for this subject matter. In the future, though, WGB will
look for other types of script-charity pairings. Hypothetically, a
screenplay about drug addiction, say, might be used to stage a table
reading to benefit a rehab facility.

In the meantime, Pines, whose day job is as an executive at
Josephson Entertainment, has also launched the group Actors Give Back.
He’s looking to add a Musicians Give Back arm as well. “People want to
do
something,” Pines says. “They just don’t know where to start.” Pines
got the idea for WGB not just because he had free time during the
strike, he says, but because of what he saw happening during it. “Joss
Whedon had 200 fans show up on the picket line one day to
support him,” Pines says. “Imagine if Joss went to Habitat for Humanity
and 200 fans
joined him there. They would have had a Whedon house or a Whedon block
built by the end of that day.”

Monday’s event at the Actors Gang Theater
begins with cocktails at 7 p.m., and is nearly sold out, but anyone who
wishes to donate books to First Book can drop books off at the theater
anytime on May 5. For more information on Writers Give Back, and to
learn about upcoming events, check the WGB website.