Facts Misrepresented in ‘Hulk’ Arbitration

Michael Cieply and James Bates made passing reference to a New Yorker article on the “Hulk” screenplay credit arbitration (“Legal Clash Over ‘Samurai’ Credit,” Jan. 6).

The article repeats James Schamus’ contention that he was responsible for everything in the final script that wasn’t drawn from the comic book source but wound up sharing credit with myself and Michael France, who had written earlier drafts.

This is a misapprehension of the facts. It also implies that the “Hulk” arbitration was somehow analogous to the “Samurai” dispute. This is not the case. The “Hulk” case was arbitrated by the Writers Guild of America because all the writers worked for the same producer (Gale Anne Hurd), at the same studio, on the same project, based on the same source material, and there was an unbroken chain of development, characters and story. This was not merely because they shared the same subject matter and producer.

I was the author of the first 12 drafts of the “Hulk.”

Schamus made it appear that I approached him and confessed there was none of my work in the finished “Hulk” film (the New Yorker). This was not only false but absurd on its face. The WGA determined these issues, which is why I received not only a screenplay credit but first position.

John Turman

Los Angeles