Over 200 writers, directors, and producers — including Emmy and Academy Award winners — signed Brady's open letter agreeing to lead positive culture change by modeling firearm safety on screen. Read the letter below, and contact us to add your name.
If you are a writer, director or producer, sign on now
Learn more about our entertainment industry work
An Open Letter to Our Colleagues in the Creative Community
Like most of America, we are enraged by the recent mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde. Considering there have been over 250 other mass shootings so far this year, it’s an almost incomprehensible tragedy. Something needs to be done.
Guns are prominently featured in TV and movies in every corner of the globe, but only America has a gun violence epidemic. The responsibility lies with lax gun laws supported by those politicians more afraid of losing power than saving lives. We didn’t cause the problem, but we want to help fix it.
As America’s storytellers, our goal is primarily to entertain, but we also acknowledge that stories have the power to effect change. Cultural attitudes toward smoking, drunk driving, seatbelts and marriage equality have all evolved due in large part to movies’ and TV’s influence. It’s time to take on gun safety.
We are not asking anyone to stop showing guns on screen. We are asking writers, directors and producers to be mindful of on-screen gun violence and model gun safety best practices. Let's use our collective power for good. Whenever possible, we will:
- Use our creativity to model responsible gun ownership and show consequences for reckless gun use. We will make a conscious effort to show characters locking their guns safely and making them inaccessible to children.
- Have at least one conversation during pre-production regarding the way guns will be portrayed on screen and consider alternatives that could be employed without sacrificing narrative integrity.
- Limit scenes including children and guns, bearing in mind that guns are now the leading cause of death for children and adolescents.
We are under no illusions that these actions are a substitute for common sense gun legislation. Furthermore, this list does not incorporate every nuance of guns on screen. However, these are small things that we can do as a community to try and end this national nightmare. If you are a writer, director or producer, join us by signing here.
Signed,
J.J. Abrams
Lisa Addario
Ali Adler
Sarah Algazi
Debbie Allen
Omari Allen
Kent Alterman
Lucia Aniello
Judd Apatow
Josh Appelbaum
Susan Arnold
John Auerbach
JP Auerbach
Alexander Baack
Amy Baer
Craig Bankey
Carol Barbee
Alfredo Barrios
Simon Barry
Zach Baylin
David Beaubaire
Betsy Beers
Michael Begler
Doug Belgrad
Chris Bender
Lisa Benedict
Mike Berenstain
Fred Berger
Max Berger
Alex Berger
Chris Bishop
Steve Blackman
Bob Bookman
Kristin Borella
Jessika Borsiczky
Matt Bosak
Julien P. Bourgon
Marty Bowen
Adam Brody
Kristin Burr
Christy Callahan
Bill Callahan
Elizabeth Cantillon
Glenn Gordon Caron
Stokely Chaffin
Ann Cherkis
Matt Chesse
Becky Clements
Kat Coiro
Aaron Cooley
John Cork
Rob Corn
Peter Craig
Mike Cuff
Emily Cummins
RJ Cutler
Bill D’Elia
Elizabeth Daley
Ted Danson
Joe Dante
Gary Dauberman
Laura Dave
Marjorie David
Ainsley Davies
Skye Dent
Naomi Despres
Zanne Devine
David Diliberto
Lucy Barzun Donnelly
Travis Donnelly
Erin Donovan
Paul Downs
Elysa Koplovitz Dutton
Carleton Eastlake
Grace Edwards
Ben Ellenberg
Doug Ellin
Zack Estrin
Lee Farber
TS Faull
Morgan Faust
Erik Feig
Jon Feldman
Batya Feldman
Jonathan Fernandez
Jennifer Flackett
Jordan Flaherty
Beau Flynn
Dana Fox
Liz Friedman
Edward Frumkin
Lou Fusaro
Forrest Gabitsch
Eric Michael Garcia
Dede Gardner
Todd Garner
R. Scott Gemmill
Jonathan Glickman
Will Gluck
Wyck Godfrey
Gary Goldman
Lindy Goldstein
Al Gough
Jonathan Green
Rich Green
Bruce Greenwood
Javier Grillo-Marxuach
Larry Gross
David Guggenheim
Alejandra Gularte
Erin Gunn
Kristin Hahn
Samm Haillay
Marc Halsey
Lisa Harrison
Simon Hatt
Grant Heslov
Lysa Heslov
Mark Heyman
Lauren Schmidt Hissrich
Michael Hissrich
Christine Holder
Jordan Horowitz
Livia Huang
Peter Isacksen
Lauren Iungerich
Devery Jacobs
Tom Jacobson
Craig Johnson
Jennifer Johnson
Alexa Junge
Bess Kalb
Jordan Kandell
Aaron Kandell
Ken Kao
Gail Katz
Richie Keen
Mike Kelley
Kathleen Kennedy
Christopher Keyser
James Kicklighter
Maggie Kiley
Frederick Kindel
Michelle King
Robert King
David Kissinger
Laura Kittrell
Jessi Klein
Jon Koa
Betsy Koch
David Kohan
Jenni Konner
Christos V. Konstantakopoulos
Stacy Kramer
Tim Kring
Natalie Krinsky
Andreas Zoupanos Kritikos
John Krokidas
Kent Kubena
Roger Kumble
Helena Lamb
Adam Lash
Amanda Lasher
Stan Lathan
Victor LaValle
Bill Lawrence
Jennifer Levin
Mark Levin
Chris Levinson
Steven Levitan
Dan Lin
Damon Lindelof
Jimmy Kimmel and the writers of Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Kyle Long
Silka Luisa
Michael Markowitz
Melanie Marnich
Glen Mazzara
Michael McIntyre
Adam McKay
Katie Mcquerrey
Michael Joseph McQuilken
Jeff Melvoin
Adam Merims
Jason Mewes
Miles Millar
Andrew Miller
Hannah Minghella
Janet Mock
Jordan Monsanto
Julianne Moore
Chris Morgan
Leslie Morgenstein
Tony Mosher
Sue Naegle
Phyllis Nagy
Michael Narducci
Olivia Newman
Eric Newman
Kim Nguyen
Samantha Nissenboim
Matt Nix
Sohrab Noshirvani
Pete Nowalk
Marti Noxon
David Nutter
Ify Nwadiwe
Susan Orlean
Katrina Cabrera Ortega
Peter Paige
Nicki Paluga
Jamie Patricof
Julie Plec
John Pogue
Claire Rudnick Polstein
Edoardo Ponti
Bill Prady
Dawn Prestwich
Keri Putnam
Daniel Pyne
Jessica Queller
Connor Raikes
Luvh Rakhe
Eric Ramsey
Robia Rashid
Billy Ray
J.R. Reher
Andrew Reich
Fergal Reilly
Jeannine Renshaw
Shonda Rhimes
Cynthia Riddle
Glenn Rigberg
Britton Rizzio
Scott Rosenbaum
Elizabeth Rosenbaum
Karen Rosenfelt
Gary Ross
Michael A. Ross
Mike Royce
Margot Rubin
Mark Ruffalo
Joey Sagal
Midge Sanford
Peter Saraf
Claire Scanlon
Robin Schiff
Amy Schumer
Nell Scovell
Travis Sentell
Byron Shah
Frankie Shaw
Scott Shepherd
David Shore
Dan Shotz
Osnat Shurer
Josh Singer
Randi Mayem Singer
Jer Sklar
Tristine Skyler
Jason Smilovic
Claudia Solti
Elena Song
Nedjelko Spaich
Jeremy Steckler
Mary Steenburgen
Jon Steinberg
Fisher Stevens
Dana Stevens
Michelle Stockwell
Lee Stollman
Carolyn Strauss
Veena Sud
Niels Swinkels
Matt Tauber
Melinda Hsu Taylor
Michael Taylor
Rhys Thomas
Liz Tigelaar
Danny Tolli
Mahyad Tousi
Sean Tretta
Tory Tunnell
Chris Van Dusen
Ellen Goldsmith Vein
Krista Vernoff
Patric M. Verrone
Jeff Vespa
Joe Wallenstein
Valerie Weiss
Llewelyn Wells
Marlon West
Ben Wexler
Jim Whitaker
Carey Williams
Maiya Williams
Irwin Winkler
Danielle Wolff
Wendy Wolverton
Chloe Yellin
Nicole Yorkin
David Zabel
George Zaloom
Lisa Zambri
David W. Zucker
Lisa Addario
Ali Adler
Sarah Algazi
Debbie Allen
Omari Allen
Kent Alterman
Lucia Aniello
Judd Apatow
Josh Appelbaum
Susan Arnold
John Auerbach
JP Auerbach
Alexander Baack
Amy Baer
Craig Bankey
Carol Barbee
Alfredo Barrios
Simon Barry
Zach Baylin
David Beaubaire
Betsy Beers
Michael Begler
Doug Belgrad
Chris Bender
Lisa Benedict
Mike Berenstain
Fred Berger
Max Berger
Alex Berger
Chris Bishop
Steve Blackman
Bob Bookman
Kristin Borella
Jessika Borsiczky
Matt Bosak
Julien P. Bourgon
Marty Bowen
Adam Brody
Kristin Burr
Christy Callahan
Bill Callahan
Elizabeth Cantillon
Glenn Gordon Caron
Stokely Chaffin
Ann Cherkis
Matt Chesse
Becky Clements
Kat Coiro
Aaron Cooley
John Cork
Rob Corn
Peter Craig
Mike Cuff
Emily Cummins
RJ Cutler
Bill D’Elia
Elizabeth Daley
Ted Danson
Joe Dante
Gary Dauberman
Laura Dave
Marjorie David
Ainsley Davies
Skye Dent
Naomi Despres
Zanne Devine
David Diliberto
Lucy Barzun Donnelly
Travis Donnelly
Erin Donovan
Paul Downs
Elysa Koplovitz Dutton
Carleton Eastlake
Grace Edwards
Ben Ellenberg
Doug Ellin
Zack Estrin
Lee Farber
TS Faull
Morgan Faust
Erik Feig
Jon Feldman
Batya Feldman
Jonathan Fernandez
Jennifer Flackett
Jordan Flaherty
Beau Flynn
Dana Fox
Liz Friedman
Edward Frumkin
Lou Fusaro
Forrest Gabitsch
Eric Michael Garcia
Dede Gardner
Todd Garner
R. Scott Gemmill
Jonathan Glickman
Will Gluck
Wyck Godfrey
Gary Goldman
Lindy Goldstein
Al Gough
Jonathan Green
Rich Green
Bruce Greenwood
Javier Grillo-Marxuach
Larry Gross
David Guggenheim
Alejandra Gularte
Erin Gunn
Kristin Hahn
Samm Haillay
Marc Halsey
Lisa Harrison
Simon Hatt
Grant Heslov
Lysa Heslov
Mark Heyman
Lauren Schmidt Hissrich
Michael Hissrich
Christine Holder
Jordan Horowitz
Livia Huang
Peter Isacksen
Lauren Iungerich
Devery Jacobs
Tom Jacobson
Craig Johnson
Jennifer Johnson
Alexa Junge
Bess Kalb
Jordan Kandell
Aaron Kandell
Ken Kao
Gail Katz
Richie Keen
Mike Kelley
Kathleen Kennedy
Christopher Keyser
James Kicklighter
Maggie Kiley
Frederick Kindel
Michelle King
Robert King
David Kissinger
Laura Kittrell
Jessi Klein
Jon Koa
Betsy Koch
David Kohan
Jenni Konner
Christos V. Konstantakopoulos
Stacy Kramer
Tim Kring
Natalie Krinsky
Andreas Zoupanos Kritikos
John Krokidas
Kent Kubena
Roger Kumble
Helena Lamb
Adam Lash
Amanda Lasher
Stan Lathan
Victor LaValle
Bill Lawrence
Jennifer Levin
Mark Levin
Chris Levinson
Steven Levitan
Dan Lin
Damon Lindelof
Jimmy Kimmel and the writers of Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Kyle Long
Silka Luisa
Michael Markowitz
Melanie Marnich
Glen Mazzara
Michael McIntyre
Adam McKay
Katie Mcquerrey
Michael Joseph McQuilken
Jeff Melvoin
Adam Merims
Jason Mewes
Miles Millar
Andrew Miller
Hannah Minghella
Janet Mock
Jordan Monsanto
Julianne Moore
Chris Morgan
Leslie Morgenstein
Tony Mosher
Sue Naegle
Phyllis Nagy
Michael Narducci
Olivia Newman
Eric Newman
Kim Nguyen
Samantha Nissenboim
Matt Nix
Sohrab Noshirvani
Pete Nowalk
Marti Noxon
David Nutter
Ify Nwadiwe
Susan Orlean
Katrina Cabrera Ortega
Peter Paige
Nicki Paluga
Jamie Patricof
Julie Plec
John Pogue
Claire Rudnick Polstein
Edoardo Ponti
Bill Prady
Dawn Prestwich
Keri Putnam
Daniel Pyne
Jessica Queller
Connor Raikes
Luvh Rakhe
Eric Ramsey
Robia Rashid
Billy Ray
J.R. Reher
Andrew Reich
Fergal Reilly
Jeannine Renshaw
Shonda Rhimes
Cynthia Riddle
Glenn Rigberg
Britton Rizzio
Scott Rosenbaum
Elizabeth Rosenbaum
Karen Rosenfelt
Gary Ross
Michael A. Ross
Mike Royce
Margot Rubin
Mark Ruffalo
Joey Sagal
Midge Sanford
Peter Saraf
Claire Scanlon
Robin Schiff
Amy Schumer
Nell Scovell
Travis Sentell
Byron Shah
Frankie Shaw
Scott Shepherd
David Shore
Dan Shotz
Osnat Shurer
Josh Singer
Randi Mayem Singer
Jer Sklar
Tristine Skyler
Jason Smilovic
Claudia Solti
Elena Song
Nedjelko Spaich
Jeremy Steckler
Mary Steenburgen
Jon Steinberg
Fisher Stevens
Dana Stevens
Michelle Stockwell
Lee Stollman
Carolyn Strauss
Veena Sud
Niels Swinkels
Matt Tauber
Melinda Hsu Taylor
Michael Taylor
Rhys Thomas
Liz Tigelaar
Danny Tolli
Mahyad Tousi
Sean Tretta
Tory Tunnell
Chris Van Dusen
Ellen Goldsmith Vein
Krista Vernoff
Patric M. Verrone
Jeff Vespa
Joe Wallenstein
Valerie Weiss
Llewelyn Wells
Marlon West
Ben Wexler
Jim Whitaker
Carey Williams
Maiya Williams
Irwin Winkler
Danielle Wolff
Wendy Wolverton
Chloe Yellin
Nicole Yorkin
David Zabel
George Zaloom
Lisa Zambri
David W. Zucker
