Writers Guild East Re-Elects Many Incumbent Leaders in Strike-Time Election

Katie Kilkenny
·2 min read

The Writers Guild of America East has re-elected a host of incumbents and two new leaders in film, television and streaming in its latest council election.

After running unopposed, current vp for film/TV/streaming Lisa Takeuchi Cullen is ascending into the president’s seat after current president Michael Winship decided not to run for re-election. She will be joined by incumbent secretary-treasurer Christopher Kyle, who is retaining the role, and Erica Saleh, a sitting council member who has been elected to the role of vp for film/TV/streaming; both ran unopposed.

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Out of the 12 candidates who ran for council seats in the film/TV/streaming sector, six were elected, including incumbents Josh Gondelman, Liz Hynes, Greg Iwinski and Sasha Stewart and new candidates Sofia Alvarez and Sarah Montana. The new leaders’ terms begin Friday.

Takeuchi Cullen noted in a statement Thursday that she is the first woman of color and the third woman to lead the WGA East. “Even when we negotiate a fair deal with the Hollywood studios — and it is a when, not an if — I know the fight is not over,” she said. “The fight continues for all of our members, TV and screenwriters as well as journalists and podcasters, to achieve compensation commensurate to the value of our important work. The fight continues for all workers to earn a life of dignity. The fight continues for all labor to put human rights over corporate profits.”

In her platform, the new president stressed that she was working hard as a member of the WGA’s 2023 negotiating team and seeking to bring a satisfactory end to the current labor stoppage; she also expressed the importance of union unity and its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Kyle, meanwhile, said he would advocate for continuous organizing in nonfiction, online media, podcasting and streaming news while working on “improving staff services for members,” such as contract enforcement.

Several of the successful council member candidates, meanwhile, stressed their interest in organizing further in fields that the WGA East covers, limiting unpaid work performed by film and TV writers in development, and amping up diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. In her platform, Montana also emphasized that the union should be proactive in anticipating how technology will affect union members. “This means consulting with experts regularly, constantly assessing how studios are implementing tech, and keeping up with the changing landscape of social media,” she wrote.

Turnout was 13.3 percent for the president and vp contests and 19.9 percent for the film/TV/streaming election. The count was supervised by Votenet Solutions.

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