Michael Winship: Last News

Sara David, running unopposed, has been elected vice president of the WGA East representing online media members, and Kathy McGee beat two other candidates to become vice president representing members working in the broadcast/cable/streaming news sector.

BreAnna Bell The drinks were flowing and the guests were energized with a renewed sense of promise as writers gathered to celebrate their Humanitas wins as well as a new deal with the AMPTP at the Humanitas Prizes Toast on Thursday night. Held almost one month after the WGA ratified its new contract officially ending the summer-long writers strike, this year’s event was moved from its usual hotel ballroom location to Hollywood nightclub Avalon, out of respect for the Local 11 Unite Here hotel workers who remain on strike for fair and livable wages — a cause that all in the room shouted their support for once announced on stage by co-MCs Lennon Parham and Jessica St.

Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, running unopposed, has been elected president of the WGA East. Cullen, who until now had been VP of the guild’s Film/TV/Streaming sector, succeeds Michael Winship, who chose not to seek re-election.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer The Writers Guild of America East (WGAE) members have elected Lisa Takeuchi Cullen as its new president. Cullen, who was an unopposed candidate for the posititon, takes over for outgoing president Michael Winship, who announced his decision to not seek reelection of his longtime post over the summer. “I am honored to become the next President of the Writers Guild of America East,” Takeuchi Cullen said in a statement.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Amid an ongoing strike, the Writers Guild of America East begins voting today on its new council members, including the successor for longtime president Michael Winship. With the strike environment generating solidarity across the WGAE and its WGA West counterpart, it would seem that the election would be a straightforward affair with WGAE members on the same page about what they want from their guild.

Lisa Takeuchi Cullen will be the next president of the WGA East, succeeding Michael Winship, who is not seeking re-election.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer WGA East president Michael Winship will not be seeking re-election amid the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. “This is a decision that was made right from the start two years ago when I was asked to return to the presidency,” Winship said in a statement sent to guild members Tuesday, just as WGAE revealed the candidates up for officer seats in its upcoming council election this September.

The leaders of the Writers Guild, SAG-AFTRA, IATSE and the Teamsters have issued a “joint statement of solidarity” with the Directors Guild in its final scheduled week of contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, saying that they “stand alongside our sisters, brothers, and kin in the DGA in their pursuit of a fair contract.” Their statement comes on the 30th day of the ongoing WGA strike and 21 days after the DGA began its contract talks with the AMPTP.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Colin Farrell, Mariska Hargitay, Danny Strong, Paula Pell, Rachel Dratch, Michael Kelly and Craig Zobel were among the stars who came out to the writers strike picket line outside Paramount Global’s New York City office in Times Square Thursday. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D.-N.Y., and local politicians spoke at the event in support of the Writers Guild of America’s (WGA) cause against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) that has led to a four-week-and-counting work stoppage due to the organizations’ inability to ink a new contract May 1. “This is about what’s right. We’ve seen income inequality grow exponentially over the last decade; and in your business, it has never been more present,” Gillibrand said to the crowd, filled with not only WGA members, but also those from SAG-AFTRA, IATSE and Teamsters, among other unions. “We see writers working hard every day to produce content and we have an unfair playing field. Not only does AI want to displace our writers, they simply can’t. AI generates content based on what’s been written before the work you did last year, and the year before. It’s not original. It’s not imaginative. It doesn’t come from the human heart. It’s not about a human experience. It’s not about what people actually want to learn about or know about or see or experience. That is what writers bring to the equation every single time. So this strike is so important for the future of this country. It’s about the value of workers; workers and what they create is fundamentally valuable.”

Penelope Koechl will be this year’s recipient of the WGA East’s Richard B. Jablow Award for Devoted Service to the Guild. The honorary award will be presented at the 75th annual Writers Guild Awards ceremony at New York’s Edison Ballroom on March 5. 

Paul Simms, the creator of the NBC comedy NewsRadio and currently showrunner on FX’s What We Do in the Shadows and an executive producer on Atlanta, will be this year’s recipient of the WGA East’s Herb Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence. The honor will be presented by Atlanta‘s Donald Glover at the 75th annual Writers Guild Awards ceremony March 5 at New York’s Edison Ballroom.

Spike Lee will be this year’s recipient of the WGA East’s Ian McLellan Hunter Award for Career Achievement.

WGA East members have voted overwhelmingly to approve changes to the guild’s constitution that are designed to ensure a more “balanced representation” of members by bridging the divide between those who work in film, TV and broadcasting, and those employed in digital newsrooms.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterThe membership of WGA East has ratified a change to the union’s constitution, cementing a compromise between traditional TV and film writers and newer members who work in digital media.The amendment passed overwhelmingly, with 98% of the votes in favor. Turnout was 24%.The constitutional change creates three “work sectors” within the union: Film/TV/Streaming, Broadcast/Cable/Streaming News and Online Media.

The WGA East, whose leaders last year talked openly about spinning off their digital news members into a separate union, is now fully embracing them by proposing changes to the guild’s constitution that would ensure “balanced representation” on its governing body for members from its different work sectors.

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorLeaders of the WGA East have reached a compromise after months of friction over the membership base of the union that represents film and TV writers on the East Coast.The WGA East council voted unanimously to pursue major changes to the union’s constitution to allow for different classifications of membership. The council is recommending changes that will be voted on in a member referendum later this spring.All of this is an effort to settle the divide over the WGA East’s big push during the last decade to organize writers for digital news and entertainment outlets.“The WGAE Council has spent the last several months working together and with an outside facilitator.

Sasha Urban editorThe Writers Guild of America, East will hold its annual “And the Nominees Are…” documentary contenders’ panel on March 8, with Variety hosting the livestream.The limited series panel will take place at 7 p.m. ET/ 4 p.m. PT and will be split into two parts, with the second one airing 45 minutes after the first.

The WGA East has resumed its organizing of digital newsrooms after a pause amid concerns that news writers and producers were on the verge of becoming a majority of the guild’s membership.