WGAw members should now have received ballots for the Board election. It’s an important vote, because this Board will be setting the agenda for the next round of negotiations.
Reading through the seventeen candidate statements, I was happy to see such a quality crop of candidates, including many writers I know and admire. In making my choices, I’ll be looking for a balance of TV and feature writers at various levels of experience. A showrunner has a different perspective than a spec writer. Both are important.
Craig Mazin has good suggestions, including a reminder on why you may want to vote a short list:
“Hey, we’re supposed to vote for eight.” No…you can vote for up to eight. You don’t have to vote for eight. Indeed, if you really want these five to be elected, just vote for these five.
Voting for eight makes it less likely your top choices will make the cut.
I get nervous voting for slates. With the financial and creative issues facing the Guild, I’d rather see healthy debate than easy consensus.
In the non-candidate statements at the back of the book, you’ll see I endorsed two candidates: Mark Gunn and Aaron Mendelsohn. Both are excellent. Over the past few years, I’ve come to rely on each of them for honesty and pragmatism about WGA matters. I hope to see them returning to the board for another term.
Ballots are due September 16th.