Thursday
September 18, 2025
2025 WGAE Council Elections Results
NEW YORK, NY (September 18, 2025) – The Writers Guild of America East (WGAE) today announced the results of its 2025 Council election. Elected members will serve a two-year term, the first full day of which is September 19, 2025.
The Council consists of 20 Council members: twelve (12) Film/TV/Streaming members, five (5) Online Media members and three (3) Broadcast/Cable/Streaming News members, plus five (5) officers: President, Secretary-Treasurer and three (3) Vice Presidents, one from each work sector.
Film/TV/Streaming members work in film, television, podcasts and SVOD; Online Media members work in digital news shops; Broadcast/Cable/Streaming News members work in traditional broadcast, cable and streaming news shops, all in positions under the Guild’s jurisdiction.
The 2025 WGAE Council election included the following open positions: President, Secretary-Treasurer, Film/TV/Streaming Vice President, six (6) Film/TV/Streaming Council seats and three (3) Online Media Council seats. There were no open seats in the Broadcast/Cable/Streaming News sector this year.
Tom Fontana has been elected President.
Sasha Stewart has been elected Secretary-Treasurer.
Michael Rauch has been elected Vice President of the Film/Television/Streaming sector.
Nicole Conlan, Chris Gethard, Liz Hynes, Sarah Montana, Sharyn Rothstein and Erica Saleh were elected to serve on the Council representing Film/TV/Streaming members.
Sie Morley, Nitish Pahwa and Samantha Smylie were elected to serve on the Council representing Online Media members.
Members currently serving on the WGAE Council with one year left in their term include Vice President for Online Media Sara David, Vice President for Broadcast/Cable/Streaming News Beth Godvik, Film/TV/Streaming Council members Monica Lee Bellais, Larry J Cohen, Don P. Hooper, Victoria Pollack, Céline Robinson and Suzanne Weber, Online Media Council members Susan Rinkunas and Jessica Schulberg, and Broadcast/Cable/Streaming News Council members Justin DiLauro, Gail Lee and Phil Pilato.
In Film/TV/Streaming, votes were cast by 14% of eligible voters (4,363). In Online Media, votes were cast by 5% of eligible voters (1,966). In Broadcast/Cable/Streaming News, votes were cast by 7% of eligible voters (1,251). The ballot count was supervised by eBallot.
ABOUT THE WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA EAST
The Writers Guild of America East, AFL-CIO, is a labor union of more than 7,500 members working in film, television, news, podcasts and online media. The Guild negotiates and administers contracts that protect the creative and economic rights of its members; conducts programs, seminars and events on issues of interest to writers; and presents writers’ views to various bodies of government. For more information on the Writers Guild of America East, visit wgaeast.org.
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