Candidate for Council, Film/TV/Streaming Sector
I am going to keep this very straightforward. If you choose to elect me to our council, my focus will be on three things.
I will fight for better pay and benefits. We need to secure increases across the board, and we need to protect our pension and health plans. I started my writing career as a novelist. I know what it is like to be a working writer with no protections. Because of the hard work of previous leadership, I have a pension and excellent health care. I will work to ensure those benefits are not eroded.
I will push back on non-writing producer encroachment in television. In the twenty years I have been working in television there has been a significant shift away from the writer-producer model. Nonunion hires are taking jobs that belong to Guild writers. We need to address this problem through contract negotiations but also internally. I will push fellow showrunners to step up and fight for these jobs. Our members should be on set and involved through the postproduction process. This is especially true for our newer and younger members. Denying writers the experience of producing their episodes is not only bad for the Guild but it harms the actual work. Developing the next generation of writer-producers is how we keep our Guild strong for the future.
And most importantly – I will fight for realistic and effective protection from AI. Artificial Intelligence is an existential threat to every one of us. To think that the corporations that fight us every time we want to improve our pay and benefits will hesitate to replace us all – film, television, and news writers alike – with machines, is foolish.
I have been a trade unionist since joining the Laborer’s International Union at 19 years old. I have seen the difference between union and non-union working conditions in several industries. With a union there is strength in numbers and actual power – without one – you are on your own.
Our Guild gave me protections I never had when I started out as a writer. If elected, I will fight to make sure every member is assured the same security and dignity.
Endorsements
Kyle Bradstreet, Todd Levin, William Scheft Jr
Endorse Tom Kelly for Council, Film/TV/Streaming Sector
Note: WGAW members who wish to endorse a candidate may follow the process outlined in section G.1.B of the 2025 Election Policy.
