Candidate for Council, Film/TV/Streaming Sector
Beloved WGAE comrades,
Hi. I’m Greg Iwinski. I hope we’ve met, but if we haven’t I hope my years on council and the NegCom have shown you who I am and what my deal is.
I will always tell you what I believe (even when that’s sometime to my detriment).
So you know that I believe what I’m about to tell you now:
I don’t think you need to vote for me.
Yes. That’s my pitch. Don’t Vote Iwinski.
But there’s a reason. Aaaand maybe a little explanation. Bear with me.
I have served two terms on council and in that time learned so much about our contracts and industry, but more importantly I’ve learned about our members. We are such a kickass union, a collection of weirdos and savants, of superstars and the hidden geniuses that superstars consider superstars. WGA East is full of talent, full of passion, and full of ‘roll up your sleeves’ union power. And it is such a real joy to say that this year our WGAE ballot is full of talent too. I can say without condition, there are more excellent choices than open seats. That is a fantastic place for our union to be in as national power structures grow more and more hostile to labor.
So if not me, why am I on the ballot? Like comedy, it comes down to timing. I got nominated, and when I asked about how many other people had accepted nominations, the number was small. Like, less people than seats small. So it seemed, in that situation, insane to not run and to maybe just leave some space hanging open on our council. Luckily, between that moment and the deadline, a ton of incredible people said yes – people I think you should vote for.
And, at least in this ‘candidate statement,’ I’m going to focus on late night AKA Appendix A writers. (Shout out to our Daytime / Soap / Game Show writers, you write what people watch!)
I believe it’s so important that Appendix A, and late night, are well-represented on council. We fought like hell in the strike, and we won protections that have already benefitted late night streaming writers. [If you’d like to have the “Is Late Night Dying?” conversation I’m happy to meet you at a Manhattan bar to talk about it extensively. Short answer: no.]
WGAE Council, existentially, needs strong late-night and Appendix A representation every single year. This year, there are more worthy candidates than open seats. With that kind of talent pool, I can absolutely say you do not need to vote for me. I will always be involved with the Guild and care so much about protecting late night writers… but anyone afraid to let go of power shouldn’t have it, and elected leadership that doesn’t turn over ends up molding (looking at you, unnamed politicians representing New York state).
So! Let’s talk about some excellent late-night writers to vote for:
Felipe Torres Medina writes for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and is possibly the most exemplary writer of this moment, in a way that’s heroic for us and honestly horrible for him. He’s a Colombian immigrant – and not the fun “safe” kind of NYC immigrant, like an Irish guy in midtown whose family got here before TV was invented. Felipe is a writer who right now is at risk of Trump’s nationalist immigration policies. And he’s also doing his incredibly hard job of writing jokes about the guy who is trying to deport people like him! There are multiple movie-worthy storylines about this administration and Felipe is at the crux of more than one of them. On council, he would be a strong well-informed voice on the threat to freedom of speech and to the risks facing all our WGAE members worried about their immigration status.
Hallie Haglund deserves all our admiration. A former Daily Show writer across the Stewart and Noah eras, Hallie knows late-night. She also has the rare experience of showrunning late night, when she worked with Wyatt Cenac on Problem Areas. That’s why she was on the 2023 Negotiating Committee – and it’s hard to quickly sum up how crucial she was to that fight. The entire Appendix A contingent of that Negotiation Committee was Hallie, Adam Conover, and myself – Hallie is definitely the smartest of the three. (Sorry Adam.) Hallie is thoughtful, patient, and kind. She’s also one of the best people I’ve ever worked with at looking at a complex problem and finding where to start pulling the knots apart. And living in Los Angeles, she’s is seeing wider parts of the industry contraction close-up, while reaching out to our members who live in LA while proudly remaining WGAE.
Ali Barthwell is someone I’ve known since doing comedy back in Chicago at The Second City. From what I understand we are the only two alums of Second City to write late night television, but I did research that with ChatGPT so there may have some factual inaccuracies. Ali fights for what she believes in, no matter who is on the other side and how big or powerful they are. She is a no-BS member of the movement who has a track record of doing the work. And we all know the continuing struggle to make late night rooms look like the audiences that watch them – Ali has lived it, she knows it, and she’s someone you want fighting to fix it. She’s also based in Chicago (like some of our council members in other sectors) so she’s able to bring more valuable perspective of what FTS is like if you don’t live on the coasts, or if you’ve decided to leave NYC/LA during this era of TV.
Devin Delliquanti is a fixture of The Daily Show and I think exemplifies the working late night writer at the heart of WGAE. You know. Glasses, knows a lot about the news, has big opinions on Star Wars and/or Trek, has kids inside a small NYC apartment, wonders if the FBI is gonna send a squad out because they didn’t like a joke. (When you love what you do…) Working in late night through multiple presidents, hosts, and pivots-to-streaming, Devin has deep experience and can help our union find the places to make life for late night writers better. We had plenty of long conversations on the picket lines about the future of the industry and the genre, and I know he will tackle whatever’s coming with a thoughtful and informed approach. TLDR? The guy is solid.
Chris Gethard needs little introduction. He’s a comedy legend, a trailblazer of late night, and someone with endless curiosity. He is not only a fearless comedian who has jumped into new formats as they’ve been invented, he’s also a passionate union guy. He has shown up for our online media members during their hard-fought negotiations, and he was up early for those pre-dawn production pickets in New Jersey during the strike. Chris not only gets what makes the WGA the WGA, but what makes WGA East the East. He has also put together the kind of 2020s workload that is the life of a modern writer – some TV, some podcasting, some stuff on the side the industry doesn’t have a name for yet. I respect the hell out of him and think he would be a phenomenal member of council.
Nicole Conlan is an incredible Daily Show and Late Show writer. She is passionate about making change, and she created an excellent podcast about climate change that is informative and fun without becoming walk-into-the-rapidly-heating-ocean depressing. Nicole has been an involved Guild member pushing for late night writers for years, and she was out on the picket lines when studios tried to roll late night back generations in 2023. As anyone who’s opened our contract knows, our details get complicated quickly, and Nicole is someone who can get into those details and find solutions for our members – some of the most detail-oriented questions I’ve ever gotten have been Nicole questions.
If you didn’t know this group of writers and potential new council members, hopefully this is a start. And really, we’re spoiled for good choices, because there are also a bunch of candidates who’ve already been on council and have done really good work:
AM Homes is someone I’ve voted for every time I’ve had the chance.
Sarah Montana went from picket superstar to a leading council member, and proudly represents Movie Of The Week writers.
Erica Saleh just served a term as FTS Vice President, fought like hell for writers’ rooms in NegCom, and is a cool head in the toughest situations.
Liz Hynes is like if Bernie Sanders was young, and a woman, and also used Letterboxd. One of my closest friends, a Last Week Tonight writer and Late Show alum, and a fighter’s fighter.
So vote. Please vote. We are a union that fights, that wins… let’s be a union that votes with massive turnout. And vote for who you think represents you best. These are my pitches to you – hopefully they mean something. If after all this (1500 words, who’s counting) you still think I’m a good choice, I cannot stop you. Seriously, I looked into it and legally I cannot stop you, that’s election interference and then I’ll be stuffed into a Dominion voting machine (too late to callback?).
It is a rough moment. In the industry. In the country. In our lives. So let’s find some joy in the good news that the WGAE is a union full of talented people ready to serve. Union forever.
Endorsements
Sofia Alvarez, Nicole Conlan, Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, Devin Delliquanti, Glenn Eichler, Elizabeth Godvik, Tian Jun Gu, Hallie Haglund, Liz Hynes, Amy Jackson, Barry Julien, Mark Kramer, Christopher Kyle, Robert Mittenthal, Taylor Phillips, Michael Rauch, Andrew Rheingold, Erica Saleh, William Scheft Jr, Brian Stack, John Thibodeaux, Felipe Torres Medina, Alison Zeidman
Endorse Greg Iwinski 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.
