Candidate for Council, Film/TV/Streaming Sector
Hi. My name is Greg Iwinski – I’m a late night and scripted TV writer, a comedian, and a proud member of WGA East. I would open this by saying we’re at a critical moment, but the past decade has been a long train of critical moments. Like if Snowpiercer also had RFK Jr running around telling people to eat the train wheels for extra iron.
There are a lot of things up in the air for our country and for our industry. And I can’t say I know which way they’ll go. But (and this may surprise some people) I am optimistic about our future.
Because we’ve been here before. The people in power who want to crush us into the dust are historically unpopular and face rolling electoral consequences – hopefully an echo of 1964’s elections. The President pressured CBS to take a comedy/variety show off the air because it made fun of him – just like Nixon and Pastore pressured CBS to axe the Smothers Brothers in 1969. But Comedy/Variety survived, and Nixon become a mask no one buys in a Spirit Halloween.
I am optimistic about our art because I believe in artists and audiences. I believe artists are fundamental to making something people resonate with, that they can’t stop talking about the next day. The studios that bought the fleece-vested snake oil of ‘disrupting the model’ are learning the model existed for a reason, and that what America actually wanted in the streaming revolution was “TV to also be on my phone and iPad and gaming console whenever I want.” The fastest growing streaming service in 2026 is one that is unrecognizable from cable – YouTubeTV.
Article after article confirms audiences are sick of shows getting canceled after 2 seasons. They’re sick of short seasons. They’re sick of long waits between seasons. They don’t want slop. They have a physical aversion to AI, and flock to BTS content that proves humans made something. They are exhausted from flipping through a dozen different services, and mad they’re paying hundreds of dollars a year to watch ad breaks randomly dropped into episodes.
Please don’t take that as me saying things are good now, or that they’re going back to “the old days.” They’re not, and many of us are at the thinnest point we’ve ever been in our careers. Like many WGA members, I’ve faced the slow drip of running out of work, then running out of points, then losing health insurance. I have watched friends move away from a city they can’t afford without work. I’ve had to set deadlines for when I’d be forced to join them.
So no, I’m not saying things are good now. But I do believe, at my core, that we are winning the fight and that if we push forward, we are going to win.
For example, the WGA lawsuit to block the monopolizing job-killing Paramount/WB merger. The Guild can’t mandate more shows or more jobs. The MBA ensure the jobs that do exist are good jobs, but it can’t make more appear. But the Guild can and must fight to make sure jobs don’t disappear to help create an inescapable market share and a corporate salary boost. That’s why the fight to stop the merger is both emblematic and existential.
Listening to the trades and the gossipy industry podcasts, the merger was a done deal that would wrap itself up (checks watch) before right now. It’s how every fight in this industry, in our careers, has gone. We’re told it’s over, we’ve lost, there’s no point in pushing back. The industry is dead. Theatrical is dead. TV is dead. Writing is dead. The Guild is dead. You are dead, you just don’t know it, hopefully you have one of those .02¢ residual checks to pay the guy at the river Styx.
But that’s not advice – it’s an attack. On your dignity. Your art. Your willingness to stand up for yourself. Every group of people who moved the world toward justice were told the battle was lost before it started. So while other parts of the industry may be searching for ways to capitulate to a new, worse reality… the Guild will fight. We don’t know what it will bring, but it’ll certainly be better than what we’d get for rolling over.
I want to keep this brief – or maybe at least under the word count – so I’ll just say there are a lot of things I’d like the WGAE to fight for over the next few years. FAST TV, video podcasts, children’s animation, YouTube vs YouTubeTV, diversity, protecting emerging comedians and their online projects, and how to help our members feel connected to a person at the Guild, not just a phone number or an email address.
I’ll lay those out in followup emails, or if you have questions I’m not hard to find. We are in a moment of opportunity. Let’s seize it.
Thanks,
Greg
Endorsements
Sean Crespo, Sara David, Devin Delliquanti, Elizabeth Godvik, Carol Hartsell, Liz Hynes, Christopher Kyle, Sarah Montana, Susan Rinkunas, Sharyn Rothstein, Erica Saleh, William Scheft Jr, Oriana Schwindt, Sasha Stewart, Felipe Torres Medina, Suzanne Weber, Adam Wiesen
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 2026 Election Policy.
