Candidate for Council, Film/TV/Streaming Sector
I’m Sarah Montana, and I’m running for re-election for council member representing the Film, TV, and Streaming sector.
A little about me
I’m a feature writer (mostly involving happily ever afters and a mythical bearded man), a public speaker and activist for victims of gun violence and sexual assault, and a proud (yea, I said it) resident of New Jersey. In previous lives, I worked in musical theater, opera, publishing, and nonfiction. I’ve seen firsthand from multiple industries how vulnerable artists are in a society that does not value or protect them—and our economic, technological, and political obstacles in 2025 are only making those challenges more pronounced.
Two years ago, some of you were gracious enough to believe this very loud and gratingly enthusiastic strike captain armed with a bullhorn, Dunkin Donuts, and an unabashed love of New Jersey might serve you well on WGA East Council. Here’s what I did with your vote:
Guild Service
- I am the Co-Chair of the A.I. Task Force alongside Larry Cohen. Over the last eighteen months, we’ve met with experts from our industry, the tech industry, the labor movement, government officials, think tanks, and membership to gain as much information on A.I. and its impact on writers as we can.
- We’ve developed a clearer understanding of A.I.’s capabilities: What it can do, what it can’t do (despite heavy promises), and where it’s likely headed
- We’ve developed suggestions for contract language for our upcoming 2026 MBA negotiations
- We’ve launched educational programs for members so they can be as empowered as possible to protect their work and understand how A.I. is transforming the industry
- We’ve worked with guild staff on lobbying initiatives to increase writer protections
- Larry and I co-authored an op-ed denouncing the Trump Administration’s firing of Shira Perlmutter, former head of the U.S. copyright office, and calling out the “freedom to learn” (aka train on copyrighted material) for what it is—theft.
- I am the Co-Chair of Scripted Forum with Adam Wiesen (vote for him, he rules), and a Co-Founder of Wednesday Workshops. When Adam and I took over Scripted Forum, we knew we were inheriting a more difficult time in the industry for all WGAE members. And the more difficult things are, the more desperately we all need consistent solidarity.
- We changed Scripted Forum to a monthly breakfast with bagels and coffee (because bagels and coffee can’t fix everything, but they can fix a lot), and dozens and dozens of you joined us in solidarity.
- We re-launched Wednesday Workshops, a series by writers for writers to skillshare in an increasingly demanding economy. It’s created a safe space to learn new skills and dip your toes into new genres.
- I worked with our fabulous staff and Suzanne Weber to develop Captain Trainings.
- Our Captains Network is the backbone of our union. We made it a priority to keep the solidarity from strike going with more frequent meetings where we:
- Learned tactics for organizing and cross sector solidarity
- Developed skills for connecting with and supporting team members
- Kept each other informed on our pockets of the industry, member needs, and burgeoning challenges
- I’m the annoying person who made your captain call you to check in. I’m sorry/you’re welcome, but I hope it reminded you that as hard as things are right now, you are never alone. You have the whole guild standing behind you.
- Our Captains Network is the backbone of our union. We made it a priority to keep the solidarity from strike going with more frequent meetings where we:
- I worked with our (still fabulous) staff to Redesign our Member Orientation.
- We clarified and explained your rights as a WGA member, from how health and pension works to credit arbitration to late payments.
- We streamlined sharing of guild resources so members knew where to get answers
- We had more frequent, smaller onboarding sessions that allowed for more personal attention and opened orientations up to established members who wanted a refresher on their rights
- I served on the Election Policy Committee with three primary goals:
- Tighten up our election process and democratic systems so they would be unimpeachable in the event of a more anti-labor federal government. Which turned out to be totally unnecessary…OH WAIT JK.
- Boost our voter turnout and member engagement for elections.
- Get more dedicated, thoughtful, wonderful members to run for council. As you can see by the mythological flood level of candidates running for council this year, I might once again be the architect of my own demise—and I couldn’t be happier or prouder.
- I represented WGA Council at Labor Notes 2024, because our role in the labor movement is and remains deeply important to me.
- This is in addition to my regular service as a council member. These two years have personally taught me:
- The nuances of the challenges facing our Online Media and Broadcast members, and helped me forge close relationships with their representatives
- A much deeper understanding of our operations, our staff, and our budget
- A more detailed understanding of our relationships with our sister unions in entertainment and WGA West
- How many seltzers it’s possible for one determined human to consume in a three to four hour monthly meeting
And sorry, I’m going to brag…I did all of this while I went through four rounds of IVF. Not even hundreds of needles and a hormone riddled brain could keep me from showing up for the Guild (they really tried though, they really tried). Imagine what I can do with my whole brain.
Responses to Candidate Questions
1. What do you think is the most pressing issue facing the Guild and what steps will you take to address it?
Our biggest issue is an intersection of two huge factors:
- Writers are under attack—pure and simple. Jobs are disappearing, and the ones that remain face more censorship and more restricted growth than ever.
- The media industry itself is undergoing the biggest evolution since the rise of television. And nobody—especially the bosses—really knows what it’s going to become.
Together, those factors threaten our budget (aka our resources to show up and fight) and our health fund (let’s be honest…one of the biggest protections we’re fighting for). And the hazy vision of what our industry will become makes old tried and true methods for protecting members less effective.
We’re going to have to get creative. This will require us to:
- Organize more effectively in spaces that are on the rise in the media landscape—podcasts, vertical, and other exciting broadcast and online media targets
- Strengthen and utilize our alliances with other entertainment unions to take more targeted political action and shore up our internal organizing to bolster our collective power
- Create and adhere to a budget that protects us in lean times without stunting growth down the line
- Boost inter-member and guild communication/solidarity so that we are acting from the most informed place possible instead of reacting to light speed industry changes too late
I’m not going to lie to you and tell you The Guild can create jobs, get you a job, make this industry 2018 again. It can’t. What I can promise you is that I will do everything in my power to fight for our protections, stronger contract language, better local and state laws, more opportunities for covered work through organizing, and that I personally as a leader will stay cunning, creative, and adaptable in the face of the avalanche of changes this new era presents.
2. WGAE is divided into three sectors: Film, Television, and Streaming; Broadcast, Cable, and Streaming News, and; Online Media. How will you work with and represent all Guild members, including those outside of your own work sector?
My time on council has deepened my understanding of how Online Media and Broadcast work—thanks mostly to observing the diligent work of my fellow council members in those sectors and the strong relationships we’ve built. I’ve been proud to support them in contract negotiations, to work alongside them in broader guild initiatives like A.I. Task Force, and to learn from them. I’m excited to continue that work, and to continue to educate Film/TV/Streaming members on how we can support each other.
3. What qualities or characteristics do you look for in a Guild leader?
Guild leaders have to take in a lot of information to make decisions. That information ranges from mundane to highly emotionally charged—and it all links together in complicated ways. And those decisions have to be made in a group that contains other humans—humans that have to trust each other. And they have to do it in “unprecedented times” when it would be a lot easier to watch Love Island.
A strong Guild Leader is:
- Resilient. There’s a lot of hard news and harder decisions. Can you process your feelings and reactions and channel them into positive action? Can you understand when your feelings are a compass and when they’re fogging things up? Can you keep showing up in the face of burnout and raw defeats?
- Empathetic. You have to care about members and put yourself in their shoes. You have to care about your fellow council members and always remember they’re here as volunteers because they care.
- Strategic. Being on council requires you to take in a huge volume of information and then set a course. Can you process information—and your feelings about it—quickly? Can you connect dots between sectors and industries to project where we’re headed and spot obstacles? Can you set priorities knowing on some level everything is important, and yet some things have to come first?
- Collaborative. Council is a team sport. It’s Ted Lasso’s locker room. Everyone comes in with their own agenda, but the best council members want to build something together.
- Gracious. We are fighting to do the impossible here. We are volunteers because we care about this Guild. Council is an unpaid fulltime job. Balls will be dropped, tempers will flare. Can you give each other the benefit of the doubt?
4. What do you think WGAE’s role should be in the broader labor movement?
This is a big moment for labor. It feels like the future of work and what it means to be a human—which I believe is deeply connected to our ability to think and create freely—is at stake.
In a time when lots of people are feeling disenfranchised in our political system—but where collective action is needed more than ever—labor can be a home and a beacon for how to meet this moment in history.
The 2023 strike proved we’re leaders in this movement. We’re an extremely public union given our industry and we know how to educate and entertain (writers, baby). We are a spotlight for the labor movement with a rare ability to engage the general public on labor and get them to care.
It’s imperative that we leverage that public will into showing up for our sister entertainment unions and the broader labor movement. For Amazon workers and nurses and teachers and engineers—we’re all under attack, which means we’re all in this together.
Endorsements
Sofia Alvarez, Nick Bernardone, Micharne Cloughley, Larry Cohen, Geri Cole, Dominic Colon, Nicole Conlan, Kevin Cortez, Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, Bonnie Datt, Sara David, Devin Delliquanti, Glenn Eichler, Kaitlin Fontana, Christopher Gethard, Elizabeth Godvik, Tian Jun Gu, Dylan Guerra, Liz Hynes, Hillary Jordan, Tom Kemnitz, Jr, Christopher Kyle, Zachary Lennon-Simon, Kate Melville, Robert Mittenthal, CQ Quintana, Erica Saleh, Nick Snyder, Sasha Stewart, Jill Twiss, Kate Villa, Suzanne Weber, Moujan Zolfaghari
Endorse Sarah Montana 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.
