Council

Sara David is a writer who worked at Paramount+, Netflix, and VICE, where she served on the VICE Union bargaining and labor-management committees. She has been an active member of the Guild for nearly a decade and Council since 2021. Sara was elected Vice-President of Online Media in 2022 and is currently a 2L studying labor law.

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Beth Godvik is a newswriter/producer at CBS News Chicago (WBBM-TV). She’s worked there since 2004, producing newscasts, booking interviews and working with reporters. She also produces segments about quick ways to boost your mental health called “Mental Health Minute” and a financial education segment called “Money Talks.” In addition to news, Beth was one of the producers on “Monsters and Money in the Morning,” a sports and business round table talk show. She’s a union co-steward in her newsroom and has served on multiple negotiating committees for CBS News contracts. Beth is also an Emmy Award winner and an adjunct faculty member at DePaul University.You can follow her on Twitter/X at @GodvikNewzgirl

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Larry J. Cohen is a writer, producer and New Jersey enthusiast. His credits include BERLIN STATION (MGM+), BORGIA (Netflix/Canal+) and SADDAM & ME (selected for the 2018 Blacklist). His work has been selected in festivals across the country including San Francisco International, Boston Independent and Palm Springs International. His producing credits include Peabody Award winning RadioLab’s “WORDS”. Most recently, he has been developing series for Apple TV+, Bad Robot and HBO.

Nicole is a writer for The Daily Show. Previously, she was a writer at The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Chris Gethard is a writer, comedian, actor and podcaster. He currently hosts the podcast Beautiful/Anonymous, which Time magazine recently named one of the 100 best podcasts of all time and a “master class in kindness, empathy, and compassion”. Chris formerly created and hosted the television show The Chris Gethard Show, which started as a public access show before airing for three seasons on cable. He also wrote and performed Career Suicide, a critically praised comedy special that HBO released in 2017. He’s written six books, acted in dozens of television shows and films, and tours all over the world as a stand up. He’s also a card carrying member of SAG-AFTRA.

Don P. Hooper is a writer and filmmaker of Jamaican heritage (and a programmer in a former life). D’s early career included writing for various online media shops, including Engadget. From there, DP became USA Network’s Character Approved film writer, while also working on digital animated series for PBS Learning. Don P’s short story “Got Me a Jet Pack” is part of the New York Times bestselling anthology Black Boy Joy. You can hear Hoop’s voice acting work in video games and documentaries. True True is Don P’s debut novel.

Liz Hynes is a writer based in New York City. She currently writes for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and was previously the Writers’ Assistant at The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Céline Robinson is a French-born, UK-bred television writer and producer (Law & Order: SVU, American Rust, Grendel…). She lives in New York City with her wife and three beautiful plants (Snake, ZZ, Monstera…). Prior to joining council, she was a dedicated strike captain, and active lobbyist to include WGA writers in the NY Film/TV Production Tax Credit. She’s honored to serve on this council, and deeply focused on incentivizing this industry to create jobs where we actually live. When not writing or Writers Guilding, she can be found enjoying sports, theatre, and soup of any kind (matzah ball, mulligatawny, shio ramen…). She wants to hear your concerns, and help you in all the ways that a strong union can and should.

SUZANNE WEBER began her career by performing solo shows as an angry performance poet named Anita Liberty. Under the Anita Liberty pseudonym, Weber wrote three books including the titles, How to Heal the Hurt by Hating and How to Stay Bitter Through the Happiest Times of Your Life. Weber also wrote To What Miserable Wretches Have I Been Born? (Revenge Poetry for Babies & Toddlers) under her own name. Though most of Weber’s professional life has been spent in development, Weber was on staff for all three seasons of Disney Channel’s Andi Mack. Weber was also a Producer on the staff of the sadly short-lived Lizzie McGuire reboot for Disney+. (HMU if you want the deets.)

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Susan Rinkunas is an independent journalist covering abortion, reproductive health, and politics. She is a co-founder of Autonomy News, a contributing writer at Jezebel, and a contributing editor at The New Republic. Her reporting has appeared in The Guardian, Slate, The Nation, Mother Jones, and more. Susan helped negotiate contracts at Vice and G/O Media, where she helped lead a worker strike in 2022. Follow her on Bluesky at @susanrinkunas.com.

Jessica Schulberg is a senior reporter at HuffPost, covering the criminal legal system. She is the recipient of a 2022 Deadline Club award and a 2023 Writers Guild Award. Her work has helped free people from prison and led to policy and legislative change. She volunteers with Empowerment Avenue, helping incarcerated journalists publish their work in mainstream outlets. She is a proud member of HuffPost Union, where she has helped negotiate two contracts and has served on contract enforcement committees since 2017.

Samantha Smylie (They/She) is a journalist covering education in Illinois for Chalkbeat Chicago, and they are based in Chicago. She has written for local news organizations in the city such as the Hyde Park Herald, South Side Weekly, the Chicago Reader, and City Bureau. They are currently a shop steward for the Civic News Guild which covers Chalkbeat, Votebeat, and Healthbeat. She was voted in as an Online Media council member in 2023. You can reach Samantha on Twitter/X at @sammie_smylie.

Some fun things you should know about me: I have a small goldendoodle named Cherry, I picked up crocheting and embroidery at the end of 2023, and I’m a total booknerd.

Justin Raffael DiLauro, is an Emmy-winning writer / producer and creative director. He started his television career in the 90’s at Sports Channel America, then helped launch The Food Network, produced sports entertainment for ABC/ESPN and docu-dramas for Spike and TruTV, only to find himself shortening all scripts when he moved to promos with Cablevision, MSNBC, CNBC, WCBS, BBC America, to name just a few…. and now CBS Network News. In all Justin has worked for over 10 TV networks and all three broadcast companies. In addition to TV, Justin sits on the board of the 501c charity Starship Dance Theater & Company in Connecticut where he writes State grants and helps with marketing & production. He earned his BA from Hofstra University where he met his wife. They have three children together and split their time between Astoria NY and Lordship CT.  Since 2010, Justin has been an active member of the WGA East, including as a member of the 2022 contract bargaining committee where all Guild members united to make serious gains and fought off destructive concessions. This is Justin’s second term as a WGAE council member.

For more info on Justin go to: IMDb (external – opens in a new window) and/or LinkedIn (external – opens in a new window)