Diana Son to be Honored with the WGA East’s Richard B. Jablow Award for Devoted Service to the Guild at the 2026 Writers Guild Awards
NEW YORK, NY (December 18, 2025)—The Writers Guild of America East (WGAE) is proud to announce that it will present Diana Son the Richard B. Jablow Award for Devoted Service to the Guild at the 78th Annual Writers Guild Awards ceremony at New York’s Edison Ballroom on Sunday, March 8, 2026.
Established in 1978 to recognize devoted service to the Guild, the Jablow Award was created in honor of Richard B. Jablow, who helped found the WGAE, authored its constitution, and served as its first counsel. Past honorees include Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, Claire Labine, Herb Sargent, Ernest Kinoy, Stephen Schiff, James Schamus, David Steven Cohen and Courtney Simon.
A Writers Guild of America East member since 1999, Son is a showrunner and Writers Guild Awards and Emmy-nominated writer for television, and an award-winning playwright. She has been co-emcee of the WGAE’s Showrunner Academy since its inception in 2021. The Academy is one of Guild’s signature training programs and is designed to support television writer-producers, upper-level writers and new show creators in honing the skills necessary to become successful showrunners and leaders in today’s television industry. Specific to the unique landscape and needs of the East Coast, the WGAE Showrunner Academy provides invaluable instruction from current showrunners and other industry professionals – from both coasts – on a wide-variety of pertinent topics that are critical to succeeding in the role of a showrunner.
Tom Fontana, President of the Writers Guild of America East, said, “Over the last four years, Diana Son has been guiding and emceeing the WGAE Showrunner Academy. She is intricately involved in the Academy from designing the curriculum to advising who should be included in the cohort, to emceeing roughly half of the 15 sessions that occur over the course of two months for 5 hours per week. She has taken it upon herself to actively mentor the trainees wherever they seek advice and information. She built one of the Guild’s most vital programs for television writers and the Guild literally could not have done it without her.”
Son’s numerous television credits most recently include executive producing on the Amazon series “Butterfly” and the NatGeo series “Genius: Aretha,” in addition to serving as co-showrunner of Season 1 of “Thirteen Reasons Why.”
Son has been a writer/producer of series including “American Crime,” “Dirty John,” “Law & Order: True Crime,” “Southland,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “Do No Harm” and started her television career as a staff writer for “The West Wing.”
In a statement, Diana Son said, “I’ve been a proud member of the WGAE since my first staffing job in 1999. I’ve benefitted from our union’s advocacy in countless ways so it’s been both a privilege and imperative for me to work on programs that help open doors and empower other guild members. I’m so moved and humbled to now be honored by my union which has given me so much.”
The honorary award will be presented to Son by previous Jablow honoree Kathy McGee.
For more information about the 2026 Writers Guild Awards, please visit www.wgaeast.org.
For media inquiries about the 2026 WGA New York Ceremony, please contact Jason Gordon in the WGAE Communications Department at (212) 767-7809 or email: jgordon@wgaeast.org.
ABOUT THE WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA EAST
The Writers Guild of America East, AFL-CIO, is a labor union of more than 7,500 members working in film, television, news, podcasts and online media. The Guild negotiates and administers contracts that protect the creative and economic rights of its members; conducts programs, seminars and events on issues of interest to writers; and presents writers’ views to various bodies of government. For more information on the Writers Guild of America East, visit wgaeast.org.