Why I am running to be the next secretary-treasurer of WGA West
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” ~ Barack Obama
On some level, all writers are self made. We create our livelihood out of thin air, and build our careers from the ground up. Just speaking from my own personal experience, I’ve had to start from scratch with everything I’ve accomplished in my life. I graduated from film school, became an assistant and worked my way up to becoming a working writer and proud card carrying member of the WGA. Along the way I’ve had doors shut on me. I’ve been denied spots on writing staffs because they “already filled their diversity quota”. I’ve watched as some of my peers flourished while my career stalled. And through it all, I clung to the training I received in the Marine Corps and the lessons I learned from my father — in the face of adversity, keep your head up and never stop pushing forward.
But while building these things can be a lonely endeavor, they would be meaningless without our reliance on each other. I was extremely fortunate to be received into the Guild’s Veterans Writing Project before starting my professional career, and have since been able to give back to that program as a mentor. From the beginning of my career until today, I have been acutely aware of how important a strong and active Guild can be, both in getting careers started, as well as helping them thrive. We may start this journey alone, but without the community created by the Guild, we’d never reach the places we hope to reach.
I believe we are at a crucial point in our industry, for better and for worse. Marginalized voices are being heard in greater numbers and from more diverse backgrounds. This is good — this is change that the Guild has had great success in fostering. But there are other changes that are impacting our union in ways that can be overlooked or missed if you aren’t directly affected by them on a day to day basis. As a writer still in the trenches, trying to keep my head up, push forward and build a career with our current uncertain footing, I am acutely aware of the challenges writers are facing at this point in their careers. Trying to build relationships and find jobs at my level was hard enough already; doing it without my agent is much harder. I believe when making decisions that will have massive effects on us, it is vitally important that there be a loud vociferous voice representing the field as it is experienced today by our most disadvantaged members. Empathy from our leadership is important, but sometimes there is no substitute for living the experience.
The WGA-ATA dispute stands as one of the single greatest challenges we have faced as a union — and it likely pales in comparison to the challenges ahead of us in 2020 with the upcoming AMPTP negotiations. We must approach these kinds of campaigns with the courage to stand up for our principles, but also with the awareness of the damage these kinds of battles can do to those of us whose careers are most vulnerable. When that damage begins to accrue at alarming rates, with no prospect for relief; when we find our strategies and tactics leaving us more isolated in the creative community than we were before; and when division within the Guild is at an all time high, something has to change.
My interest in the position and purpose for my candidacy is to inject a greater sense of diversity and to create a place for unrepresented voices into the WGA Leadership. I am aligned with the beliefs of my fellow colleagues, Phyllis Nagy and Craig Mazin, whom I’m running alongside. Our priority is to vigorously pursue policies that can aggressively achieve positive change — getting writers working, combatting racial and gender discrimination, tackling pay equity issues. But also to find new solutions to complicated and rapidly evolving problems; to both meaningfully reform the Guild’s relationship with the agencies, while also repairing fractured relationships with agents; to give voice to underrepresented elements within the membership, while also finding fresh ways to make sure we can still speak as one, a membership with a unified voice and aligned interests rather than riddled with the kinds of division I fear we face today.
I believe good leadership encourages people to speak up and engage, so your voice will always be the baseline in decision making. The only way for us to pull through this current challenge is together.
Thank you for your consideration.
