The Writers Guild of America East has elected Lisa Takeuchi Cullen (The Endgame) as its new president. Takeuchi Cullen ran unopposed after the outgoing president Michael Winsip (Now on PBS) announced that he would not be seeking reelection over the summer. She will be taking over for Winsip as his term ends.
According to Variety, Takeuchi Cullen said in a statement after being elected, “I am honored to become the next President of the Writers Guild of America East, even when we negotiate a fair deal with the Hollywood studios — and it is a when not an if — I know the fight is not over. The fight continues for all of our members, TV and screenwriters as well as journalists and podcasters, to achieve compensation commensurate to the value of our important work. The fight continues for all workers to earn a life of dignity. The fight continues for all labor to put human rights over corporate profits. As the first person of color and third woman to lead our 69-year-old union, I will continue my career-long push for more equity and opportunities among all storytellers. That is, after all, what we are. Our stories matter. Our work matters. And I will fight like hell to make sure no one tells us otherwise.”
WGA East has also reelected Christopher Kyle (Serena) as the treasurer-secretary, and Erica Saleh has been newly elected as the vice president of the Film/TV/Streaming department, with the council of said department being made up of Sofia Alverez (To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before), Josh Gondelman (WikiWhat), Liz Hynes (Last Week Tonight with John Oliver), Greg Iwinski (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert), Sarah Montana (Love to the Rescue) and Sasha Stewart (The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore) as the newly elected council members. While there were not any open seats on the Broadcast/Cable/Streaming News Council, the Online Media Council elected Caitlin Cruz, Sie Morley, and Samantha Smylie onto their team.
As the strikes continue, WGA is set to meet with AMPTP this week in order to possibly come to a deal in which the strikes will end. Until then, both SAG-AFTRA and WGA continue to strike with SAG on day 69, and WGA on day 142. The only update received from WGA was a blanket statement reading “The WGA and AMPTP met for bargaining today and will meet again tomorrow,” pointing towards a possible ending to the 2023 Hollywood Strike.