I received an email press release from the WGA, portions of which I’ve excerpted below:
Patric M. Verrone, David N. Weiss, Elias Davis, and their slate of
eight Writers United board candidates have been decisively swept into the
leadership of the Writers Guild of America, west (WGAw). In one of the highest
turnouts ever for the Guild, Verrone was elected President with a resounding 68%
of the vote, and the rest of his slate followed suit, winning their seats by
roughly a two-to-one margin. The lowest vote recipient from the Writers United
slate beat out the next highest vote recipient by over five hundred votes.Stated Verrone: "Our slate clearly selected a campaign platform — organizing
the creative community to better bargain with media companies — that resonated
with writers. This is one of the few times in Hollywood history that the
leadership of a creative union has entered office with such a decisive
mandate."Mr. Weiss will serve as Vice President and Mr. Davis as Secretary-Treasurer.
Their running mates, Scott Frank, Robert King, Peter Lefcourt, Joan Meyerson,
Phil Alden Robinson, Howard A. Rodman, Tom Schulman, and Dan Wilcox, will join
them on the board and provide a working majority that will enable them to
implement their ambitious agenda.NUMERICAL RESULTS: President: Patric M. Verrone (1301, 68.8%), Vice President:
David N. Weiss (1256, 65.5%), Secretary-Treasurer: Elias Davis (1227, 65.7%).
Board of Directors: Phil Alden Robinson (1425), Scott Frank (1355), Tom
Schulman (1305), Peter Lefcourt (1303), Joan Meyerson (1283), Howard A. Rodman
(1243), Robert King (1163), Dan Wilcox (1157). The one-year term board seat of
newly-elected Vice President David N. Weiss will be filled by Melissa Rosenberg
(646). The Officers and Board members will serve for a term of two years,
effective immediately.Other results: Candidates for officers: President:
Ted Elliott (591), Vice President: Carl Gottlieb (661), Secretary-Treasurer:
Irma Kalish (642). Candidates for members of the Board of Directors: Tim
O’Donnell (576), Don M. Mankiewicz (552), Dan McDermott (510), Steve Chivers
(478), Doug Eboch (408), Mike Langworthy (379), Eric Heisserer (348), David S.
Weiss (212).
It’s an astonishing upset, unlike anything I’ve seen in my twenty years as a WGA member. I think the message being sent is clear and shows the depth of the discontent within the membership with the way the Guild has been run in recent years (For the record, I voted for Verrone for President and Weiss for VP, but my board votes ended up being evenly divided between the two "slates").