Tom Fontana, a respected showrunner known for HBO’s “OZ” and NBC’s “Murder: Living on the Streets,” has been elected president of Writers’ Guild of America East.
The results of the WGA Eastern elections were disclosed Thursday evening. Fontana defeated novelist and screenwriter Charles Kipps for a top-elected post in the union representing more than 7,500 film and television scribes who live east of the Mississippi River.
Sasha Stewart was elected Secretary Treasurer. Michael Rauch has been elected Vice President of the Film/TV/Streaming Sector. Nicole Conlan, Chris Gessard, Liz Hines, Sarah Montana, Shalyn Rothstein and Erica Saleha have been elected to serve on the council representing members of film/television/streaming.
Sie Morley, Nitish Pahwa and Samantha Smylie were elected to serve on the council representing online media members.
Fontana will take over Lisa Takeuchi Cullen at the helm of WGA East. She served two terms as president and led the guild in 2023 through a turbulent five-month strike. Last year, WGA East also saw the transition of senior management positions as Sam Wheeler joined as executive director.
According to WGA East, board and board election participation was the strongest in the bedrock of members working in film/television/streaming, as approximately 14% (4,363) of eligible members voted. In broadcast/cable/streaming news, 7% of eligible voters voted (1,251). For people in the guild’s online media sector, voter turnout was 5% (1,966).
The WGA East election takes place a week before the guild’s West Coast counterparts hold the election. In the case of WGA West, Michele Mulroney is not opposed for the presidency. She will replace veteran showrunner Meredith Stiem, who served two terms.
(Photo: Tom Fontana)
