John Auerbach for Council
I
am running for the WGAE Council because AN EMPOWERED
MEMBERSHIP DESERVES AN ACTIVIST COUNCIL.
This was a lesson learned in 2004 when I was a member of the Writers Guilds’ MBA Negotiating Committee and the membership of that committee was largely ignored by its Chief Negotiator which resulted in a very disappointing deal for our members.
This was a lesson taught in 2005 when I was among a small group of writers from both Guilds, East and west, who met on an ad hoc basis at first and later in a more formal setting to end years of dysfunction and divisiveness between the two unions. Out of these initial informal meetings came the idea for WGAEmpowered, a loose affiliation of like-minded working writers who believed, first and foremost, in a member-driven union.
Now comes 2007, when new technologies such as programming written directly for your cell phone and downloaded content on the internet, both original and reused, will be negotiated. How does a union whose current deal doesn’t even properly address 1970’s technology such as basic cable television handle 21st century innovations? By organizing and empowering its membership. By engaging in a two-way dialogue during which the Guild collects cutting edge information and scenarios for the digital revolution and dispenses it to its members while the members, in turn, express directly to their representatives their concerns.
This requires Council members who have shown the diligence and dedication to perform time consuming committee work. I am a Lifetime Member of the WGAE and have written for the movie studios, broadcast TV networks and basic and pay cable networks. In addition to serving on the 2001 and 2004 MBA Negotiation Committees, I have had the pleasure to serve on the Committee for the Professional Status of Writers in TV, the Credits Review Committee and the Committee for an Informed Membership. Currently, I am a trustee on the Writers’ Guild - Industry Health and Pension Plans. The other WGAEmpowered members running for the Council Freelance seats are: Michael Winship, Gina Gionfriddo, David Steven Cohen, Walter Bernstein and Bob Schneider. These working writers come from all genres -- public television, feature films, children’s programming, animation and episodic television -- and possess a wide range of experience writing in the entertainment industry. However, we are all united in our commitment to engage the membership and to act on their concerns. Members running for Council Staff seats on the WGAEmpowered slate are: Marianne Pryor and Andy Meppen.
It is vitally important that our union have Council members who will do more than just show up for a guild luncheon once a month. Last year’s WGAEmpowered slate showed what hard work and a unified sense of purpose can accomplish when it helped to end the destructive inter-guild fight and started to organize reality TV through a loud public campaign. There is so much more to accomplish this time around --
This was a lesson learned in 2004 when I was a member of the Writers Guilds’ MBA Negotiating Committee and the membership of that committee was largely ignored by its Chief Negotiator which resulted in a very disappointing deal for our members.
This was a lesson taught in 2005 when I was among a small group of writers from both Guilds, East and west, who met on an ad hoc basis at first and later in a more formal setting to end years of dysfunction and divisiveness between the two unions. Out of these initial informal meetings came the idea for WGAEmpowered, a loose affiliation of like-minded working writers who believed, first and foremost, in a member-driven union.
Now comes 2007, when new technologies such as programming written directly for your cell phone and downloaded content on the internet, both original and reused, will be negotiated. How does a union whose current deal doesn’t even properly address 1970’s technology such as basic cable television handle 21st century innovations? By organizing and empowering its membership. By engaging in a two-way dialogue during which the Guild collects cutting edge information and scenarios for the digital revolution and dispenses it to its members while the members, in turn, express directly to their representatives their concerns.
This requires Council members who have shown the diligence and dedication to perform time consuming committee work. I am a Lifetime Member of the WGAE and have written for the movie studios, broadcast TV networks and basic and pay cable networks. In addition to serving on the 2001 and 2004 MBA Negotiation Committees, I have had the pleasure to serve on the Committee for the Professional Status of Writers in TV, the Credits Review Committee and the Committee for an Informed Membership. Currently, I am a trustee on the Writers’ Guild - Industry Health and Pension Plans. The other WGAEmpowered members running for the Council Freelance seats are: Michael Winship, Gina Gionfriddo, David Steven Cohen, Walter Bernstein and Bob Schneider. These working writers come from all genres -- public television, feature films, children’s programming, animation and episodic television -- and possess a wide range of experience writing in the entertainment industry. However, we are all united in our commitment to engage the membership and to act on their concerns. Members running for Council Staff seats on the WGAEmpowered slate are: Marianne Pryor and Andy Meppen.
It is vitally important that our union have Council members who will do more than just show up for a guild luncheon once a month. Last year’s WGAEmpowered slate showed what hard work and a unified sense of purpose can accomplish when it helped to end the destructive inter-guild fight and started to organize reality TV through a loud public campaign. There is so much more to accomplish this time around --
- 2007 MBA negotiations which will include internet sales of scripted material, an area of revenue likely to eventually dwarf DVD income.
- The proliferation of non-union programming in basic cable as the cable viewing audience grows and the network audience shrinks.
- The imposition on one-step deals in feature films which is directly linked to the explosion of “forced” free re-writes.
I am a working writer, along with my slate mates, who will be directly affected by the outcome of these developments. I have just as much at stake in meeting these challenges as you do. The complacency of past WGAE Councils before 2005 that lead, in part, to the stagnation that plagued our union in terms of lost residuals and protecting the writers rights, e.g., late payments, free re-writes, must not be allowed to return. As your council member I would work diligently to make sure this never happens again and to ensure that your concerns and voice were always heard. The self-evident truth is that our union is only as strong as its members are united.
Biography
John
Auerbach was born and raised in New York City. He received his Master
of Fine Arts in Film Production from New York University’s Tisch School
of the Arts where he was also awarded a fellowship from the Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Auerbach worked as a sound editor in
the 1980’s on the New York independent films, “Liquid Sky”, “Stranger
Than Paradise”, and “Down By Law”.
A Lifetime Member of the WGAE, Auerbach has written screenplays for, among others, Columbia Pictures, Miramax Films, Warner Brothers, TriStar and Intermedia and teleplays for HBO, Showtime, USA and CBS.
In 2005, he received from the Writers’ Guild of America, East the Richard B. Jablow Award for “Devoted Service to the Guild.” He is currently a trustee on the Writers’ Guild - Industry Health and Pension Plans.
Auerbach’s short films have shown at film festivals in Edinburgh, Melbourne and Taormina and played on the HBO, Showtime, Movie Channel and A&E networks.
His screenwriting idols are Sam Fuller and Robert Towne.
A Lifetime Member of the WGAE, Auerbach has written screenplays for, among others, Columbia Pictures, Miramax Films, Warner Brothers, TriStar and Intermedia and teleplays for HBO, Showtime, USA and CBS.
In 2005, he received from the Writers’ Guild of America, East the Richard B. Jablow Award for “Devoted Service to the Guild.” He is currently a trustee on the Writers’ Guild - Industry Health and Pension Plans.
Auerbach’s short films have shown at film festivals in Edinburgh, Melbourne and Taormina and played on the HBO, Showtime, Movie Channel and A&E networks.
His screenwriting idols are Sam Fuller and Robert Towne.