David Steven Cohenfor Council
Technologies
progress, fortunes shift and power centralizes, but in the business of
entertainment and communication, the writer is a constant.
However, the Writers Guild is not, nor is the security of our
profession. We will survive only through the passion and devotion
of our members.
I have belonged to the WGAE for 20 years, worked in many areas of our craft and fought hard for writers both on the job and through Guild committees. Now I am honored to join the WGAEmpowered slate as a candidate. I ask for your vote so I can bring my experience and insight to our Council, a body already imbued with a new momentum and sense of purpose.
Recently, we reached across the Mississippi and healed some old wounds with the WGA west. Many candidates from WGAEmpowered have been responsible for this effort, and I am proud to run in solidarity with John Auerbach, Bob Schneider, Michael Winship, Walter Bernstein, Gina Gionfriddo, Andy Meppen and Marianne Pryor.
It is a time for alliance and unity. (When was it ever not?) We must bring our members as well as colleagues in other creative unions and guilds into an increasingly singular and solid orbit.
I am a writer and producer in primetime network TV and cable, animation and children’s television, a screenwriter, librettist and lyricist. When I was writing a primetime FOX series for George C. Scott and Madeline Kahn or a Cartoon Network series for Courage the Cowardly Dog, the pen in my hand felt the same. However, the circumstances of my work did not. I like it a lot better when my health coverage is robust and active, when my pension is being fed, when I am guaranteed, at minimum, a fair wage, when my credit is assured and when ongoing use of my work is compensated – in current and all known and unknown technologies in perpetuity. For this reason, I am committed to fight for new and deserved rights for all writers and to prevent the erosion of what we already have.
As a longtime member of our Animation Writers Caucus, I have worked with Guild members and non-members (future members!) to bring dignity, security and Guild coverage to animation writers everywhere. With our Organizing Committee, I have grown to understand the diversity of our membership and the need to work on many fronts to strengthen our guild. As Chair of our Awards Committee for this and the last two years, I have worked hard and with great pleasure to enjoy with all of you a celebration of our work.
Please allow me the honor of working with the Council to try to assure real and lasting reason for celebration.
I have belonged to the WGAE for 20 years, worked in many areas of our craft and fought hard for writers both on the job and through Guild committees. Now I am honored to join the WGAEmpowered slate as a candidate. I ask for your vote so I can bring my experience and insight to our Council, a body already imbued with a new momentum and sense of purpose.
Recently, we reached across the Mississippi and healed some old wounds with the WGA west. Many candidates from WGAEmpowered have been responsible for this effort, and I am proud to run in solidarity with John Auerbach, Bob Schneider, Michael Winship, Walter Bernstein, Gina Gionfriddo, Andy Meppen and Marianne Pryor.
It is a time for alliance and unity. (When was it ever not?) We must bring our members as well as colleagues in other creative unions and guilds into an increasingly singular and solid orbit.
I am a writer and producer in primetime network TV and cable, animation and children’s television, a screenwriter, librettist and lyricist. When I was writing a primetime FOX series for George C. Scott and Madeline Kahn or a Cartoon Network series for Courage the Cowardly Dog, the pen in my hand felt the same. However, the circumstances of my work did not. I like it a lot better when my health coverage is robust and active, when my pension is being fed, when I am guaranteed, at minimum, a fair wage, when my credit is assured and when ongoing use of my work is compensated – in current and all known and unknown technologies in perpetuity. For this reason, I am committed to fight for new and deserved rights for all writers and to prevent the erosion of what we already have.
As a longtime member of our Animation Writers Caucus, I have worked with Guild members and non-members (future members!) to bring dignity, security and Guild coverage to animation writers everywhere. With our Organizing Committee, I have grown to understand the diversity of our membership and the need to work on many fronts to strengthen our guild. As Chair of our Awards Committee for this and the last two years, I have worked hard and with great pleasure to enjoy with all of you a celebration of our work.
Please allow me the honor of working with the Council to try to assure real and lasting reason for celebration.
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Biography
David Steven Cohen has written for
Pee-wee’s Playhouse, Living Single,
Parker Lewis Can’t Lose, and Mr. President starring George C. Scott and
Madeline Kahn. He co-wrote the feature Balto for Steven
Spielberg, was Head Writer of the Cartoon Network series Courage the
Cowardly Dog, and received two Emmy nominations and a Writers Guild
Award for the Nickelodeon series The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss, of
which he was Executive Producer. He wrote the libretto for the
opera Lilith, which New York City Opera premiered at Lincoln Center in
2001. Recently, David collaborated with Roz Chast on Proof of
Life on Earth, a pilot for ABC Family based on Ms. Chast’s work.
David has served on the WGA East Animation Writers Caucus, Organizing Committee, served as Chair of the Marketing Committee, currently Chairs the Awards Committee, and has enjoyed moderating many Q&A sessions with screenwriters for Guild-associated screenings.
David has served on the WGA East Animation Writers Caucus, Organizing Committee, served as Chair of the Marketing Committee, currently Chairs the Awards Committee, and has enjoyed moderating many Q&A sessions with screenwriters for Guild-associated screenings.