Vote John Aboud for Vice President of the Writers Guild of America West
Hello! If you are an active member of the Writers Guild of America west, I would love for you to read my candidate’s statement, posted below. It’s not very long, I know you’re busy. Once you’ve read it, why not actually VOTE? You could even vote for me. You don’t have to vote for me, but I promise I will be a truly spectacular Vice President if I win. Simple as that.
While you’re waiting for your ballot to arrive in the mail, you could endorse me by clicking here. Thanks!
-John Aboud
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Since becoming a screenwriter, I have developed a fine appreciation for money. I appreciate receiving money on time. I appreciate receiving money when my work is reused. I appreciate money flowing into a fund that covers health care for my family. I appreciate knowing that there are reasonable minimums I’ll be paid when I’m talented enough to get a job.
I appreciate the Writers Guild because it fights for that money.
Your combination of skill and discipline determines the ceiling on what you earn, while the Guild protects the floor. It protects our basic rights as professionals. But the Guild can’t do that if you aren’t involved.
Your involvement (yes, you) will be the single most important issue for the Guild over the next two years. The leaders you elect this fall need to find ways to engage you, to make the Guild not just something you “have to join,” but rather something you’re excited to have in your life. That can happen if we emphasize these conveniently alliterative buzzwords: responsive and relevant.
Writers face huge challenges from a contracting marketplace and the technology-driven transformation of our industry. You know this, you read stuff. You’re dealing with these challenges already, commiserating about them with the person on a laptop one table over at Coffee Bean.
Maybe it’s the antiquated compensation disparity between network and cable TV. It could be the lack of basic protections in uncovered animation. Late pay and missing residuals. Surviving sweepstakes pitching, only to get a one-step deal. The online free-streaming window. How you were credited (or weren’t credited) on the feature adaptation of that old ColecoVision game. And then the pittance you were paid to write the Xbox game based on the ColecoVision game.
Your union can’t make progress on the issues you care about if it can’t first get you involved. We can face the challenges together, with a clear and unified strategy. Or we can let apathy, and competition with that person one table over at Coffee Bean, hold us back.
“Live together, die alone.” Somebody on “Lost” wrote that.
If I have the honor of serving as your Grand Exalted Vice President (proposed title), my focus will be on grass-roots internal organizing. That is how we’ll reorient the Guild to emphasize those two buzzwords I so insightfully chose:
Responsive. The staff and committees are the backbone of the Guild. Right now, they are formulating ideas and proposals that could enhance your career. Did you know that? I’m guessing you didn’t. Because if there’s one thing an organization of writers has trouble with, it’s promotion. Our internal communications are not what they should be. In many ways, what happens at the Guild is a black box, my least favorite kind of box. I was a co-founder of United Hollywood, which proved during the strike that discussing Guild news doesn’t have to be boring. Our social media must be improved, but the personal touch is even more important. The best way to connect you to our amazing infrastructure of staff and committees is to make our captain system more proactive and vital. Captains made the Guild impressively nimble and social during the strike. And it shouldn’t take a strike to get members informed and interacting.
Relevant. As our business confronts digital threats and tries to seize digital opportunities, we as a union must do the same. We have to make sure that we are the Guild of the future, covering whatever the business of the future looks like. I know firsthand how diverse our field can be. I’ve worked primarily in traditional features, but also in cable TV, network animation and uncovered animation for both features and online. No matter what you are writing, you need to know that the Guild has resources for you that are the envy of the industry. I’m proud to be involved with the Writer Access Project, and I’d like to see more such programs that advance careers by connecting members. When you get your first pilot shot, or your first feature into production, you should have a network to provide advice and support. When you have a problem, it should be easy to get answers. When you want to make the move into creator-owned content for online platforms, you should feel confident that your Guild can help you navigate that world.
Prioritizing responsiveness and relevance is what the Guild needs to do. Here’s what you need to do: VOTE. In last year’s election, only 1,273 votes were cast from a membership of approximately 7,500. Cue the sad foghorn. We can do better than that. You don’t have to vote for me, just VOTE. Tell your friends to vote. Tell your enemies to vote. Tell the people you’re lukewarm about to vote. Big changes start with you poking out tiny little ballot holes.
This union has been invaluable to me, and it can be to you. Let’s expand what it’s capable of doing for us, instead of watching its potential shrink. I appreciate the Writers Guild, and I would appreciate your vote.
BACKGROUND: Member since 2003. COMMITTEES: Board Nominating 2011; Contract/Strike Captain 2007-08.
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