The members of the Writers Guild of America West have voted overwhelmingly to approve Ellen Stutzman‘s contract because the union’s executive director, a yr after she led the union through a historic strike.
Stutzman’s contract was ratified with 97% of the vote, with 2,279 in favor and 72 opposed.
Stutzman was promoted to executive director last November, when the union announced that David Young, its longtime leader, would retire. Young had taken a medical leave earlier that yr, leaving Stutzman in place as chief negotiator throughout the talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
Stutzman was paid $680,000 within the last fiscal yr, about double her salary when she was assistant executive director.
The union also announced Tuesday that three latest members have been elected to the Board of Directors.
Melinda Hsu, who was the showrunner of “Nancy Drew,” was the highest vote-getter, with 1,491 votes. Chris Hazzard and Danny Tolli were also elected as latest members to the board, ending fifth and seventh. They may join five incumbents who were re-elected: Raphael Bob-Waksberg, Deric A. Hughes, Justin Halpern, Travis Donnelly and John Rogers.
Hsu hosts a podcast, “Lead With Kindness,” which is aimed toward changing the culture of Hollywood to emphasise kindness and inclusion. She also ran for the board on a platform of kindness.
“Specifically, the goal of putting kindness into motion is what spurred me to run,” she wrote in her candidate statement. “If elected, I’ll help launch Guild-driven training to effect long-term positive change in writers’ rooms and wherever the Guild can reach.”
Hsu was a author on “Lost,” and currently has an overall deal at ABC Signature.
Hazzard is a feature author who participated within the “rapid response team” throughout the strike, which picketed and shut down location shoots within the early morning hours. Tolli was a strike captain and lot coordinator at Netflix.
