Striking a Blow for Fairness
Aaron is a current member of the Writers Guild of America, west Board of Directors. FWIW endorses his 2008 re-election and urges WGA members to cast their votes for him. This is a re-print of his official candidate's statement. Read more at AaronMendelsohn.com
It should’ve been easy.
On the Negotiating Committee, I’d voted to recommend a strike authorization vote to the Board. On the Board, I’d voted to send the strike authorization vote to the Membership. But when the authorization ballot arrived at my desk, and it had come time to check the “yes” box, I was gripped by a sudden spasm of fear and doubt.
You see, I was broke.
The movie I had written – the one that was supposed to go into production before the strike – had pushed. And the spec script I had rushed to complete before Columbus Day was sitting on the shelf of my agent, who refused to go out with it because of the “de facto thing.” I was seriously running on fumes, and here I was, with a mortgage, two kids and a sizable debt load, about to advocate for voluntary unemployment.
I couldn’t move. The pen in my hand felt like a brick. The weight of
the decision was crushing me into my chair like a centrifuge.
And then the weight lifted. Suddenly. Like chains being shrugged
off. I was half an “X” into the “yes” box before I realized why.
I wasn’t carrying the weight alone.
Not to get all mushy, but I never feel more powerful than when I’m with
other writers. Whether I’m in my writers’ group, on a committee or in
the Board room, when I’m among writers I feel like every cliché is
possible. The Strike kicked that feeling up about eighteen notches.
Walking on the picket line was tough on the soles but great for the
soul. It was quite simply the most empowering experience of my life.
Here I was, out of work, broke, marching all over the hand that fed me,
and yet, tracing circles with dozens of sweaty scribes, I felt like
Iron Man, the Hulk and Frank Pierson all wrapped into one. I could
move mountains.
And we did move mountains. How far is debatable. But we moved them,
together. And I was moved in the process. Moved to continue to fight
for writers, and fight harder.
To make sure we implement (and aggressively police) what we won and work like hell to gain what we failed to win.
To enforce the protections already on the books and ensure that writers
get paid for their work, on time and for every draft they write.
To organize writers of reality, nonfiction, video games and new media
and win for them what writers of previous generations won for us: a
decent wage, reasonable working conditions, pension and health
coverage, and residuals.
To get animation writers working under a WGA contract for every movie,
TV show, direct-to-video DVD or webisode they write. Period.
To continue to elevate the profile of writers and give us parity with
directors and actors in the eyes of the press, the public and our
employers.
To get it through people’s thick skulls that writers of all kinds and colors can write characters of any kind and color.
To improve the credits system and make it fair for all writers, from
the guy who writes the first “Fade In” to the last one in the room to
turn off the lights.
To make sure net neutrality and fair market value become the law of the
land, to give media consolidation the stiff-arm and to continue to
strengthen our presence in Sacramento and Washington.
To bolster our ties with SAG, find new ways to engage the DGA and
IATSE, and continue to work to make the Writers Guild a unified,
national force.
To open up new opportunities for writers on the web and in all media.
I have been a card-carrying member of the Writers Guild West for 13
years. In the thousands of hours I’ve devoted to Guild service, I’ve
had the pleasure of working with hundreds of writers. I could not have
racked up the former without the strength I drew from the latter. The
pleasure was pure profit.
The war is over, but the battle continues. I ask you once again for the strength, and the vote, to fight on.
BACKGROUND: Member since 1995. BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2004-08. NATIONAL COUNCIL 2004-07. COMMITTEES: Public Affairs, Co-Chair 2002; Committee Advisory Panel (CAP) 2003-08, Co-Chair/Chair 2004-08; Board Nominating 2003; Negotiating 2004, 2007-08; Publicity & Marketing, Chair 2005-08; Administration of Credits Procedures 2005; Free Rewrite & Late Pay 2005-08; Awards Show, Co-Chair/Chair 2005-08; TV Laurel 2005; Screen Laurel, Chair 2005-06.
