Writers Guild of America East members have re-elected Sara David as vice president of their online media division and appointed Beth Godvik as the new vice president of broadcast, cable and streaming news in their first council election since the union’s 2023 strike concluded.
Godvik is taking over on the council for Kathy McGee, who did not run for re-election in the role. Godvik has served on the WGA East Council for two years while David, who ran unopposed, has served on the council for three years.
The WGA East Council is the union’s governing body, consisting of 20 council members and five executive officers across three work sectors represented by the union.
Eleven council members were also elected in the contest, with voting taking place between Aug. 27 and Sept. 19. In the film, television and streaming sector, Monica Lee Bellais was re-elected while Larry J. Cohen, Don P. Hooper, Victoria Pollack, Celine Robinson and Suzanne Weber additionally won seats. In the online media division, Susan Rinkunas and Jessica Schulberg were re-appointed to the council after running unopposed. In the broadcast, cable and streaming news category, Justin DiLauro and Gail Lee were re-elected while Phil Pilato also gained a seat.
Overall, 21 people ran for 13 open positions in this year’s contest. Voter turnout was low, with just 6.3 percent of members in online media voting, while 11.07 percent of broadcast, cable and streaming news and 14.23 percent of film, TV and streaming members did the same. EBallot supervised the ballot count.
The WGA East Council is also led by president Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, vice president of film/television/streaming Eric Saleh and secretary-treasurer Christopher Kyle, whose seats are up for re-election in 2025. Council members who also have one year left in their terms include Sofia Alvarez, Josh Gondelman, Liz Hynes, Greg Iwinski, Sarah Montana, Sasha Stewart, Caitlin Cruz, Sie Morley and Samantha Smylie.