Veteran Showrunner Tom Fontana Elected President of WGA East

Tom Fontana, the respected showrunner known for HBO’s “Oz” and NBC’s “Homicide: Life on the Street,” has been elected president of the Writers Guild of America East.

The WGA East electoral results were disclosed Thursday evening. Fontana defeated novelist and screenwriter Charles Kipps for the top elected post at the union that represents more than 7,500 film and TV scribes who live east of the Mississippi River.

Sasha Stewart was elected Secretary-Treasurer. Michael Rauch was elected Vice President of the Film/Television/Streaming sector. Nicole Conlan, Chris Gethard, Liz Hynes, Sarah Montana, Sharyn Rothstein and Erica Saleh were elected to serve on the Council representing Film/TV/Streaming members.

Sie Morley, Nitish Pahwa and Samantha Smylie were elected to serve on the Council representing Online Media members.

Fontana will succeed Lisa Takeuchi Cullen at the helm of WGA East. She served two terms as president and lead the guild through its tumultuous five-month strike in 2023. Last year, the WGA East also saw a transition in its senior management as Sam Wheeler came on board as executive director.

According to the WGA East, participation in the board and officers election was strongest among the guild’s bedrock of members who work in Film/TV/Streaming, as some 14% (4,363) of those eligible members cast ballots. In Broadcast/Cable/Streaming News, votes were cast by 7% of eligible voters (1,251). For those in the guild’s Online Media sector, the turnout was 5% (1,966).