Lights, Camera, PAC-tion!

With the 2024 election season heating up, the WGAW Political Action Committee (PAC) is in full effect, communicating with candidates, raising money and finalizing its endorsement list.

“We are fighting forces that would like to break democracy in November and that’s not funny at all,” WGAW President Meredith Stiehm said during her opening remarks at the recent Comedy Saves Democracy: 2024 Edition at the Writers Guild Theater, a fundraiser for the WGAW PAC. 

WGAW President Meredith Stiehm. Photo by Moises Marquez

Formed in 2008, the WGAW PAC endorses candidates in both congressional and California state races. Before giving its endorsements and contributions to candidates, the PAC Board made up of WGAW officers and working writers conducts extensive research to identify candidates who support issues that are important to members both as writers and as union members. These include strengthening antitrust enforcement and challenging harmful mergers; a commitment to an open Internet; regulating the use of AI; increasing the power of organized labor; and supporting legislation that protects and strengthens the health plan and pensions like ours.

Support of the WGAW PAC is like a collective vote for those issues.

“A lot of the time people give money to candidates directly, which is not a bad thing, but it’s completely different when it’s thousands of writers contributing to one fund that we give out,” said WGAW Political Director Rachel Torres. “The larger the PAC becomes, the stronger and the louder voice our members have.”

Who gets elected matters when it comes to writers’ issues. In the current landscape, while Wall Street has called for further consolidation in the entertainment industry, it is the strong antitrust stance of the Biden Administration and the actions of its regulatory agencies to challenge mergers that are likely preventing some of the industry’s biggest employers from attempting to swallow up more competition. 

Under former President Obama, the Guild worked with a coalition to win strong regulations around net neutrality in 2015.

“When Trump came in, he rolled it all back,” Torres said. “Now because we have a much better Federal Communications Commission, they have reinstated the open Internet rules. This is one issue, but it goes to show that politics matter, elections matter, voting matters and things can change on a dime.” 

WGAW Political Director Rachel Torres with U.S. Representative Nanette Barragán on the Amazon Studios picket line on May 19, 2023. Photo by J.W. Hendricks

The PAC’s reach and strength has grown. The 2023 strike brought the WGAW face-to-face with political representatives, many of whom joined striking writers and actors in solidarity on the picket lines and had subsequent discussions about ways in which they could support. 

“The strike was an incredible opportunity for congressional members who the Guild hadn’t interacted with, to be on the lines meeting writers, asking about the strike and learning about the issues,” Torres said. “I’ve talked to many elected leaders both in Sacramento and in Washington who have all said the same thing: the writers really set the precedent for the hot labor summer, and it inspired them to be stronger on all the issues that we care about.”

WGAW Board member and PAC Board member Ashley Gable cites an example from a few years back when then-FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel was in town and requested a meeting with the WGAW PAC.

FCC Chairman Jessica Rosenworcel visits with the WGAW PAC on October 19, 2023. Photo by Dexter Kim

“I think that shows the kind of trust that elected officials and political appointees like Rosenworcel have in our judgment and the causes we care about,” Gable said. “We have always been punching above our weight in terms of influence.”  

The 2024 Comedy Saves Democracy show was hosted by WGAW Board and PAC Board member Adam Conover and featured performances by stand-up comedians Chris Estrada, Nick Kroll, Aparna Nancherla, Kumail Nanjiani, and Atsuko Okatsuka. Between generous donations from the host committee* and ticket sales, the event brought in more than $120,000. 

Looking to build on the momentum of a successful event, the PAC Board encourages members to make regular monthly donations to the PAC. 

“Fighting for democracy is nonstop,” Stiehm said at the 2024 event. “Events like this are amazing and they bring in a lot of dough, but the monthly donations really help us because it replenishes the coffers in a reliable way.”

Learn more about the WGAW PAC and see a list of elected officials and candidates who have received WGAW PAC support and endorsements. 

*Allison Abner, John August, Amy Berg, Alex Cary, Yahlin Chang, Akela Cooper, Adam Conover, Hayes Davenport and Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Marjorie David, Timothy Dowling, Carleton Eastlake, Diane English, Dana Fox, Barbara Friend, Ashley Gable, Alex Gansa, Andrew Goldberg, Dan Gregor and Rachel Bloom, Justin Halpern, Matt Harawitz, Hart Hanson, Eric Heisserer, Winnie Holzman, Marta Kauffman, Rebecca Kessinger, Chris Keyser, Janet Leahy, Kathy McCormick, Seth McFarlane, Carol Mendelsohn, Kieran Mulroney, Michele Mulroney, Brig Muñoz-Liebowitz, Jan Oxenberg, John Rogers, Melissa Rosenberg, Mike Royce, Shawn Ryan, Danielle Sanchez-Witzel, Tom Schulman, Matt Selman, Tom Smuts, Kira Snyder, Jen Statsky, Meredith Stiehm, Charlotte Stoudt, Ellen Stutzman, Jennie Urman, Cat Vasko, Krista Vernoff, Nicole Yorkin