Candidate for Council, Film/TV/Streaming Sector
Hello Fellow Writers—
You may remember me from the daily picket line. Or nightly picket line. Or 4am picket line. Or the line for free doughnuts, near the picket line. I blew out my voice on the megaphone precisely six minutes into Day 1 of the strike, and it hasn’t fully recovered since.
A proud WGAE member and captain for over a decade, I have served at every single level of a tv drama writers room: from Writers Assistant, to Staff Writer, Story Editor, ESE, Co-Pro, Pro, Sup, and Co-EP. Now I’m deep into development. And I am very well positioned to understand that the concerns are different at every level: from network Business Affairs taking advantage of un-repped Staff Writers; Producers who can’t get a title bump because of a lack of set experience (though the title bump is how you get set experience); to loopholes in If/Come deals… and vastly more.
In a non-MBA term, there are still actions we can take to combat the BA BS. For example: the union can galvanize showrunners and creators to stand up for their fellow writers, and to insist the writers they’re hiring receive the promotions they deserve. Titles are free, and a new rank this job can mean a pay raise the next. There’s another reason, too: keeping low- and mid-level writers stuck will cause salaries to stagnate, leading to longterm harm to contributions to our health and pension plans.
Now imagine if we could have these promotions… in a city near you. Do your reps know writers are now part of the NYS and NJ production tax credits? Do studios know the tax credit got increased back up from 25% to 30%? Do you know? Our Guild made a push to spread the word, but through no fault of its own, it was drowned out by post-strike fatigue. We must revitalize a public campaign. Long before the strike, and long before I got nominated for council, I went to Albany almost a dozen times to lobby for these gains. I lobbied Assemblypersons, State Senators, and got back on that four hour train ride again, and again, and again, determined to succeed. And succeed we did. But we can’t take our foot off the gas… just as Albany giveth, Albany taketh away. No tax credit is for life. We must keep showing up. We must keep supplementing the bill to stay competitive, and never fall behind again.
Because we have the right to live where we want to live. Not where we have to. To live where our partners work, our children go to school, and our dentists send birthday cards. I’m not just talking about NY and NJ, either. On the picket line, I met many of you from Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachussetts… Your careers matter too.
Now I want to use my lobbying experience to gain job-protections from AI through local legislation. What our council achieved in the MBA made us the first labor union on Earth to claim a win in the fight against AI. I want to further that fight through state-level government support. That support exists— this is not pie in the sky— we just need to go get it. Let’s band together with sibling industry unions, use relationships built during the production tax credit campaign, and win at the State Capitol like we did last time. I’ll get back on that Amtrak again, as many times as it takes. I’ll forget my phone charger on that Amtrak again, just as often.
I take this call to action deeply seriously, as I have for 10 years. As seriously as you being stuck at ESE for three jobs. As seriously as you having to move to LA twice in the same year with kids. As seriously as your retirement plan. As seriously as Silicon Valley’s AI gold rush. As seriously as our liveliehoods, doing what we’re good at, and— on a good notes call day— what we love.
Whatever happens this election, thank you for considering me. If you made it this far, allow me now to make an ask of you: Please, keep showing up for our union.
With solidarity, and gratitude— Céline
Endorsements
Hilary Bettis, Jessika Borsiczky, Micharne Cloughley, Robert Cohen, Patrick Coker, Dominic Colon, Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, Hussein Darwish, Sara David, Justin DiLauro, Kathy Dobie, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Eric Drysdale, Brendan Feeney, Matthew Fennell, Kevin Fox, Don P Hooper, Monet Hurst-Mendoza, Liz Hynes, Cerstin Johnson, Wesley Jones, Tom Kemnitz, Jr, Starlee Kine, Christopher Kyle, Warren Leight, Julie Martin, Sarah Montana, Ian Olympio, Joseph Opio, Anna Park, Victoria Pollack, Mark Ramirez, Joseph Randazzo, Jacqueline Rivera, Sharyn Rothstein, Erica Saleh, Melissa Salmons, Bill Scheft, Stephen Schiff, Sasha E Stewart, Katie Tibaldi, Noelle Vinas, Suzanne Weber, Adam Wiesen
WGAW: L.E. Correia
Endorse Céline Robinson for Council
Note: WGAW members who wish to endorse a candidate may follow the process outlined in section G.1.B of the 2024 Election Policy.
