Creative Professionals Working on Shows for Animal Planet, Food Network, National Geographic and Travel Channel Vote to Join Writers Guild East

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASENEW YORK Employees who write and produce nonfiction television shows including Monsters Inside Me, Samantha Brown’s Great Weekends and Worst Cooks in America for the production company Optomen Television have voted to be represented by the Writers Guild of America, East.  Staff at three other nonfiction TV production companies have already voted for Guild representation. First contract negotiations at two of the companies, Atlas Media and Lion Television are set to begin on Thursday and Monday, respectively.“We are excited that the talented people of Optomen have voted to join the Writers Guild, East. Theirs is the latest in a series of Guild election victories in the realm of non-fiction television. We look forward to working with them and to continue reaching out to the many creative men and women of non-fiction production” said WGAE President Michael Winship. The National Labor Relations Board election at Optomen took place in December but a final vote count had been hung up in procedural delays. The final ballot was unsealed this afternoon giving the Writers Guild a majority of votes.  A formal certification of the result by the NLRB is expected shortly. WGAE Executive Director Lowell Peterson will lead the union’s bargaining team in negotiations with Lion and Atlas. The Writers Guild of America, East, AFL-CIO, is a labor union representing writers in motion pictures, television, cable, digital media, and broadcast news. The WGAE conducts programs, seminars, and events on issues of interest to, and on behalf of, writers. In addition, it represents writers’ interests on the legislative level.  For more information on the Writers Guild of America, East, visit www.wgaeast.org.###