Ellen Stutzman Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

There is a major change in the WGA negotiating team ahead of the March 20 start of talks with studios on a new contract. WGAW Executive Director David Young, who has spearheaded multiple bargaining campaigns on behalf of the writers, is going on a medical leave of absence starting today, the guild’s leadership told members in an email this afternoon.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer David Young, the chief negotiator for the Writers Guild of America West, has bowed out of the negotiations on a new basic agreement due to a medical leave. The WGA informed members Tuesday that Ellen Stutzman, the assistant executive director of the guild, will take over as chief negotiator. The move comes just three weeks before the high-stakes negotiations are set to begin with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The current three-year contract is due to expire on May 1, and writers have been agitating for significant increases in wages and residuals and for measures to address “mini rooms.” Stutzman has been with the guild for 17 years, and has been assistant executive director since 2018.

It has been a long goodbye for packaging since the WGA and the major agencies’ new franchise agreements, signed in 2020-21 after an epic fight, included a “phase-in of packaging fee prohibition” period that ends tonight. But while for the WGA “it’s the end of new packages on guild-covered projects going forward,” per WGA West assistant executive director Ellen Stutzman, I hear that WME, CAA and UTA may not feel that way. Different interpretations of the language in the agreement could trigger dozens of arbitration proceedings, with studios stuck in the middle of potential disputes.