Jonathan Fernandez for the WGA Board of Directors -- Endorsement link

WGA Members -- Here's the link to endorse me:

https://jonathanfernandezforwga.wufoo.com/forms/jonathan-fernandez-for-the-wga-board-of-directors/


Thanks!!

Jonathan

WGA Board Candidate Statement for Jonathan Fernandez 2014

Standing on a stage in a grand old downtown movie palace in Miami with Andy Garcia and Raymond DeFelitta, the star and the director of my film, in front of a cheering audience, I had an out of body experience.  I had made it to the finish line – my movie got made, I couldn’t believe it.

Just two days before, it looked like I wasn’t going to attend the Miami International Film Festival.  The producers told me there was no money in the budget for my plane ticket.

“But my contract says…”

“We’re so sorry.”

“But the MBA says…”

“Yeah.  Not going to happen.”

The production of Rob the Mob had been a great experience for me.  Every morning, the director and I drove to the set together.  Whatever changes needed to be made in the script, I wrote.  After seven years of fitful starts and stops, I was proud of the final film.

I couldn’t believe I wasn’t going to attend the premiere.

I called my lawyer.  She promised “to get into it.”

Then I called the Guild.  Michael Mitrovic was a pit bull (And yes, I believe in giving credit where credit is due).  He would not stop pushing, negotiating, until finally, two days before the start of the festival, I got an email offering me a plane ticket and a hotel room in Miami.

This is a different election than last year.  We’re not approaching a contract negotiation.  But the stakes are just as high.  Because how we prepare today determines how we will fare in our next negotiation.

This year I served on my second Negotiating Committee. I’m proud of what we accomplished.  Under David Young, Billy Ray, and Chip Johannessen’s leadership, the Committee turned an initial offer that included over $60 million in rollbacks into a contract that puts the guild on solid financial footing and made big gains for all writers.

We ensured the financially solvency of our pension plan by increasing contributions to 8.5%.  We kept our health plan strong.  No one in the private sector has this kind of health care plan or pension anymore.  I joke that it’s only Hollywood writers and NBA players.  But it’s not really a joke.

We solved the Options and Exclusivity problem – an issue there was no precedent for.  Television writers were being held under contract with no pay. Writers were being prevented from earning a living.  What?   How is this possible you ask?  This directly affected our newest and most vulnerable writers – and it was the kind of knotty issue that could have easily been kicked down the road for some future Negotiating Committee.  We solved a big problem before it became a huge problem.

We doubled the Script Publication Fee.  This is something that benefits writers – especially low budget and Indie feature writers – because this money is paid to you as a residual. 

Why do you care how you’re paid?  Because in a world where many writers have agents, managers, and lawyers taking up to twenty-five percent of your income – your residual is NOT commissioned.  That’s twenty-five percent more money that goes directly into your pocket.

When I wrote Rob the Mob, I thought I was writing a studio film.  I dreamed of writing Good Fellas or The Godfather.  But my agent explained, those films would be New York Indies today.  This wasn’t the career I thought I was going to have.

And that’s OK.  Because the WGA has changed with the times.  They will actively help members write for low-budget features.  Lifetime paid me to write Rob the Mob.  (“Take the cash!” my agents urged at the time.  “The Strike is coming!”)  But because of a clause in the MBA, the WGA helped me get the feature rights back to my film for free . 

Over the last two years, I have spoken on WGA panels and explained to other writers how I got the rights back to my film.  Two other writers I know have since done the same thing.  This sharing of information is critical to all of us.  The Guild should be a clearinghouse for ideas, a central way of disseminating information. The Guild is not a Union Hall – it doesn’t offer jobs.  But it can teach you the skills you need to keep you current in the marketplace.

Today, we all must be our own agents, managers, and producers.  And yes, we must occasionally find some time to write.  There are more opportunities than ever.  Amazon and Netflix, basic and premium cable.  I watch my film rise and fall on the iTunes charts (#3 – hooray!  #17 – hmm…)

In the last five years $100 million has been cut out of film development budgets.  Our members went from reporting over $437 million in earnings in screen  in 2009 to $331 million in earnings in 2013.  The proposed merger between 21^st Century Fox and Warner Bros. would cut earnings even further.  And if this merger doesn’t happen, another one will…

In this non-contract negotiating year, what can the Guild do?  Lots.

We need CABLE PARITY.  We took a huge leap forward with the gains we made in one-hour dramatic basic cable.  5%/5%/5% compounded is great for ‘high budget” dramatic series in their second seasons and beyond.  But what about comedies and variety shows?  The way to achieve gains is not by lowering our network rates. It’s by raising our basic cable rates.  We gave the networks a break to get the new medium up and running.  It’s up and running.

We need CONTINUING EDUCATION.  The Guild needs to sponsor and promote a WGA University.  We all need to be re-inventing ourselves.  I am a huge fan of the mini-courses that Billy Ray, Craig Mazin, and so many others have offered through the Guild.  In a rapidly changing world, the Guild can be a powerful clearinghouse for the ideas that are working, a forum to share our experiences.  If you haven’t attended any of these seminars, I urge you to attend one. If you’ve discovered a new way to get your project made – I urge you to lead one!  I have told my story of how I took a dead script at Lifetime and turned it into a feature film that closed the Miami International Film Festival.  Now it’s time for you to share your story.

We need to PROMOTE DIVERSITY.  In a city that is minority majority, we need to be telling everyone’s story. If the job of writer’s assistant is now the path to becoming a staff writer, then we need to make sure that door is open to all.  We’ve had huge success with the showrunner training program.  We even have a staff writer training program.  Why not have a writers’ assistant training program?  Let’s make sure that all qualified applicants have equal access to those career-starting jobs.

The Guild should promote GLOBAL EMPLOYMENT.  Wherever a member works – the Guild should be right there with them.

And while I know I’m supposed to be jumping up and down and saying what’s wrong with the Guild, let’s take a moment to give a shout out to the new Guild Screenings.  If you haven’t been – they’re great!  I love the Q & A’s; I love the films that have been chosen.  And I love the family screenings.  A great example of the Guild changing and moving forward.

I have worked in Hollywood for over twenty years.  I started as Roger Corman’s assistant, answering his telephones and bailing his dog out of the Santa Monica Pound.  The first feature I wrote predicted the downfall of the Soviet Union.  NPR and CNN interviewed me wanting to know how I predicted in a Corman movie something that the CIA had missed.  I’ve produced movies for Dino De Laurentiis and spent many years working as a film executive.  My childhood dream came true when I wrote for Star Trek:  Enterprise.  I am a Harvard graduate who worked in Argentina as a reporter for the Associated Press.

I am not the richest writer in the Guild.  But I am a working writer, who has had many good years and a few horrible ones.  I make 100% of my earnings as a writer.  As so many of us have over the last few years, I have been forced to re-invent myself.  But I am excited about the future because oddly, I feel we have more opportunities for our work than ever before – whether its Indie or Studio films, basic cable or network television or streaming on the Internet – there’s a home for good material. 

I humbly ask for your vote.  In exchange, I promise to fight for all writers.

Jonathan Fernandez

BACKGROUND: Member since 1998.  COMMITTEES: Board Nominating 2012; Contract/Strike Captain 2007-08; MBA Negotiating 2011, 2014; New Member Mentor 2013-14; Officer Nominating 2011. 

Jonathan Fernandez for the WGA Board -- Endorsements

JONATHAN FERNANDEZ

believes in the power of the Guild.

He will work hard to protect the rights of writers in a

changing media landscape.  He was a strong and

independent voice on the Negotiating Committee.

Please join us in supporting Jonathan for the

Board of Directors.

Christopher Knopf

Former President

Daniel Petrie, Jr.

Former President

John Wells

Former President

John Brancato

Former Board of Directors

Linda Burstyn

Board of Directors

Patti Carr

Negotiating Committee

Marjorie David

Board of Directors

Ian Deitchman

Board of Directors

Scott Frank

Former Board of Directors

David A. Goodman

Board of Directors

Mark Gunn

Former Board of Directors

Chip Johannessen

Board of Directors

Robert King

Former Board of Directors

Damon Lindelof

Negotiating Committee

Craig Mazin

Former Board of Directors

Carol Mendelsohn

Negotiating Committee

Michael Oates Palmer

Board of Directors

Robin Schiff

Former Board of Directors

Tom Schulman

Former Vice President

Mike Scully

Negotiating Committee

David Weiss

Former Vice President

JONATHAN FERNANDEZ

believes in the power of the Guild.

He will work hard to protect the rights of writers in a

changing media landscape.  He was a strong and

independent voice on the Negotiating Committee.

Please join us in supporting Jonathan for the

Board of Directors.

Jane Anderson

Eli Attie

John August

Fax Bahr

Alan Ball

Dan Berendsen

Allison Burnett

Jeff Bushell

Alessandro Camon

Dan Chariton

Michael Colton
Rick Dahl

Raymond De Felitta

David Diamond

David DiGilio

James Duff

Maria Escobedo

Jon Feldman

Jason Filardi

Peter Filardi

Joe Forte
Robert Garant

Claudia Grazioso

John Hlavin

Ryan Hopak

David Israel

Leigh Dana Jackson

Dwayne Johnson-

  Cochran

Michael Karnow

James Kelly
Lance Khazei

Jan Kimbrough

Seth Kurland

Meg LeFauve

Luisa Leschin

Chris Levinson

Steve Lichtman

Stephanie Liss

Justin Marks

Dan Mazeau

Bruce McKenna

Mark Miller

John Morgan

Jonathan Mostow

Peter Murrieta

Jeffrey Nachmanoff

Jordon Nardino

Jack Olsen

Lara Olsen

John Orloff

Jonas Pate

Paul Raley

Michael Reiss

Kristin Robinson

Matthew Sand
Lisanne Sartor

Barry Schkolnick

Jon Sherman

Ann Slichter

Kat Smith

Elena Song

Greg Strangis

Dan Sturman

Lindsay Sturman

Barbara Turner

Irene Turner

Ligiah Villalobos

David Weissman

Maiya Williams

Jonathan Fernandez Candidate Statement

“We want you to be the Executive Producer of the film.” 

After seven years, my movie was going into production.  We had an amazing director, a great cast, and now I was going to have an active role in the production.

“And we’re going to pay you as the Executive Producer.”

I understood what this meant.  By paying me as a producer and not as the writer – they wouldn’t have to make my Pension and Health contributions.

“Uh… Well… Thanks but no thanks.  I still want to be paid as the writer.”

“Sorry, we can’t.  There’s no money in the budget.”

I served on the 2011 Negotiating Committee.  I had written two movies for HBO and many tv movies for the networks.  I was brought onto the Negotiating Committee to represent television movie writers.  I was part of the Committee that fought to preserve our health benefits and our pension plan.  And we did.  Even after the Great Recession of 2008, the Guild’s pension and health plans are rock solid.  Try to think of another industry where workers have a great defined benefit pension that is fully funded. 

Now I was being told that this movie that I loved and nurtured and fought for and would do anything to get made wasn’t going to happen because I wanted my Pension and Health contributions. 

For years, television movies were my bread and butter.  And then, they went away.  “TV movies are dead,” my agents said.  Within a year, all my agents were fired.  I was forty years old – married with two children, a mortgage, no agents, and the profession I had worked in for the last decade had disappeared. 

Like so many other writers, I had to re-invent myself.  The world had changed and I had to as well.  But how?  As I lay awake at night worrying, I wondered:

Does the math work anymore?  Is it even possible to make a living as a screenwriter when I pay 10% of my earnings to my agents, 10% to my managers, and 5% to my lawyers?  How many writers can afford to give away 25% of their income?

Because of a clause in the MBA, I was able to get back the feature rights for free to a spec script I had sold to Lifetime.  I used that script to get a new manager, who introduced me to a producer, who introduced me to the director, who got the star, who got the money for the movie that was now not going into production because I wanted health insurance for my two sons.

Saturday afternoon, watching my son’s baseball game, I got many angry emails, texts, and phone calls (“Turn off your phone,” my wife urged).  I wondered – should I cave?

I held my ground.  I realized that if they don’t have the money for my health insurance, they don’t have the money to make my movie.  In the end, I got my Pension and Health Contributions.  Yesterday, I saw the first cut.  The film looks great.

The world has changed.  Budgets have dropped.  Dailies arrive on thumb drives.  Instead of dealing with six studios, many writers will be dealing with one of the thousands of new producers flocking to our industry.  These new producers have different levels of experience and different amounts of money in their pocket. 

In this changing landscape, what can the Guild do?  Lots.

We need to keep our PENSION and HEALTH PLANS STRONG.  This is the single most important thing the Guild does for all of us – we all benefit.  Again, I am incredibly proud of the work of the negotiating committee.

We need to RAISE THE MINIMUMS.  The minimums affect all of us – from residual rates to what writers earn.

We need CABLE PARITY.  We gave the networks a break to get the new medium up and running.  It’s up and running.  It’s time to acknowledge this reality.

We need CONTINUING EDUCATION.  The Guild needs to sponsor and promote a WGA University.  We all need to be re-inventing ourselves.  I am a huge fan of the mini-courses that Billy Ray, Craig Mazin, and so many others have offered through the Guild.  In a rapidly changing world, the Guild can be a powerful clearinghouse for the ideas that are working, a forum to share our experiences.  If you haven’t attended any of these seminars, I urge you to attend one.  If you’ve discovered a new way to get your project made – I urge you to lead one!

What the Guild can’t do is tell you how to behave.  It can try.  It can set standards.  Tell you not to do free re-writes or turn in written pages before you’ve been hired.  But I’ve attended Guild panels where WGA Board Members have told crowded rooms that they have done just that.  The truth is, had I wanted to accept my fee as an Executive Producer – what could the Guild have done?   My lawyers took their cue from me.  If I had caved, they would have caved.  When I stayed strong, so did they. 

The Guild must EDUCATE WRITERS ABOUT THEIR RIGHTS IN THE MBA.  Much of what I experienced in this past year forced me to wade through the thicket of the MBA.  The Guild lawyers were incredibly helpful.  But they were helpful only when I had educated myself and asked the right questions.  The MBA is an incredibly powerful document – but only if the members know how to use it.

You fail to change at your own peril.  Screenwriter earnings are off by 65% from 2007 ($343 million in 2007 vs. $526.6 million in 2012).  The number of screenwriters reporting earning is off by over 500 writers (2,041 writers in 2007 vs. 1,537 writers in 2012).  Even though television earnings are up over the last five years, the number of television writers reporting earnings is up by only 152 writers (3,356 writers in 2007 vs. 3,508 writers in 2012).  That’s a net loss of over 350 writing jobs.

I have worked in Hollywood for over twenty years.  I started as Roger Corman’s assistant, answering his telephones and bailing his dog out of the Santa Monica Pound.  In the first feature I wrote, I predicted the downfall of the Soviet Union.  NPR and CNN wanted to know how a Roger Corman movie anticipated something that the CIA had missed.  I’ve produced movies for Dino De Laurentiis.  I spent years working as a film executive.  I am a Harvard graduate who worked in Argentina as a reporter for the Associated Press.

I am a working writer who has had many good years and a few horrible ones.  I make 100% of my earnings as a writer.  As so many of us have over the last few years, I have been forced to re-invent myself. 

I love the Writers Guild.  It is an imperfect organization; it can be made better.  But I believe it is one of the last organizations that puts the needs of its members first. 

I ask you for your vote.  In exchange, I promise to protect our Pension and Health Plans, raise minimums, achieve cable parity, expand continuing education, and educate our members in their rights contained in the MBA.  I will fight for all writers as we navigate an uncertain future in new platforms and new ways of storytelling.

-- 

The Link to Endorse Jonathan Fernandez for the WGA Board of Directors

http://jonathanfernandezforwga.wufoo.com/forms/jonathan-fernandez-for-the-wgaw-board-of-directors/

Jonathan Fernandez for the WGA Board of Directors

Hey --

Here's a link so that you can endorse me:

http://jonathanfernandezforwga.wufoo.com/forms/jonathan-fernandez-for-the-wgaw-board-of-directors/

Thank you!!  I appreciate it.

Jonathan