The union representing 9,000 Hollywood TV and film writers concludes an election tonight that could result in its fourth president since January, one that officials hope will finally bring stability to a guild that has seen more plot twists than a Hitchcock thriller.
Watching closely are federal officials, who are monitoring the Writers Guild of America, West, contest after the guild last year elected a leader whose membership had lapsed.
The vote for officers and directors, results of which will be tallied Tuesday, pits two factions who disagree on whether the union representing writers needs a tuneup or an overhaul. Interim President Daniel Petrie Jr., who believes the union runs reasonably well, is running against Eric Hughes, who wants to shake things up.
The vote also includes a dose of goofiness that can be expected when people who make a living being creative hold an election. Included in candidate statements is a challenge by one to face off with the union's president in a spelling bee "so we can have some fun." Still another lists as his credentials having "produced a tome longer than a Dostoevsky novel but not as funny." One statement gives a blow-by-blow account of a feud between two guild executives, noting that "it is not in dispute that a shouting match erupted."
Hughes is running again after being defeated one year ago by Victoria Riskin, who was forced to resign less than four months later. An internal investigation showed that her membership had lapsed because she had too few paid writing credits.
Her successor, Charles Holland, was forced to resign after a Los Angeles Times story contradicted claims he had made about his military experience and college athletic achievements.
In the interim, Petrie, a former guild president, was asked by the union's directors to take over and try to bring calm. Confronted with potential Labor Department actions, guild officials in March agreed to hold the new, federally supervised election.
Candidate Hughes, 51, the writer of such feature films as "Against All Odds" and "White Knights," sees the guild as an overly secretive institution run by a staff with too much clout.
He wants to shake up what he calls "a culture of confidentiality" and hopes to shed light on board decision making, union finances and the secret arbitration procedures that determine writing credits .
