The first crop of announced candidates seeking election to the Writers Guild of America West’s board of directors includes former showrunners of Big Mouth and The Blacklist as well as the screenwriter of this year’s Send Help.

Writers Andrew Goldberg (Big Mouth, Mating Season), John Eisendrath (The Blacklist, Alias) and Mark Swift (Send Help, Baywatch) are among the 14 initial candidates announced by the WGA West on Thursday. Other writers who will be throwing their hat in the ring for eight open seats include Nikita Hamilton, Aaron Wiener, Silpa Kovvali, Jeffrey Thompson, Morgan Dameron and Mark Amato.

Incumbents Chris Hazzard, Cathryn Humphris, Danny Tolli, Raphael Bob-Waksberg and Melinda Hsu will also be running again.

All 14 were nominated by the union’s board nominating committee to run in 2026, though they may soon have some company. Union members can also run by petition as long as they gain at least 15 signatures from other members supporting their run by July 23.

Union members will receive voting materials starting Aug. 26 and will have until Sept. 15 to vote online or by mail.

Candidates elected to the board in 2026 will join a leadership body headed up by union president Michele Mulroney, vice president Travis Donnelly and secretary-treasurer Peter Murrieta, none of whom are up for reelection this year.

The election cycle is kicking off a little less than two months after the WGA ratified its latest collective bargaining agreement with studios and streamers by a more than 90 percent margin. The four-year deal secured the union’s health plan, with adjustments, raised most scale wages by 10.5 percent over the course of the contract and made some increases to residuals and the union’s streaming success bonus.

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