The Writers’ Guild of America West’s Political Action Committee is endorsing Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman in the city’s mayoral race, touting her “consistent record supporting organized labor and increased local film and television production.”
The WGAW PAC endorses candidates who support its policy priorities of “competition in media, protecting the right to organize, preserving union health and pension plans, regulation of artificial intelligence and copyright protection.”
In its endorsement statement on Thursday, the union cited Raman’s Save Hollywood Jobs plan released in April and her decision to walk the picket lines with striking writers back in 2023.
“With organized labor under attack nationally, and television and film production leaving Hollywood, L.A. must elect a mayor who is committed to supporting entertainment workers. That’s why WGAW is proudly backing Nithya Raman, who has a real vision for protecting jobs and supporting the entertainment industry,” WGAW President and PAC Board member Michele Mulroney said. “She is a true pro-labor candidate who walks the walk. We need her leadership now more than ever, and we are excited to be supporting her.”
WGAW PAC’s latest endorsement of Raman comes after they previously supported her 2024 bid for Los Angeles City Council.
“I’m grateful to receive the endorsement of the Writers Guild of America West. Writers are the foundation of this industry, and Los Angeles cannot remain the world’s creative capital if the people who tell our stories can’t build stable careers or afford to live here,” Raman said in a statement. “As mayor, I’ll make City Hall an active partner in bringing production back, by speeding up permitting, reducing costs for smaller productions and making Los Angeles competitive again. As mayor, I will work alongside writers and entertainment workers to keep Hollywood jobs in Hollywood.”
Raman is running against Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who is among the voices that called on 12 state attorneys general, including California’s Rob Bonta, to settle an antitrust lawsuit seeking to block the pending $110 billion Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger. The WGA had filed a separate lawsuit seeking to block the merger alongside the AGs.
While both Bonta and Paramount had expressed their willingness to reach an out of court settlement, CEO David Ellison had threatened to move Paramount’s operations out of California in order to pressure the AGs to come to the negotiating table.
The Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation estimated Paramount moving out of the state would’ve resulted in the loss of up to $21.2 billion in annual economic output, 57,980 full-time jobs and $1.17 billion in state and local tax revenues.
The two sides would ultimately agree to a settlement on Monday, which includes commitments to invest in domestic TV and film production, release at least 30 films a year in theaters and negotiate the distribution agreements for each company’s suite of cable networks separately. The combined company also must set up an independent editorial board to oversee the CNN and CBS News operations and continue to operate Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio lots for five years, among other things.
Failure to comply with the various commitments in the settlement range from a $30 million penalty per film that misses the theatrical goal to forced divestitures of the company’s 49% Miramax stake within a 12-month period as well as BET, Comedy Central, VH1, Smithsonian, Destination America and Science Channel within a 120-day period.
The WGA reached a separate resolution that includes a five-year layoff pause at CBS and a $17.5 million health fund contribution, but it continues to believe that the merger will “cause damage to writers and the industry at large.”
“Now that the Attorneys General have settled with Paramount, however, as a nonprofit, the WGA must contend with the reality of forging ahead alone, with no backing from government enforcers, with a complex antitrust lawsuit that would cost millions of dollars to pursue through trial,” the WGA said at the time. “Though we were not successful in blocking the merger, our advocacy brought more attention to the harms that this merger—and others like it—will cause. We will continue to fight the harms of industry consolidation.”
In a statement following the settlement, Bass said her concern has “always been that a merger could lead to the loss of thousands of jobs for hardworking Angelenos.”
“From day one, I have been focused on protecting jobs and keeping productions in Los Angeles. For months, the uncertainty of no decision created instability that led to job losses and left workers wondering what it would mean for their futures,” she said. “I do not want to see two of Hollywood’s largest studios consolidated under one company, but now we must focus on holding the companies accountable to these commitments to keep productions on L.A. stages, crews on sets, and ensure paychecks for hardworking Angelenos. I will continue bringing labor, industry, and government together, using every tool we have to protect L.A. jobs and keep film and television production in Los Angeles.”
Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín will address “certain outstanding questions” related to the proposed settlement during a Thursday hearing at 11 a.m. PT. She also granted a request by the Block the Merger coalition to file an amicus brief formally opposing the settlement, which the group called “weak and unenforceable.”
All amicus briefs must be filed on the docket by no later than 12:01 a.m. PT on Friday.
