AGE: 48
OCCUPATION: President of Writer's Guild of America West
NUMBER OF TIME COVERS: 0
PREVIOUS APPEARANCES ON THE TIME 100: 0
PRO: Recognizing that the Internet will soon become not just a platform but the platform for media distribution, Verrone and chief lieutenant David Young pressed the studios and media conglomerates to give writers residuals on new-media broadcasts of their work. Studios resisted, and Verrone rallied his union and carried out a highly effective three-month strike. The result: new-media residuals...
CON: ...though not quite the percentages hoped for by the Guild rank-and-file, many of whom lost contracts and jobs. Critics called Verrone inexperienced, needlessly militant and a dullard at the art of negotiation. Will it have all been worth it? It's too soon to tell: TV audiences are down across the board.