The following ran on the AP wire today.

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (March 7, 2005) - The board of directors of the Screen Actors Guild on Sunday elected a new national executive director and chief executive officer to head the nation's largest labor union for working actors.

Greg Hessinger, 39, was selected by a majority of the board during a meeting in Beverly Hills and will assume his new role May 2, union officials said in a statement.

Hessinger has served as the national executive director of another actors' union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, for the past four years. Both unions recently ratified a new three-year contract with film and TV producers.

"Greg is a passionate advocate for actors, one of the most creative minds in our industry and a seasoned, skilled executive and negotiator," said SAG President Melissa Gilbert.

Hessinger replaces Bob Pisano, who had been at the position since September 2001.

Gilbert praised Pisano for improving the union's finances and operations and Pisano said he was pleased that the board had approved the Hessinger succession plan.

Hessinger, a lawyer by training, has a work record that includes stints at CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, where he negotiated collective bargaining agreements with several unions, including AFTRA.

He and his family will relocate from New Jersey to Los Angeles.

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