CREATIVE RIGHTS HANDBOOK
 

Theatrical Creative Rights Committee 

Jonathan Mostow, Steven Soderbergh
Co-Chairs
  • Michael Bay
  • John Carpenter
  • Thomas Carter
  • Martha Coolidge
  • Wes Craven
  • Andy Davis
  • Roger Donaldson
  • David Fincher
  • Carl Franklin
  • F. Gary Gray
  • Taylor Hackford
  • Curtis Hanson
  • Mary Lambert
  • Jonathan Lynn
  • Michael Mann
  • Frank Marshall
  • McG
  • E. Elias Merhige
  • Phillip Noyce
  • Mark Pellington
  • Donald Petrie
  • Sam Raimi
  • Jay Roach
  • Tom Shadyac
  • Brad Silberling
  • Penelope Spheeris
  • Betty Thomas
  • Jon Turteltaub
  • Ron Underwood

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Television Creative Rights Committee 
Rod Holcomb Michael Zinberg
Co-Chairs, Single Camera Series Subcommittee

Robert Markowitz Mike Robe
Co-Chairs, Movies for Television Subcommittee
  • Paris Barclay
  • Bob Berlinger
  • Sanford Bookstaver
  • Bob Butler
  • Graeme Clifford
  • James Frawley
  • Steve Gomer
  • Charles Haid
  • Victoria Hochberg
  • Mick Jackson
  • Jeremy Kagan
  • Jonathan Kaplan
  • Elodie Keene
  • Allison Liddi
  • Lesli Linka Glatter
  • Alan Myerson
  • Oz Scott
  • David Semel
  • Mark Tinker
  • Jesus Treviño

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Ongoing Creative Rights Committee 
The executives of the studios and networks who participated in the meetings of the Creative Rights Committee have agreed to continue meeting with the Guild’s Creative Rights Committee on a regular basis, to address issues which still confront directors. Included on the agenda of the Creative Rights Committee are the visibility of the director’s credit; improving the pseudonym process; monitoring postproduction; problems with previewing of theatrical films; any future instances of reusing a director’s cut footage without the director’s approval; and development of additional preferred practices, including those in connection with the use of visual effects (VFX).

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DGA Creative Rights Committee History

"We gotta show 'em how much we care!"

Frank Capra, first Chairman of the DGA Creative Rights Committee, recommending to his directorial colleagues in 1964 the way to convince studio heads that directors should be entitled to a "Director's Cut."

The companies feared it would mean increased postproduction costs. Capra proposed that the companies and the DGA draw up a list of the Top 12 directors in the world. In the event that any director held up postproduction in the way that the companies feared, the Guild, at its own expense, would fly in any one of those directors from anywhere in the world to finish that work, even if it was only a half-hour TV show. Impressed by the sincerity of the proposal, the studio heads agreed that the director is entitled to prepare his or her cut of the film.

"The difficulty arose because the only right we had in the contract back then in the early '60s was to make suggestions for improvements in a 'rough cut' to the associate producer. We called many directors together and all of them agreed that they were having similar problems. So we met under the supervision of Joe Youngerman over a period of time to see if we could draft what we called a 'Bill of Creative Rights.' George Sidney, who was President of the Guild at the time, asked Frank Capra to chair a special negotiating committee to obtain acknowledgment of these rights. And that's how it started."

Elliot Silverstein, original member of the 1964 DGA Creative Rights Committee and Chairman from 1968-1992.
DGA Phone Numbers

DGA Headquarters

  • Los Angeles (310) 289-2000 - 800-421-4173 (National Headquarters)
  • New York (212) 581-0370 - 800-356-3754
  • Chicago (312) 644-5050 - 888-600-6975

Reporting Hotlines

  • Safety Hot Line (310) 289-5326 or (800) 342-3457
  • Contract Violation Hot Line (310) 289-5300
  • OK to Edit Line (310) 289-5300
  • Work Report Line (310) 289-5300

Field Reps

Los Angeles

  • Phil Althouse (310) 289-2004
  • Don Gold (310) 289-2006
  • Roberta Hutcheson (310) 289-5352
  • Lisa Layer (310) 289-2067

New York

  • Michael Ryan (212) 581-0810
  • Ursula Lawrence (212) 581-0808

Chicago

  • Midwestern Executive Director Dan Moore (312) 644-5050
DGA 2006-2008 Creative Rights Handbook - Table of Contents

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