Information for First Assistant Directors Who Reside or are Eligible to Work Outside North America

In negotiations for the 2005 National Commercial Agreement, the Guild and the AICP agreed that in those limited situations where a commercial producer is not required to transport a First Assistant Director from the United States to work on a commercial shot outside North America (see AICP Sideletter #2), the producer shall give preference of employment to existing DGA First Assistant Directors who reside in the country where production is taking place or who hold a passport, work permit, or are otherwise eligible to work in said country as a local hire (i.e., the assignment does not require that the First Assistant Director be transported to that country for employment).

To assure that the most current information is available to commercial producers, the DGA has agreed to maintain lists of DGA First AD members who are eligible to work in the countries where production will take place. If you would like to have your name placed on the list of First Assistant Directors who are eligible to work in a particular country you must provide proof that you are eligible to legally work in that country. Acceptable forms of proof include a passport or identity card (equivalent to a U.S. Green Card) issued by the country where the job will take place, any passport stamped with a valid work visa issued by that country or a birth certificate illustrating that you were born in that country. Reasonable facsimiles will be considered.

Please visit the "Contracts" section of www.dga.org and download and complete the Eligibility to Work Outside of North America Information Sheet posted on the online version of this notice and return it to:

Mary Gallagher,
Directors Guild of America
7920 Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90046

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Information for Members Intending to Work as Unit Production Managers on Commercials

In the last round of Commercial Negotiations the Guild successfully negotiated provisions that end a longstanding dispute with the AICP over the employment of Unit Production Managers on Commercials. Unlike the Basic Agreement, the National Commercial Agreement does not mandate the employment of a Unit Production Manager on every commercial. It requires commercial producers to cover an individual as a Unit Production Manager only when the individual is employed to perform the duties and responsibilities of a Unit Production Manager as those duties are commonly understood in the Motion Picture Industry.

Pursuant to AICP Sideletter #3 to the National Commercial Agreement, commercial producers will be required to employ a Unit Production Manager on any commercial where all or substantially all of the UPM duties set forth in the Agreement are performed by one person and that person has the same overall responsibility as a Unit Production Manager under the Basic Agreement. The AICP further agreed that individuals who have been employed and covered as a Unit Production Manager by a particular commercial producer on a regular basis (defined as no less than 15 days of work for that commercial producer) will continue to be employed as a Unit Production Manager by that commercial producer. Requests by an Employee to be covered as a UPM to a commercial producer that has not regularly employed that person as a UPM in the past will be discussed in good faith between the Employee and Employer involved. The Guild and AICP expect that those individual discussions will result in Employees being covered as UPMs when they are hired to perform all or substantially all of the UPM duties set forth in the Agreement and have overall responsibility as a Unit Production Manager as commonly understood in the Motion Picture Industry. Employees who do not perform all or substantially all of the UPM duties set forth in the Agreement and do not have overall responsibility as a UPM will not be covered as UPMs.

To ensure that bona fide Unit Production Managers are the individuals who will be hired when one individual is responsible for performing all or substantially of the UPM duties set forth in the Agreement, the parties agreed to the establishment of new Southern California and Third Area UPM Qualifications Lists. The parties also agreed to modify the requirements for placement on the existing New York UPM Qualifications List. This notice will outline the new Commercial Qualification Lists and explain what individuals need to do to be placed on the appropriate Qualification Lists.

Note: Unit Production Managers who are currently on the New York Commercial Qualifications Lists do not need to apply for placement on the Southern California or Third Area Qualification Lists; they are already eligible to work on commercials in Southern California and the Third Area.

Preference of Employment Provisions

On those commercials where the Producer is required to employ a Unit Production Manager, the Producer is obligated to follow the Agreement’s preference of employment provisions contained in Article 6-302 and hire a Unit Production Manager who has been placed on either the Southern California, New York or Third Area Qualifications List, as applicable.

Standards for Placement on the Qualifications Lists

The standards for placement on the Commercial UPM Qualifications Lists are set forth in Article 6-304 of the National Commercial Agreement. These provisions will go into effect on August 1, 2007. An open period will precede the implementation of the new Commercial UPM Qualifications Lists. The open period will run from February 1, 2007 to July 31, 2007. During the open period, individuals who have not yet been placed on the QL may continue to work as UPMs outside New York. (In New York, the existing UPM Qualifications List will remain in effect as modified by the 2005 National Commercial Agreement.)

The open period will enable individuals to obtain placement on the new Southern California and Third Area UPM Qualifications Lists by documenting significantly reduced placement criteria. (Individuals placed on the Southern California UPM Qualifications List may cross-list to the New York UPM Qualifications List). It is highly recommended that members take advantage of the open period’s reduced placement criteria. Once the open period closes on July 31, 2007, members will need to satisfy the far more stringent requirements for placement set forth in the National Commercial Agreement.

Reduced Placement Criteria During the Open Period

The following summarizes the criteria for placement on the Southern California, New York and Third Area UPM Qualifications Lists during the open period. An individual may satisfy the criteria for placement on the UPM Qualifications Lists in either of the following ways:

1. An individual designated (i.e., listed by the Producer on the time card and production call sheet) as a UPM by a Commercial Producer who has worked for that Producer for at least 30 production days from January 1, 2004 through December 31, 2006 may be listed as a UPM on the UPM Qualifications Lists.
   
   
2. An individual who does not meet the conditions set forth above may nonetheless be eligible for placement on the Southern California or New York UPM Qualifications Lists if during the period February 1, 2001 through December 31, 2006 the individual has no less than 150 days (of which 30 must have been physically spent on set or location) of work as a UPM (i.e., listed by the Producer on the time card and production call sheet) of commercials or any other professional motion picture media including, but not limited to music videos. The same requirements apply to placement on the Third Area UPM Qualification List, except that the references to 150 days and 30 days are reduced to 45 days and 15 days, respectively.
   
   

Special Provisions for Individuals who have worked for a Commercial Producer for Fifteen (15) or more days but do not qualify for placement on the Commercial Qualification Lists

The Guild and AICP negotiated a special provision that applies to individuals who have worked as a UPM for a Producer for fifteen or more days but who does not meet the requirements for placement on the Commercial Qualifications Lists during the open period. Pursuant to this provision, individuals who do not meet the criteria for placement on the Commercial Qualifications Lists shall continue to be eligible for employment as a Unit Production Manager exclusively for a Producer who as employed that individual as a UPM (i.e., listed by the Producer on the time card and production call sheet) for no less than 15 days of work or commercials or any other professional motion picture media including, but not limited to music videos, during the period February 1, 2001 through December 31, 2006. These individuals will not be eligible for employment as a Unit Production Manager with other Producers who have not employed the individual as a Unit Production for fifteen or more during the February 1, 2001 to December 31, 2006 period.

Administration

Sandra Forman
Commercial Qualifications Administrator
1697 Broadway, Suite 600
New York, New York 10019
(212) 397-0930