The past few months have been an exciting and invigorating time for your Guild, and for me as your president. We've just concluded successful tentative agreements on new three-year contracts with both the AMPTP and the Networks. They are excellent deals — well planned, acutely timed and negotiated with great skill.

Negotiations Overview
We walked into both negotiations with a central goal in mind — to infuse our health plan with the tens of millions of dollars that were needed to maintain our benefits, and, in addition, to get top class economic and creative rights deals for our members. And we did it. We not only negotiated the best economic deals in Guild history — we assured a level of stability that keeps both our members and the industry working. Look no further than the recent conclusion of the WGA/AMPTP negotiations, where the writers were able to strike a deal based on our own — after working without a contract for five months. My congratulations to the principal architects of our negotiations — Gil Cates, Negotiations Chairman; Bill Brady, Network Negotiations Chairman; and Jay Roth, our esteemed National Executive Director. And to all the members of all the committees who worked so diligently on our behalf, and to all the staff on both coasts who spent many months preparing, researching and writing our proposals — thank you for your time and for your labors — we are indebted to each of you.

I also want to extend a special thank you to Ed Sherin. Ed has stepped down from the position of DGA National Vice President after seven years of excellent service to the Guild. During his tenure, Ed has worked tirelessly to revitalize and expand programs and services for our Eastern Membership. Ed was an integral part of the move to renovate the New York Headquarters building and theater, expand programs and screenings for New York members, like DGA Honors, and has been an advocate for increasing production and job opportunities for our Eastern members. Although Ed may be stepping down from that particular position, he will remain a vital part of our Board of Directors. I am also proud to announce that Steven Soderbergh has been elected by the National Board to replace Ed Sherin in the post of National Vice President. Steven's strong influence as the co-chair of our Creative Rights Committee resulted in significant creative rights gains for our members in the new contracts and I am honored to work alongside him on your behalf.

New Publication — DGA Monthly
As you can see, the DGA Calendar is vastly different, hopefully improved and has been renamed DGA Monthly. We've responded to member requests for more timely and expanded coverage of Guild news and events, and more information about our Committees, Councils, Theater and Special Projects departments.

The new DGA Monthly is a blend of the new and familiar. We have made every effort to make navigation through it easy and efficient. For example, the calendar of upcoming meetings and membership screenings remains in the center for ease of reference. In the past we printed separate calendars for both coasts, but by merging the two, the membership will be able to see what is happening in other parts of the country.

The DGA Magazine is also being reconceived and reorganized. It will be re-launched in the spring of 2005 as a quarterly devoted exclusively to the craft of directing as seen by directors and their teams. It will have more in-depth articles about the issues and interests of our members; expanded profiles of directors and their projects; discussions of new technologies; a deeper look into our history and the achievements of our members, and expanded coverage of trends that affect us all.

So take some time and explore this new publication. And please, let us know what you think. As always, we encourage your feedback and input as this new monthly publication evolves.

Sincerely,
Michael Apted
President
Directors Guild of America