The past few months have seen a flurry of activity, not the least of which was our 59th Annual DGA Awards. I wish to again congratulate all the winners and nominees for their outstanding work.

Just after the Awards, I led a DGA delegation to Washington to take part in a first-of-its-kind seminar by the MPAA to educate lawmakers, lobbyists and other D.C. elites about our industry’s creative and economic contributions to the American economy. Joining me in participating in “The Business of Show Business” were DGA National Vice President Steven Soderbergh, First Vice President Paris Barclay, Third Vice President Taylor Hackford, DGA member Lili Zanuck, and our National Executive Director, Jay D. Roth.

Together, we represented the creative face of the industry and spoke of the important economic contributions of directors and their teams. Entertainment is a major U.S. industry and the films project our freedoms, culture and diversity to the world. But to speak about our industry only in terms of dollars and balance sheets, profit and loss, “content” and “product,” in no way captures what makes us rare among America’s great industries. What’s unique about Hollywood is the way in which art and commerce intersect to create this multibillion dollar industry.

As directors and their teams, we are required to be at the heart of that fusion between art and commerce. We also have to assume great responsibility for the risks involved. To be successful, our work must connect to people by touching them in some special way. You can’t bottle that, or build it to any specification; you can’t make it with a formula, and you can’t reproduce it the same way time after time.

As individuals we also assume great financial risk. We work in a freelance culture and can’t count on a regular paycheck or our next job. For us and for our many talented collaborators, any job can involve years of creative effort before we get to put a frame of our vision on film or tape.

So our ability to recoup residual income from sales in other markets—DVD, cable, free and pay television—is essential. Our livelihoods are inextricably tied to what happens to our work after it is first shown in the theatres or seen on television.

Too often the debate over content, even the use of the word ‘content’ itself diminishes what we are talking about. It is neutral, abstract and probably works well for those who want unfettered access to our work or those who believe that downloading off the Internet and freely distributing it is not real piracy. But for us who create those works, it is not an abstraction when movies and television shows are illegally copied and distributed. Money—both directly and indirectly—is taken from our pockets and those of our collaborators, and the producers are being robbed of the revenue that keeps production alive in our industry. So what is already an inherently risky business could become just too risky and everybody will lose—us, the financiers, the culture, the economy and the country.

I am proud to have represented our members at this event and know that the Guild will continue to protect and advance our creative and economic rights in Washington and all other venues that have an influence on this great industry.

Best,
Michael Apted
President, Directors Guild of America