The DGA has been an active participant in the festival for the past three years, this year hosting a luncheon for Urbanworld filmmakers at the Film Center Café on September 19. DGA members Warrington Hudlin, Regge Life, Michael Pinckney, Roni Wheeler and John Singleton mingled and spoke with over fifty festival participants who attended the luncheon.
Urbanworld Festival Director Stacy Spikes called the DGA luncheon a "staple of the Festival," and stressed the importance of Guild membership. DGA Eastern Executive Director Russell Hollander and DGA Assistant Executive Director Michael Dzialo greeted the guests and discussed the DGA's Low-Budget Agreement as well as the advantages of DGA membership.
DGA director member Regge Life, attested to the value of the Low-Budget Agreement. "The Guild is very flexible," he said. "When I started 15 years ago, there was no Low-Budget Agreement and things were pretty much by the book." That has changed, he said, and the new flexibility has allowed him to maintain an uninterrupted career between television and movies.
AD Roni Wheeler agreed saying that when she talks with other filmmakers and tells them about the DGA's Low-Budget Agreement, many have been shocked when they discover they could have qualified to get the creative rights and other protections Guild membership would have afforded them.
Later, Dzialo spoke about the entertainment industry's poor track record in providing equal opportunity for women and ethnic minorities, referring to a recent DGA study confirming the state of employment. "We're putting the spotlight on production companies and their practices," Dzialo said. "The DGA is committed to help people who can do the work get in touch with the production companies and vice versa." |
