Independent Directors Committee
By Alex Simon
Photos by Terry Lilly
From left: IDC panelists Michael Uno, George Hickenlooper,
Penelope Spheeris, Bobby Roth, Charles Burnett and Duane Clark.
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With the internet changing the way we communicate, digital technology changing the way we make films, rumblings in Washington about "inappropriate" content in movies and television, and the turbulent labor climate in Hollywood, filmmakers today are facing greater challenges and opportunities than ever before. These were the hot topics at the annual member event organized by the DGA's Independent Directors' Committee
(IDC).
After members mingled and dined on hors d'oeuvres, IDC member Steven Soderbergh gave a brief overview of the Committee's mission. "We try to take a pulse as often as we can about what's going on in the trenches and what problems independent filmmakers are facing that the Guild can help with. Because the business for the independent filmmaker changes so quickly, and often so subtly, we want to make sure we're on top of these changes and any looming issues that need to be addressed."
Soderbergh said he believed the biggest issue facing the Guild, the IDC and the filmmaking community in general is the explosion of the internet, and its role in giving new filmmakers exposure. "We don't know if the way it is now is how it's going to be a year from now, or if it will be totally different. Maybe it's peaked. The difficult thing, when addressing a new trend or a new dynamic, is that there's very little to compare it to. That's another reason why we have these meetings. We want to get a reading on what our stance should be toward the people who are running the internet, what our rights should be, and what is fair. Again, things are changing so rapidly that these gatherings are crucial."
Asked about the recent hearings in Washington, regarding violence in the media, and the governmental crackdown on the Hollywood community, Soderbergh was both proactive and optimistic. "Michael Apted, Penelope Spheeris, National Executive Director Jay D. Roth, Assistant Executive Director Elizabeth Stanley and I met with Jack Valenti some weeks ago about the NC-17 rating. We told him that we have a ratings system that can work, but we can't wait around any longer hoping that it will work the way it is now. We told Mr. Valenti that we sometimes make films that we don't want kids to see, but because of how the ratings system has been maneuvered over the last ten years, kids are seeing things they shouldn't see. When you have more than 100 films last year that got an NC-17 rating and every one of them was recut to get an R, there's something wrong. What we really need is for the studios to stand up and support a new ratings system, because what the studios are saying is, economically, the NC-17 rating is death. The studio carries the whip. If they say to the newspapers, theater owners and video store owners and say, 'This is it. We have a new adult rating. These movies are not for kids. You want to carry our PG-13 movies? Then you have to carry our movies that are rated for adults too.' If they do that, the problem would go away in a nanosecond."
DGA Associate National Executive Director
Warren Adler (left) with Spheeris.
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IDC member Duane Clark then spoke about the Committee's work during the past year. "We discuss how we can make sure the Guild's low-budget agreements remain flexible enough to accommodate the realities of things such as digital filmmaking." Clark mentioned that recent meetings with the Screen Actors Guild and AFMA helped push forward this dialogue as well. Clark also added that the IDC has sponsored screenings such as the "Director's Finder" series, which included almost 50 feature films by Guild members who were looking for distributors, and the "Under the Influence" series, in which an independent director introduces an influential film from the '70s by a veteran director, followed by a question-and-answer session. Clark gave special note to the screenings, The Parallax View where Soderbergh talked with the late Alan J. Pakula and about Marathon Man, where DGA member Bill Condon (Gods and Monsters) talked with director John Schlesinger.
DGA Associate National Executive Director Warren Adler followed Clark with an overview of labor relations in the industry and addressed rumors about impending strikes that loom on the horizon. "While I don't have a crystal ball that tells me what's in store for us, I will say that the issue of television residuals, that many people in our business are concerned about, is a very valid one. It's something that most of us depend upon to get by. What we at the Guild would like to do is get something specific from the studios regarding what the specifications for television residuals are. In the past, just getting things out in the open has helped to avoid possible strikes... We're hoping the next round of negotiations will lead to a mutual understanding between our Guild, the WGA, SAG and the studios, so a strike isn't necessary. In the end, I think a lot of lessons are going to come out of this. We don't know yet what all those lessons will be, but at least one will be that a strike is very serious business for people on both sides, and not something to be taken lightly."
IDC member Penelope Spheeris took the floor after Adler, regaling the audience with the story of her last film, which was shot on digital and high-definition video. "I was able to shoot more than 250 hours of raw footage and then cut it down to 90 minutes. It wasn't an easy process, mind you, but it was a lot easier than it would have been with raw film stock." Spheeris went on to urge all DGA members to read the Creative Rights Handbook, which is published by the Guild's Creative Rights Committee. "I've only been a Guild member for ten years, even though I've been making films for 25 years. I didn't realize my rights until I read that little book." The Handbook is a virtual bill of rights for filmmakers, Spheeris pointed out, and is essential for independent filmmakers in particular. "When most of us first start out we are, quite frankly, clueless when it comes to knowing what our rights are. Producers and studios will push the limits as far as they can, to have all the power they can. We need to be able to tell them when they've reached the limit."
IDC member Steven Soderbergh.
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A question-and-answer session followed Spheeris' comments, where the members discussed topics ranging from how to finance a low-budget film, to how to ensure certain types of ratings, to the possible impact of a strike by SAG and/or the WGA. Regarding the controversy over the MPAA ratings system,
Gil Cates, Jr., whose first feature Spent found distribution via the IDC's "Director's Finder" series, echoed Soderbergh's sentiments that the MPAA ratings system needs an overhaul, and that the IDC is correct in addressing it. "A lot of people are saying, 'It's up to the parents. The parents have to control their kids and monitor what they see and do.' Well, that's easy to say. But you can have great parents, which I did, and still get into tons of trouble and do stupid things when you're a kid, which I also did. What more could my parents have done, except lock me in a cage? I think something needs to be done with the ratings system, and there also needs to be responsibility in how we present our films."
DGA Third Vice President Paris Barclay also commented on some of the positive contributions the IDC has made. "It was through the work of the Committee that the DGA took the position that the NC-17 rating needed to be changed. We heard from a lot of independent filmmakers that they weren't able to make serious, adult films because the NC-17 rating has such an unfair stigma attached to it. The entire Guild united behind this stance."
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