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President's Report
President Jack Shea
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A lot has happened since our last issue. I want to thank the delegates to our biennial convention for their overwhelming unanimous support in giving me the privilege to again serve the Directors Guild members as your President. Our contract expires on June 30, 2002, and I look forward to the challenges facing us in our negotiations with the companies. I'm pleased that we have begun preparing for these negotiations through intensive study of the issues and through dialogue with members.
I'm also pleased by the strong candidates the delegates picked to serve as Officers and on the National Board.
We elect our Officers and members of the National Board in a unique way. For every 100 members, in every area and in every category, a delegate to the convention is voted upon. That means you vote for a delegate who works in your geographic area performing the same job as you. This gives us electors who truly represent our membership. The process ensures that no one category is under or over represented from another.
When I last reported to you, we were facing potential industry crippling strikes by the Writers Guild and Screen Actors Guild. We are all glad that strikes were avoided, and that the WGA and SAG were able to successfully negotiate new contracts without any work stoppage.
This year we had many of you stepping forward and becoming active in the Guild. When you do, you get results. Witness the remarkable success of your efforts to make the directorws voice heard during the recent Writers Guild of America contract negotiations. Our Creative Rights Committee, Directors Council, Board Members and more than 170 feature film directors came together under the leadership of our Creative Rights Co-chairs, Martha Coolidge and John Frankenheimer, and our National Executive Director, Jay D. Roth. They reviewed the initial WGA proposals, recognized how those proposed contract mandates could threaten the director-writer relationship, and then acted. I can't tell you the number of studio executives who told me of the phone calls they received from directors who wanted to express their opinion.
Because of that, the negotiations resulted in a code of "preferred" guidelines for writer-director relationships in both feature films and television. I recently sent you a letter detailing these and I urge you all to review them.
Under this non-binding code for feature films:
- A director assigned to a film based upon an existing screenplay should meet with the currently employed writer before deciding to hire a new writer;
- It is preferred that the writer be invited to the first cast meeting. However, it is understood that this reading is a delicate moment for both the director and actors, and that the director must be able to exercise discretion whether to invite a writer;
- It is preferred that the Company, in response to a request from the writer, arrange for the writer to visit the set at an appropriate time. However, it is understood that because of the nature of the material being shot, confidentiality considerations, personal dynamics of the cast or other key personnel, or a variety of other reasons, writer visits may not be appropriate. Therefore, the director retains the discretion to approve any such visit.
Preferred practices for episodic television contain these provisions:
- Preparation of the script must be the writer-producer's first priority, so that Companies comply with their contractual obligation to furnish the director with a completed shooting script the day before the director starts his or her prep;
- Directors should be consulted about all substantive script changes;
- Companies should make writer/producers aware of their obligation under the DGA's Basic Agreement to notify the director of the scheduling of each post-production operation.
- It is reiterated that the DGA Basic Agreement gives the director the right to participate in all creative decisions and all post-production operations.
On the issue of the possessory credit, the DGA put forward proposals that we believe would have been a major step toward enhancing the value and meaning of this credit. We were disappointed that the WGA declined to accept these proposals. Although we would have preferred to put this issue to rest, we are gratified that we succeeded in our goal of preserving the historic right to negotiate for a possessory credit free of any WGA-imposed restrictions. At the same time, the DGA will continue to explore possible solutions to the proliferation of possessory credits and protective measures for the historic value of the credit.
The DGA, WGA and the companies did agree to enter into talks concerning credit issues on an industry-wide basis. These talks will include discussion about the possessory credit as well as the "Created By" and "Developed By" credits in episodic television, the proliferation of unwarranted credits in feature films and television (in particular producer credits), and the process by which the directors, executives and producers are accorded writing credits in feature films. Assuming these talks are conducted in an atmosphere free of rancor and personal attacks, the DGA fully intends to participate.
I cannot thank you, the members, enough for your involvement and support. You are our strong foundation and make our successes possible. I urge you to continue to give us your support as we enter our own contract negotiations. We've still got a lot to accomplish. With you, all things are possible.
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