DGA Hosts Historic Meeting on Directors' Rights

by Mike Reynolds

		Front row, from left: Alan Goluboff, Piers Haggard, Jack Shea, Donald Crombie, Trish McAdam and Shonagh Lindsay. Back row, from left: Janine Lorente, Jay D. Roth, Malcolm Moore, Grant Campbell, Martin Spence, Catherine Punch, Pamela Brand, Richard Harris, Crawford Hawkins and Warren Adler. click photo for larger image

Calling the meeting, "historic for the DGA, its members and for all the organizations and countries represented," DGA President Jack Shea said there had never been, "a more urgent need to strengthen the ties that bind our artistic communities together. Not only do we share a common language, but more and more, we also deal with the same international corporations who seem to control all these means worldwide. These companies are integrating production distribution and broadcasting means internationally. They develop worldwide product and have them directed by directors of different nationalities. But the discrepancies in directors' creative and economic rights in the main developed countries are tremendous. There are flagrant disparities in the way directors are treated. It should not be."

"The DGA has achieved significant protections for directors thanks to more than 65 years of hard negotiations," said DGA National Executive Director Jay D. Roth. "However, there is much more to be gained if we can harmonize rights throughout the world."

"The first 'natural markets' for companies to develop and shoot products for are English-speaking countries," said DGA International Affairs Executive Janine Lorente. "Directors Guilds in these countries have to act so that these companies do not take advantage of the weaker protection in some countries.

"Of course, the overall economic situation of the country will prevail on minimum compensations and we do not expect all directors from these countries to get the same salary. But at least we should work on establishing the fact there will be a minimum salary, that there will be minimum creative rights, which is not the case now."

While welcoming all the delegates to the sessions, Shea took time out to applaud, "the decision of the Irish Film Board to provide a grant to help directors form their own guild," and extended, "a special welcome to the representatives of the brand-new Directors Guild of Ireland."

Additionally, Directors Guild of Great Britain (DGGB) director Piers Haggard and Chief Executive Malcolm Moore; Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematograph & Theatre Union (BECTU) Assistant Secretary General Martin Spence; Directors Guild of Ireland (DGI) director Trish McAdam and executive director Catherine Punch, and Screen Directors of New Zealand (SDNZ) Grant Campbell and Executive Officer Shonagh Lindsay also attended.

Shea, Roth, Lorente, Associate National Executive Director Warren Adler, Western Executive Director Bryan Unger, Assistant Executive Director Elizabeth Stanley and Residuals Executive Teri Benton represented the DGA.

		DGA President Jack Shea (left) meets Australian Consul General Alan Rocher, as DGA International Affairs Executive Janine Lorente and ASDA President Donald Crombie look on. (Photo: Joe Coomber). click photo for larger image

While delegates came from different parts of the world, the concerns of directors had no boundaries. Many said that pay structures and residuals in their homelands were considerably lower than those in the United States.

Piers Haggard of the DGGB explained, "We have been suffering a cramping of a director's identity and input. There are more episodes of soaps being done in the U.K. for less money, and the director is working harder for barely any more. What residuals we had have been lost over the years."

"There is no standard contract of employment for directors in the U.K.; we need a new code of practice," acknowledged Martin Spence of BECTU, prompting Haggard to suggest, "We have had to operate on the system of not ruffling any feathers. There are buyouts, no residuals, and directors are poorly paid."

"Something has to be done," agreed Donald Crombie. "It's not possible to make a living in features alone for Australian directors — and TV directors receive no residuals, just a fee or salary. Our directors want residuals. Most of our successful directors leave and are working elsewhere."

Grant Campbell echoed that saying, "It's so difficult that most directors in New Zealand make one film and then leave. It's not possible for a director to make a living in features. They either have to do television and features or just television. Kiwi directors get incredible low fees and broadcasters take all rights in perpetuity."

The Screen Directors organization in New Zealand is relatively new, and the formation has been, "a long process," said Campbell. Until the arrival of SDNZ there had only been an "element of a club or cultural organization. Now there's actually a body that will make a noise and stand up for them."

"We're really minnows," admitted Trish McAdam, of the recently formed DGI, however, it hadn't taken long to discover that, "Irish directors receive no residuals; it's a complete buyout. We're trying to explain to directors what's going on in the world. Most directors don't even know about negotiation."

Canadian Alan Goluboff said, that "we have issues and concerns, no matter where we live — directors are being taken advantage of." He also revealed, "Our expanded membership (in Canada) is hurting, not in days of work, but because they are earning less money due to reduced budgets. More feature directors are going to television, even episodic," but Goluboff held out hope that such moves could at least help elevate a director's place in television.

And that was something much needed, in the view of fellow Canadian Mark Voizard. "Directors are not really powerful in Canadian television," he said. "Directors have no creative control when they work in television and have no power."

ASDA executive director Richard Harris said that in Australia, at least, there was an increased awareness of what a director does, even if it isn't fully appreciated.

As the two-day meeting ended, delegates said they were glad they had the opportunity to share their views with others who understood the problems, while admitting frustration at the overall situation.

"Every director has the right to protect their artistic production, yet these rights are under threat around the world," said Jack Shea. "The international directing community urgently needs new ways of cooperating to combat excessive producer/broadcaster/studio power, and this conference established a strong sense of solidarity to work together."

Lorente said that another one of the problems the visiting delegates wanted to discuss was the difficulty they were finding in distributing their own films domestically due to the near-monopoly the larger distribution companies held on the marketplace.

"They said it was getting harder to market smaller films from their own countries to their own countries due to the 'blockbuster' mentality that pervades the marketplace. Larger domestic and American movies could get screen time while smaller, independent movies go virtually unseen." But Lorente acknowledged that while international distribution may be a problem, the main focus of the meeting was on finding a mutual ground on which to secure the basic economic and creative rights of all directors.

		Directors Guild of Great Britain director Piers Haggard. (Photo: Joe Coomber). click photo for larger image

Malcolm Moore of the DGGB called the meeting, "the beginnings of a robust and honest exchange of views on issues."

"It was fantastic to find out that what we thought were local problems were of international concern, as well as to learn how other guilds were tackling them," said Shonagh Lindsay, SDNZ Executive Officer. "It's really inspiring to see we're on the same issues, not isolated. I want to take this back to New Zealand and show them the passion."

Acknowledging the meetings were a "work in progress," Roth said meetings would continue, "until that day when the multinational media companies know that directors are backed by powerful organizations everywhere in the world. The goal of all of us here is to protect directors and their creativity around the world, and to do this we must minimize the disparities that exist in our various countries regarding the status of directors."

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