The AD/UPM Council West held a Navigating the DGA seminar for Assistant Directors and Unit Production Managers on September 28. Held in the boardroom of the Guild’s Los Angeles headquarters, this event gave both new and veteran members the opportunity to network with their peers, while learning more about DGA benefits, Guild activities and issues directly affecting ADs and UPMs through detailed reports presented by experienced members and DGA staff.
Following the breakfast/networking mixer, AD/UPM Council West First Vice-Chair Cleve Landsberg welcomed participants and introduced the line-up of speakers who would be delivering the day’s programming. Landsberg also handled the first two presentations, DGA News and DGA Member Events which gave both a recap and preview of happenings at the Guild.
In the next report Pension and Health News, UPM and DGA-Producer Pension & Health Plan trustee Phil Goldfarb spoke about the Plans and how members might make use of these valuable benefits. Goldfarb also answered a variety of questions including how members might be affected by the upcoming changes due to implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
For DGA History, Director and DGA Board Member Donald Petrie gave a PowerPoint presentation detailing the story of the Guild from its founding through today.
In Your Council at Work, AD/UPM Council West Chair Marie Cantin explained how the Council is the voice of the AD/UPMs of the Guild and how members can get involved in the various committees it oversees.
DGA in Commercials was a report delivered by 1st AD Lee Blaine about how the Guild assists members working in that genre and an explanation of the work of the AD/UPM Council’s Commercial Committee.
Qualifications Lists and Low-Budget Agreements were reports by 2nd AD Pamela Monroe about how these important programs function and how members can make use of them to find work.
The seminar also featured a special presentation on New Media by UPM Buddy Enright and 1st AD Van Hayden. In a conversation moderated by Landsberg, they discussed how they began working in that arena, the challenges of producing quality content despite fewer resources, and how they fulfill high expectations while still achieving the quick turnaround schedules for webisodes and other content.
The Navigating the DGA seminar closed with a forum where the floor was opened to questions from the audience. All the attendees were also able to take home a folder stuffed with valuable information such as copy of the DGA Creative Rights Handbook, pamphlets about the DGA-Producer Pension and Health Plans, and printed copies of information delivered in the oral reports.