On January 22, 2009, the French Consulate of Los Angeles announced that France's President Nicolas Sarkozy has named DGA National Executive Director Jay D. Roth Chevalier de l'Ordre National de la Legion d'Honneur. The French Legion of Honor is the highest decoration in France and is awarded by the French President to honor distinguished civil or military achievements.
Roth's work in France and abroad on behalf of American directors, writers and performers began in the 1980s when he, in his prior position as managing partner of Taylor, Roth, Bush & Geffner, represented the three leading US entertainment Guilds (DGA, WGA and SAG) on many international copyright, bankruptcy, residuals and intellectual property rights issues.
Roth is a founding board member of the Franco American Cultural Fund, which was formed in 1996 in partnership with SACEM (Société des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Editeurs de Musique), as well as the Motion Picture Association and the Writers Guild of America. The Fund runs a variety of educational and creative activities in France and the United States that promote the art of filmmaking and create a permanent dialogue between French and American filmmakers. The largest of these programs is the City of Lights/City of Angels French film festival, a week of screenings and events dedicated to the celebration of French cinema. The festival, which will celebrate its 13th year this year, is now one of the largest festivals for French films in the world.
Roth also directs the work of the DGA with international organizations representing directors, collecting societies, international authors groups and other organizations dedicated to protecting the rights of the director including ARP (Société Civile des Auteurs-Realisateurs-Producteurs); SRF (Société des Réalisateurs de Films); AIDAA (Association Internationale des Auteurs de l’Audiovisuel); CISAC (International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers); and IAESDO (International Association of English Speaking Directors Organizations).
The Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur was established by Napoleon Bonaparte on May 19, 1802. Roth will be presented with the honor in France in October 2009.
