Dear Member,
Shortly before the tragic events of September 11, the AMPTP sent a letter to DGA National Executive Director Jay Roth and me indicating a desire to quickly initiate and conclude negotiations for the new DGA Basic Agreement and Freelance Live and Tape Television Agreement. Since then, a number of things have happened, and I would like to update you.
At its meeting on September 29, your National Board voted to authorize the DGA leadership to hold exploratory meetings with the AMPTP and networks to determine whether early contract negotiations are possible. At that time, Gil Cates, our Secretary-Treasurer and former Guild President, was selected to chair the Negotiating Committee, and William Brady was chosen to chair the network negotiations. The Board also asked Guild Vice Presidents Martha Coolidge and John Frankenheimer to continue to serve as co-chairs of the Creative Rights Committee.
On Nov. 2, many of the industry’s top executives, including Jonathan Dolgen (Viacom), Mel Harris (Sony), Robert Iger (Disney), Jeffrey Katzenberg (DreamWorks), Chris McGurk (MGM), Barry Meyer (Warner Bros.), Ron Meyer (Universal) and Scott Sassa (NBC), paid an unprecedented visit to the DGA offices to meet with our Guild leadership. Both the AMPTP and the DGA spoke of wanting to avoid inevitable production slowdowns and economic uncertainty that come with final-hour negotiations. Gil and Jay will be meeting with the studio representatives in the upcoming days to continue that dialogue and to determine if early negotiations are feasible.
Throughout the summer, our Councils and staff have been actively preparing for the negotiations. The Negotiating Committee and Network Staff Committee have been meeting to review various issues and prepare a proposal for the negotiations, and the Creative Rights Committee has had several meetings to discuss both feature film and television issues.
We are dedicated to negotiating the best possible contracts for the DGA membership. There are certain issues that must be addressed in these negotiations and we are committed to finding positive solutions. However, we will not enter into early negotiations if the companies view them as an opportunity to enter into agreements that are out of the pattern set in their recent contracts with the writers and actors.
I would like to emphasize that we have not yet made a final determination about entering into early negotiations. While we must make every effort to keep the industry running at full speed—particularly now—we are obliged to keep foremost in our minds that our negotiations have to address the real needs of our members. Although we must recognize the current economic conditions and adjust some of our goals accordingly, we believe that both parties should be confident that our industry will find a way to prosper in the coming years, as it has in past times of similar economic uncertainty.
I will keep you updated as our committees continue their work and our discussions with the AMPTP move forward.
Best wishes,
Jack Shea
PRESIDENT
For a printable version of this letter click here. (Requires Adobe PDF Reader)
