Directors Guild of American / Photo Credit: DGA
WHAT IS THE DIRECTORS GUILD OF AMERICA? (In the Entertainment industry.)
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What is the Directors Guild of America?
The Directors Guild of America is a labor organization that represents the creative and economic rights of directors and members of the directorial team working in film, television, commercials, documentaries, news, sports and new media.
Founded in 1936 when a small group of the best-known directors of the time joined together to protect the economic and creative rights of directors in motion pictures, the DGA is the world’s preeminent organization representing directors and members of the directorial team, including Directors, Assistant Directors, Unit Production Managers, Associate Directors, Stage Managers and Production Associates – over 17,500 strong worldwide.
The DGA is governed by an elected National Board of Directors made up of actively working DGA members and is managed by a professional staff of more than 160 in Los Angeles and New York. Guild departments that service the members include Communications, Contracts, Credits, Government and International Affairs, Legal, Membership, Operations, Reports Compliance, Research, Residuals, Signatories, and Special Projects working actively to monitor and enforce Guild collective bargaining agreements, communicate important issues to the membership and the public, and program special events designed to educate, strengthen and enhance the Guild community. The professional staff works with the best outside law firms, accountants and auditors to assist them as needed in serving the membership.
In addition to the National Board, the membership is represented by six councils of elected members that are designated by categories (Directors; Assistant Directors and Unit Production Managers; and Associate Directors, Stage Managers and Production Associates) and geographic area (East; West). Diversity, coordinating and special committees represent additional member groups and activities.
On behalf of its members, the Guild negotiates industry-wide agreements governing the minimum compensation, benefits, working conditions and duties of DGA members. Through its negotiations, the DGA has achieved significant gains for our members including world-class pension and health plans, residuals provisions that enable members to financially benefit from the reuse of their work and the development of flexible and low-budget agreements that allow even the lowest-budgeted films and television to be made under a DGA agreement. The Guild provides its members with an infrastructure and safety net that enables directors and their teams to flourish while knowing that the Guild is here to support them.
Overall Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. The group merged with the Radio and Television Directors Guild in 1960 to become the modern Directors Guild of America.
As a union that seeks to organize an individual profession, rather than multiple professions across an industry, the DGA is a craft union. It represents directors and members of the directorial team (assistant directors, unit production managers, stage managers, associate directors, production associates, and location managers (in New York and Chicago); that representation includes all sorts of media, such as film, television, documentaries, news, sports, commercials and new media.
The guild has various training programs whereby successful applicants are placed in various productions and can gain experience working in the film or television industry.
As of 2017, the guild had more than 16,000 members. The DGA headquarters are on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, with satellite offices in New York and Chicago and coordinating committees in San Francisco, Chicago, and London.
Composition
According to DGA's Department of Labor records, the guild's reported membership classifications currently account for 1,532 "retirees" (about 10% of total membership), 323 "suspended" members (2%), and 5 "life" members (<1%), compared to 13,577 "active" members. "Suspended" members pay dues but are ineligible to vote in the union. DGA contracts also cover some non-members, known as agency fee payers. These non-members currently number 172, or about 1% of the size of the union's membership.
Labor agreements
The agreements signed between the guild and film and television production companies make various stipulations covering pay and working conditions for guild members and require that all those employed in the relevant fields on a film made by that company are guild members. Guild members are generally prevented from working for companies that have not signed an agreement with the DGA. This sometimes leads production companies that have no such agreement to form new companies, purely for the purpose of making a particular film, which do then sign an agreement with the DGA.
The Guild enters into negotiations with the AMPTP, the organization that represents the studios, networks and production companies, approximately every three years to update and renew the Basic Agreement and the Freelance Live and Tape Television Agreement, the DGA's two major agreements. The DGA negotiates minimum compensation levels that must be paid by the companies. Many DGA members have agents who may negotiate rates above the minimums for their clients. The DGA agreements also secure residual payments for the reuse of members’ work in film, television and new media.
Other than wages and basic working conditions, the DGA has a particular role in protecting the creative rights of film and TV directors. Such protections that the guild provides include defining the director's role, ensuring, with examples, the principle of "one director to a picture" and the right to prepare a director's cut or edit.[citation needed] Generally, each of these protections is to help offset the power that producers can have over a director during the film-making process.
DGA Awards
The DGA hosts the annual DGA Awards, an important precursor to the Academy Awards. In its 69-year history, the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film has been a near perfect barometer for both the Best Director, and in some cases, the Best Picture Academy Award. Only seven times has the DGA Award winner not won the corresponding Best Director Academy Award. Honorees are awarded with a statue manufactured by Society Awards.
Credits
The rule that a film can only have one single director was adopted to preserve the continuity of a director's vision and to avoid producers and actors lobbying for a director's credit, or studios hiring multiple directors for a single film or television episode.
The rule is waived only for directorial teams recognized by the DGA who have a history of working together and sharing a common vision. Examples include The Wachowskis, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, Hughes brothers, Russo Brothers, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and the Coen brothers. The Coens for years divided credit, with Ethan taking producing credit, Joel taking directing credit, and both of them sharing the writing credit (even though the two of them shared all three duties between themselves) until The Ladykillers in 2004.
An example of the DGA refusing to recognize a directorial team was Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller for Sin City; they were rejected because they had never worked together before; Rodriguez quit the DGA so that Miller would share director's credit.
In the past, the DGA has also engaged in disputes with the Writers Guild of America (WGA) over possessory credits, first used in the 1915 film The Birth of a Nation. The WGA tried to limit possessory credits to writers, but has always been successfully opposed by the DGA, leaving directors free to try to negotiate such credits if they wish.
Non-member directors
Not all Hollywood directors are DGA members. Notable exceptions include George Lucas and Robert Rodriguez. Quentin Tarantino directed six feature films before becoming a DGA member, in 2012. Those who are not members of the guild are unable to direct for the larger movie studios, which are signatories to the guild's agreements that all directors must be guild members.
Benefits of DGA membership include:
Economic Rights
On behalf of its members, the Guild negotiates industry-wide agreements governing the minimum compensation (salary), benefits, working conditions and duties of DGA members. Negotiating these collective bargaining agreements provides the DGA with the opportunity to address changes in the industry and to negotiate further gains for DGA members.
Creative Rights
Directors are guaranteed the right to be actively involved in all aspects of the filmmaking process, including (but not limited to): one director to a film; the right to a designated period of time to edit the first version of a motion picture or television episode without any interference; the right to select the First AD; the right to participate in casting; the right to direct all reshoots or additional photography and ADR.
Pension and Health Plans
The DGA-Producer Pension and Health Plans are among the very best available anywhere, and one of the best ways the Guild looks out for our members. Once eligible by achieving the requisite minimum earnings each year, members are entitled to high-quality health coverage for themselves and their families, and can build toward future retirement through the Pension Plan.
Residuals
DGA contracts provide the right to payments, called residuals, for the distribution or exhibition of feature films and most television beyond their initial release. These residuals include television reruns, basic cable exhibition, home video and digital exploitation. Residuals represent significant income for DGA members ($300 million annually), help fund the Pension and Health Plans, and are one of the greatest financial advantages of being a DGA member.
Contractual & Legal Protection
DGA contracts guarantee members certain minimum rights regarding compensation, working conditions and creative rights. The Guild represents members in enforcing these rights, as well as certain rights that arise from a member’s personal services agreement. Many times, DGA field representatives, executives or other Guild staff members can resolve a dispute by discussing it with an Employer. If informal avenues do not lead to a resolution, the dispute may result in a grievance or be referred to the DGA’s Legal Department to file an arbitration claim. If necessary, the Guild may go to court to enforce an arbitrator’s award.
Special Events
The DGA hosts numerous seminars, workshops and cultural events each year through our various Committees, Councils and Special Projects Department. These programs are designed to heighten the profile of directors and their teams within the industry, help our members stay abreast of the latest trends in the art and craft of filmmaking and allow them to add new skills or brush up on old ones.
Screenings
The Guild operates an extensive theatrical screening program at its state-of-the-art theaters in Los Angeles and New York, and additional screenings in Chicago, San Francisco, London and Washington, D.C. Members also have free access to certain public screenings in commercial theaters and are eligible to receive “for your consideration” screeners and information about private screenings hosted by studios and distributors.
Sources, References & Credits: Google, Wikipedia, Wikihow, WikiBooks, Pinterest, IMDB, Linked In, Indie Wire, Film Making Stuff, Hiive, Film Daily, New York Film Academy, The Balance, Careers Hub, The Numbers, Film Maker, TV Guide Magazine, Blurb, Media Match, Quora, Creative Skill Set, Chron, Investopedia, Variety, No Film School, WGA, BBC, Daily Variety, The Film Agency, Best Sample Resume, How Stuff Works, Studio Binder, Career Trend, Producer's Code of Credits, Truity, Production Hub, Producers Guild of America, Film Connection, Variety, Wolf Crow, Get In Media, Production Beast, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros, UCAS, Frankenbite, Realty 101, Careers Hub, Screen Play Scripts, Elements of Cinema, Script Doctor, ASCAP, Film Independent, Any Possibility, CTLsites, NYFA, Future Learn, VOM Productions, Mad Studios, DP School, DGA,
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Directors Guild of American / Photo Credit: DGA
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