The Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) and the Directors Guild of America (DGA) have reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year spot contract. The DGA national board will review the agreement during a scheduled meeting in New York on Dec. 9, and determine whether it will be sent to union members for ratification. The DGA estimated that a ratification vote by its rank-and-file would be completed in late January, with the current commercials contract extended until then from its original expiration date of Oct. 31, 2000.
"The agreement has been unanimously endorsed by the Guild’s negotiating committee and has important new protections and benefits," said DGA president Jack Shea in a released statement, citing such areas as Internet coverage, new health and safety protections, improved wage rates and directors’ creative rights.
At press time, AICP president Matt Miller noted that some relatively minor details still had to be ironed out. But overall he said that the tentative agreement "addresses some real issues that help production companies work the way they need to work in order to grow talent, to hire the best people and to bring them into the industry as recognized professionals."
Miller, who served as the AICP’s chief negotiator, related that in the past, DGA signatory production houses had trouble bringing certain experienced film professionals onto commercials because the guild didn’t recognize that experience. Without a minimum number of days working in guild capacities on commercials, those crew people weren’t recognized by the DGA as being qualified. This created a dilemma for a commercial director who had worked regularly with an assistant director or second A.D. in music videos, documentaries or another discipline, for example, and wanted to continue teaming with that artisan on a spot assignment. But the new DGA-AICP contract will allow signatory production companies to hire those experienced people and "bring them under the guild umbrella," according to Miller.
The new contract will also permit production companies to hire, for a short period, directors who only have foreign experience. "This trial period is important for a production company so that it can better determine whether it should invest in the director for initiation into the guild, and for other expenses," said Miller.
The AICP president added that the new contract contains guild flexibility relative to spec spots and pro bono PSAs. "Directors can waive their compensation and basically allow the production companies to invest in their reels," said Miller. The past DGA norm called for spec work to be done, said Miller, as if it were "a real job," which would be "cost prohibitive for a production company that wanted to truly invest in reel development to help grow a director’s career."
WEB COVERAGE
Chris Lomolino, Eastern executive director of the DGA, served as the guild’s chief negotiator. She cited union jurisdiction over the Internet as being a key issue addressed in the new contract. "The goal was to ensure that commercials produced for the Internet fall within the guild’s jurisdiction, and that the protection of the guild contract would extend to directors and assistant directors working on Internet commercials," related Lomolino. "We achieved what we set out to do. The contract will cover all commercials, whether produced for TV or any other medium."
The DGA and the AICP also agreed to form a joint creative rights committee, which Lomolino said "will explore ways to better utilize directors’ creative talent in the finished product," including greater participation in the postproduction process.
Lomolino added that the DGA and AICP negotiated an important safety provision. "Commercial producers agreed that following an extended workday [18 hours or more], they will provide [to DGA members] either a hotel room or a car service for transportation back home. The intent here is to protect people from the hazards of driving after a long workday," said Lomolino.
The DGA and the AICP began negotiations in July, and met regularly in August, September and October, culminating in the tentative agreement. Lomolino headed a DGA negotiating committee that consisted of Neil Tardio, Stu Hagmann, Vince Misiano, John Lowe, Lee Blaine, Bob Karwoski, Steve Glanzrock, David Welch, Al Smith and Ron Rapiel. The AICP negotiating team included Miller, AICP national chairman Alex Blum of bicoastal Headquarters, AICP national vice chairman Alfred Califano of bicoastal OneSuch Films, past AICP national chairman Frank Scherma of bicoastal/ international @radical.media, AICP/ East president Bob Fisher of Celsius Films, New York, and AICP legal counsel Steve Steinbrecher and Bob Sacks.
