SNUBBED FOR BEST DIRECTOR OSCAR NOD, AFFLECK WINS DGA’S TOP HONOR

Ordinarily Ben Affleck would be considered a sure bet to win the Best Director Oscar at the Academy Awards ceremony on Feb. 24. After all, he continues to pile up top awards for his work as director of Argo, which itself has jumped ahead of Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln to become the clear front-runner for Best […]

DGA SAYS TV PRODUCERS PLEDGE DIVERSITY BUT DON’T PRACTICE IT

The Directors Guild of America has accused television networks and producers of paying lip service to the idea of racial and gender diversity in the hiring of directors but by and large failing to do so in practice. According to results of a DGA survey released on Wednesday, during the 2010-11 season, white males directed […]

GUILDS IN A LATHER OVER SOAP CANCELLATIONS

The Directors Guild of America (DGA), the Writers Guild of America (WGA), and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) reacted with shock and dismay Thursday to ABC’s announcement that it will be shutting down the long-running soap operas All My Children and One Life to Live. In a statement, the DGA said, […]

DIRECTORS APPROVE CONTRACT WITH PRODUCERS

Contract talks between the Directors Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which are usually the least contentious of all the labor negotiations in Hollywood, proved to be no exception this year, and DGA members on Tuesday approved the latest three-year deal. While details of the voting results were not […]

WGA RULES OUT AWARDS FOR SOME TOP FILMS

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is being stricter than other industry unions that hand out annual awards by insisting that scripts submitted for its annual awards presentations be produced under WGA jurisdiction. Daily Variety observed today (Wednesday) that the guild’s stance makes several critically praised screenplays ineligible for WGA nominations, which are due to […]

DGA BLASTS IRAN’S SENTENCING OF TOP DIRECTOR

In a curiously delayed response, the Directors Guild of America on Wednesday denounced the arrest, conviction and sentencing of award-winning Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi and his colleague, Mohammad Rasoulof. The two were sentenced in Iran on Monday to six years in jail and barred from making movies for 20 years for “colluding in the gathering […]

DIRECTORS GUILD PRESIDENT CALLS GOOGLE “ENABLER OF PIRACY”

Taylor Hackford, the president of the Directors Guild of America, has called Google an enabler of video piracy that allows users to discover in an instant where they can download copyrighted movies illegally. “Google is making money through (its) search engine with these sites,” he told the Entertainment Content Protection Summit, according to Daily Variety. […]

OTHER SHOW-BIZ UNIONS HAIL SAG/AFTRA PACT WITH AMPTP

Given the fact that the early tentative agreement reached last weekend between the two principal actors’ unions, SAG and AFTRA, and the movie and producers’ group, the AMPTP, is likely to serve as a template for future industry negotiations, the reaction to it by other Hollywood guilds on Monday would appear to bode well for […]

HOLLYWOOD FACING ANOTHER STRIKE

Negotiations between the Teamsters Union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have reached an impasse, which could result in another crippling strike as early as August 1, according to entertainment attorney Jonathan Handel, writing in today’s (Monday) Hollywood Reporter. A strike by the Teamsters would not only involve some 4,000 drivers, location […]

LET THE TALKS BEGIN

Directors Guild of America (DGA) President and Negotiations Chairman Gil Cates announced Wednesday that the guild plans to open negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) in mid-November. The talks would thus immediately follow those between the AMPTP and the two performers unions, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American […]