Farewell

by Donn Cambern

In the life of the earth, a decade is but a small particle, a mere nanosecond of time, but for me the last ten years have been unusually full and rich.

When I became president of the Guild ten years ago, digital technology was just grabbing hold of our lives. Many members were alarmed, frightened and in some cases dead set against zeroes and ones becoming a part of their world. As president, I encouraged everyone I could, including the Board, to embrace this technology, because it represented the future for all of us. We set up training rooms and sat down with Lightworks and Avid in our conference room and persuaded them to loan us their machines. Members could now practice and develop their skills. We negotiated with producers for funding that would pay for training programs. Now at the Guild, we have a full complement of equipment — both picture and sound — and a staff to help members use the machines. This technology is no longer a revolution but a fact of life, and our membership has embraced it fully.

We have grown from 3,200 members ten years ago to almost 6,000 today. What happened? First, after years of jurisdictional disputes, all post-production members from Sound Local 695 were merged into the Editors Guild. That meant that we represented the entire range of post-production creative talent. Next, we combined Local 776 with New York Local 771 and the editorial jurisdiction from Chicago Local 780 to form Local 700, a national union. New York re-recording mixers from Local 52 joined us, as well. We have now successfully negotiated a national agreement with the producers, including a commitment to merge our pension and health plans. We have added one more small, special union to our fold — Local 854, the Story Analysts. They needed a home, and the logic was, we are storytellers, and they are storytellers.

We are aggressively organizing non-union productions and non-union post-production houses on both coasts. Soon, we will begin organizing efforts throughout the rest of the country. Our goal is to spread the union ideal, so that non-members will want to join, and producers will understand the wisdom of that choice. While we have no control over foreign shows, we are vigorously working to find ways to make post-production in the United States attractive to all producers.

We wanted a new logo that would better reflect the skills of our membership. We met with Wayne Fitzgerald, a brilliant graphic designer, and he created our elegant new design. This was a gift from Wayne, and we are indeed grateful.

We have taken advantage of the Internet by developing our own web site. This was the brainchild of longstanding board member and film editor, Steve Cohen and our perpetual-motion administrative director, Lisa Dosch. With Mary Lee and Jay Scherberth, who designed the site, they created a rich source of information that is seen by hundreds of members and non-members every day.

We enjoy something else that simply did not exist before, our Editors Guild Magazine. Is it not beautiful, informative and well written? This did not just happen. It was the brainchild of Steve Cohen and Mary Lee. When they came to me with the concept of a magazine to replace our tired newsletter, I applauded their vision. We now have an instrument of communication that all members find interesting, filled with accurate, clear, technical information and articles covering creative issues and the needs of the membership. This is a magazine that makes our members proud, and it simultaneously attracts non-members to our fold.

I came to the Guild presidency without any political experience, but with a sincere desire to give something back to an organization that has given me so much. I was fortunate to have Ron Kutak, executive director of the Guild, as my guide into the intricacies of this organization. Ron and his superb staff are the engine that drive this union. Their knowledge and dedication are a source of comfort for all of our members.

I am proud to be part of a Guild that encourages its members to excel and fulfill their dreams. It is the passion and dedication of our membership that makes this organization possible. These ten years have been a rich journey of change and development that has benefited us all. I am proud and happy to have seen all of it happen on my watch.

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