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Over the past year, we've been working steadily to create a New York training room. Avid and Sony have donated equipment to help us, and we've set up an initial class structure to make inexpensive training available to members. So it gives me great pleasure to announce that on November 4, we held our first class, "Introduction to the Avid," taught by board member Laura Congleton. In addition, a one-day, one-on-one tutoring session is being offered, led by member John Acosta. Other Guild members who have expressed an interest in sharing their Avid skills will lead future classes. Students pay a nominal fee for these classes, with the remaining costs supplemented by the Local 700 Help Fund. Any active member may register. "Introduction to the Avid" is designed to teach members how to manage an Avid-based film or video project using Media/Film Composer Version 11. It consists of five all-day sessions, Monday through Friday, and is designed for five students, who learn by lecture, demonstration and hands-on experience. The class begins with Macintosh basics and continues with an overview of telecine. It then covers media input: how to digitize from videotape and bring in still photographs and music from CDs. Students learn how to manage the resulting media and organize their work, then move on to output methods: how to make a digital cut and create EDLs and cut lists. The class also teaches the differences between 24- and 30-fps projects. Students in the first class came from both picture and sound classifications. The Guild will offer additional classes in the future, and we hope to make the Avid available on an individual basis for members who wish to practice their skills. We intend to broaden our course offerings over time and are working to acquire additional equipment. If you can help facilitate donations, please call me or Paul Moore in the New York office.
As many of our members grow older, we are in danger of losing valuable knowledge of the history of Local 771 and of New York post production in general. How many stories and anecdotes, priceless photos and other materials must exist that would illuminate our past and make it real for generations to come? Much has been lost already, because many of our charter members have already passed away -- but wouldn't it be wonderful to speak with the older members who are still here and begin to record their thoughts and memories? With this in mind, the Eastern Region board members held a meeting on November 20 to develop concepts and ideas for an archival project. Also attending were editors Wally Katz (retired) and Angelo Corrao, and past Local 771 president Ted Troll. We discussed the scope and goals of the project, what form the archive should take, what criteria should determine who is interviewed and how the project could be funded. If any member, active or retired, would like to contribute ideas or time to the brainstorming phase of this project, please contact Sandy in the New York office. We welcome your thoughts.
When the locals merged four years ago, the categories of Eastern Region Director and Alternate Director were created as seats on the Editors Guild Board of Directors. Directors attend national and Eastern Region board meetings and have a vote on the national board; alternates also attend Eastern Region meetings and replace directors at national board meetings if a director is unable to attend. Based on a formula that considers the number of active members in a board category, the Eastern Region has been allocated four seats for directors and four for alternates. Since the merger, our active membership has typically numbered in the low 600s. But because of successful organizing campaigns, such as the one at New York Times Television, and the fact that we recently added re-recording classifications to our jurisdiction, our membership has now grown to over 700. This has qualified us for an additional director and alternate, for a total of five in each category. Results from the recent board of directors election weren't available at press time, but they should be on our web site by the time you read this, at www.editorsguild.com.
Wednesday, March 5, 2003, 7 p.m. |
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