by Martin Levenstein, Guild 2nd Vice President

This past October 6 marked the official opening of the Guild’s new office for our members and staff. The Fall quarterly membership meeting was a catered affair, mixing business with pleasure. Assistant Executive Director Paul Moore gave a report on local concerns, including news about the New York State and City tax incentive program written about by Louis Bertini in the previous issue of this magazine. Moore also talked with members about a Local 700 initiative to ensure that members working under agreements are being fairly compensated for overtime worked. He told us that letters explaining this initiative have gone to all producers and labor relations executives with whom we have contracts, warning them about possible violations. He further told us that a major feature currently in post-production in New York is being very closely monitored as a test case, and that he has held meetings both with members on the crew and producer representatives.

The Editors Guild offices in New York. Photo by Martin Levenstein. Headshot by Steven J. Cohen

One of the concerns of the Eastern Region Board and myself is that members are often too shy when it comes to reporting possible contract violations to the union. This might be a factor of misguided self-interest, fear of employer retribution, fear of not being rehired by the employer in the future or simply ignorance of the contents of their agreements. When unresolved dissatisfaction in the cutting room is allowed to continue, it can make us unhappy at work and in other aspects of our life. Union agreements are written to allow us to earn a fair wage and benefits commensurate with our talents. The idea is that in return for professional service, which hopefully will enable the producer to make a profit on investment, our members are able to earn enough money and have enough time off to lead a satisfying lifestyle, have a decent place to live, raise a family if they so desire, etc.

Protections are written into our agreements so that this basic idea is not abused. A benefit to the employer is that over the long term, this encourages the development of a skilled labor pool that can be called upon again and again for reliable and creative work. It is imperative that all members stand up for themselves and support the union and the hard-won agreements that have been written to protect us! Producers are not ignorant of the content of documents they have signed. Sometimes they just have to be reminded. Please allow the union to be a buffer between you and your employer when you feel your rights in the workplace are being abused.

In another report to the membership, Board member Laura Congleton gave an update on efforts to fund and equip the training room, and said that certain hardware systems and software applications are available for individual lab time, including Final Cut Pro, Adobe Products and Avid. We are offering personal unsupervised lab time or lab time with an expert on call to answer your questions. Members may also schedule one-on-one training with an instructor to cover specific areas where they would like to gain expertise. Please call Office Manager Sandy Fong-Ging (ext. 201) or Field Representative Annie Ballard (ext. 204) for the latest news and to reserve your time to work and learn.

After the meeting, a lovely buffet dinner was served by Bubba’s, our nearby comfort food landmark. Besides the hard work of the staff to get the workplace “right,” many thanks go to Board members Congleton and Peter C. Frank, who volunteered many hours of consultation with the architects and contractors to ensure it was put together just the way we wanted.

Adobe Products Seminar Well Attended
On November 4, we held the first seminar in the new office conference room. Steven Whatley, applications engineer for Adobe Systems Inc., gave a demo and fielded questions about Adobe Products, with specific emphasis on After Effects and Photoshop. About 40 members attended the talk, which lasted over three hours. Attendees were asked to fill out a critique afterwards, and some very good ideas were put forth which we will try to implement in future seminars.

If any member has an idea for a seminar he or she would like to attend or teach, please let us know. Congleton put this seminar together, with assistance from Ballard. We will announce future seminars and events via e-mail, so make sure our office manager has your e-mail address in her database.

Holiday Party
Hopefully, no one missed our holiday party December 16. I hope that all members came to the office, met their friends and even made some new ones. In addition, we invited some producers with whom we have relationships and others with whom we would like to do business. We invited representatives from other IATSE locals in New York and the IA national administration, plus people from facilities and services with whom our members do business. We are showing everyone that we’re a presence on the East Coast. We are the best post-production professionals, proud of who we are and what we do.
Happy New Year to all!