Dear DGC Members,

In the midst of an unprecedented week for all of us, I wanted to send you a brief update on several developments.

First there is no way to write this without acknowledging the wave of protests rising around the world against anti-Black racism and the opportunity this has presented to the Guild to step up. If you have not seen it already, please take a look at the road map we are proposing to eliminate barriers to Black directors, ADs, designers, editors, production managers, coordinators, accountants, location managers and every other person who has experienced discrimination in the film world. We would not need a Guild if fairness happened by itself in our industry, but it does not. The battle is never over and we can keep getting better at it.

The other huge challenge we all face is COVID-19. We all continue to face major hurdles with the massive hit the planet has taken from this virus. The Guild is doing everything it can to step up here too.

1) Dues

We were able to waive 2nd quarter dues for all Guild members. Those who had already prepaid their 2020 dues received a one quarter credit toward dues for 2021. We could afford it, so we did it. We were all out of work, so the math was easy. Nobody paid dues.

Things are getting a little tighter financially at the Guild, but we can still step up on dues relief. We have a different proposal for Q3: Some of us will probably go back to work this month and next, but not all of us, and so we have crafted a response that reflects this less even reality:

The DGC National Executive Board will waive 3rd quarters for all members who do not work at least 10 consecutive days between July 1st and September 30th.

To make this process as effortless as possible on your end, dues payments for July 1st will be suspended initially for all members. You will be invoiced for your 3rd quarter dues if, and only if, you sign a contract with a DGC Signatory production with a term of at least 10 days, or if you sign multiple contracts with one or more DGC Signatory productions that total at least 10 consecutive days. For those members already in arrears on their 1st quarter dues payment, you will be granted an additional one-quarter extension, stretching the grace period through to September 30th, 2020 with all penalties accruing from March 17th, 2020 onward to be waived.

2) Return to Work

Many members are now waiting for more information about when and how some of us might return to production and mitigate risk to the greatest degree possible – even in a pandemic that makes it impossible to achieve complete safety either in our work or our daily lives. There are a huge number of plates in the air on this file, but we will be able to update you further in the coming days. 

As most relevant health & safety legislation in Canada is at the provincial level, efforts regarding the specific return to work protocols falls to the District Councils which have been hard at work for several weeks navigating the public policy process in each jurisdiction. Employers, unions and government are hammering out the protocols.

DGC National has helped coordinate these efforts, sharing information across District Councils and helping to ensure the Guild avoids conflicting or contradictory signals from one end of the country to the next. With Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Quebec returning to work as we speak and BC right behind them on a couple of productions, then everybody else from July through September, pending official green lights, we are forging ahead with safety as the absolute line in the sand. We need all producers to sign on to the industry protocols we are generating, and the Guild needs to have your back as you step back onto the set or into production offices or post suites. It’s all new and your District Council elected and staff are working hard to get it right. You can expect to see more information coming on return to work, both from National on the core principles guiding our approach across the country and from your local council as concrete protocols and guidelines come online in each jurisdiction.

3) Guild events

The DGC uses year-round events and the DGC Awards to promote you, your work and the productions you work on. It is crushing to us that we have had to cancel so many because these are also the gatherings where we get to know one another, get to refine our understanding of what we do, and where we get to vote for our elected representatives. COVID has cancelled the physical gatherings, but a surprising number of special events and even the voting have moved online seamlessly and have opened up some events to members in far away regions.

So the 2020 DGC Awards Gala and the National Biennial Convention have been cancelled, though the awards and the voting will happen online. The 2021 DGC Awards Gala will take place in Toronto as planned. And the Awards and the Convention will finally make it to Vancouver in 2022. For this year’s awards, the submission and nomination process moves ahead as per usual. Submissions for television are already complete and the jury process is underway. We are closely monitoring the status of film festivals and will make any adjustments to the eligibility criteria for feature films if necessary. A decision will be made regarding how the 2020 awards will be presented later in the year.

I hope this message gives you a clear image of the Guild’s efforts on your behalf. We eagerly await the moment our members can go back to putting their talents to use doing what they do best. In the meantime, all of us at the Guild, at every level, will be doing our best to support you through hardship and see to it that we all find our way to firmer ground.

Yours in solidarity,

Tim Southam
DGC National President