MUMBAI: Taylor Hackford will succeed Michael Apted as president of the Directors Guild of America (DGA).
Hackford was chosen during the Guild‘s biennial national convention at the Directors Guild headquarters in Hollywood on Saturday last. Steven Soderbergh was re-elected national VP and Gilbert Cates was re-elected secretary-treasurer. Hackford faces the challenge of navigating the next round of contract negotiations looming in 2011.
The 135 delegates on hand also elected members of a new national board of directors. The DGA includes more than 14,000 members. After a year and a half of labor unrest which included a four-month writers strike and a protracted stand-off for the actors union.
Hackford took aim at Internet piracy in a statement after his victory. “We have to be aware of the challenges we‘re facing in protecting our work on the Internet,” said Hackford. “What‘s euphemistically called ‘Internet Piracy,‘ I choose to call by its true name, ‘Internet Theft.‘ It threatens the future of our economic lives: our employment, residuals and pension and health plans. Solutions won‘t come easy, but they must be found, if we are going to survive as professional filmmakers.”
The WGA contract expires on 1 May 2011 while the SAG, AFTRA and DGA deals expire two months later on June 30.
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