The Directors Guild of America (DGA), has named three members to its negotiating panel who will be leading its contract negotiations in 2023.
Lesli Linka Glatter of Directors Guild announced Friday that Jon Avnet, director of DGA Feature Film and Television Negotiations Committee was elected chair. Todd Holland and Karen Gaviola were appointed cochairs. These three veterans of negotiations and the union are all familiar with the new president Glatter’s first major public move.
The DGA’s current three-year contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) expires on June 30, 2023.
“We don’t yet know when our next negotiations will take place, but we are looking ahead as we carefully examine the creative and economic issues faced by our members working in film and television,”Glatter added. “As part of that process, we have asked three of our prominent feature and television directors – Jon Avnet, Karen Gaviola and Todd Holland – to head our negotiations, and they have graciously agreed. Jon and Todd did such a tremendous job co-chairing in our last round – and as a veteran of many past negotiating committees, Karen is just the right person to round out this stellar team. We are so fortunate to have the benefit of their wisdom and many years of experience to spearhead this process.”
At its September 18th meeting, the Board unanimously selected the selections.
The Guild plans to appoint the full negotiation committee which includes unit production managers, assistant directors, associate directors and stage manager working in all genres. This will be done later in the year. National executive director Russell Hollander will serve as the guild’s chief negotiator.
After talks on the Area Standards Agreement and the Hollywood Basic Agreement fell apart, the news about the DGA is good news for IATSE. The Hollywood agreement is for productions done by IATSE 13 West Coast locals. The Area Standards agreement covers productions all over the country. The results of the vote will be announced Monday.
Jon Avnet was a member of the DGA Negotiations Committee during the last three cycles. He co-chaired the latest round with Todd Holland. He is a member of the National Board, a trustee to DGA Pension and Health Plans, and serves on the Western Directors Council. He’s also a two-time DGA Award nominee and is known for directing “Fried Green Tomatoes.”
Karen Gaviola was a member on the DGA Negotiations Committee in the last four negotiation cycles. She is also a member on the National Board. She is also a member the TV Director Creative Rights Committee and Diversity Task Force and serves on the DGA Pension and Health Plans Trustee Board. Gaviola has supervised more than 125 hours in television programming across all genres.
Todd Holland was a member on the DGA Negotiations Committee over six cycles and co-chaired Avnet’s latest round. He is a National Board Member and serves as the Western Directors Council. He is also a trustee for the DGA Pension and Health Plans. Holland is a prolific television director. Holland was a six time nominee and won the DGA Award in Television Comedy in 2001.