Art Directors Guild Election: 4 Candidates Seek To Unseat Chuck Parker As National Executive Director
deadline.comChuck Parker is facing a tough re-election bid as national executive director of the Art Directors Guild, IATSE Local 800. Three years ago, he ran unopposed, but this time four challengers — including two former guild presidents — are running against him.
Ballots will go out March 29 and will be counted April 19.The Art Directors Guild is unusual in that it’s the only Hollywood guild with national jurisdiction that elects its top executive officer – the result of a 2016 Department of Labor ruling that found that its national executive director is an “officer” and not an “employee,” thus requiring an election by the members.
That is how Parker first got elected to the post in 2016, defeating longtime incumbent Scott Roth, who had never before stood for election but was appointed by the executive board for 18 years.
In 2020, the job paid nearly $250,000 a year.The four candidates seeking to unseat Parker are Marcia Hinds, Susan Largent and former ADG presidents Mimi Gramatky and Thomas Walsh.In his campaign statement, Parker said he’s running on his record over the past six years, and on his support for IATSE’s past two film and TV contacts, including last year’s narrowly ratified pact that was approved by two-thirds of the guild’s voting members.“In both of those negotiations, we were able to significantly increase contribution levels into our benefit plans,” Parker wrote. “It was those increases achieved during the 2018 negotiations that allowed us to fund the critical, Covid-19 health insurance eligibility extensions.
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