WGA’s Minimum Staffing Demands Were A Key Sticking Point In Failed Contract Talks, But It Wouldn’t Be The First Guild To Require Them
deadline.comEXCLUSIVE: The AMPTP has called the Writers Guild’s minimum staffing demands for episodic TV shows “a hiring quota that is incompatible with the creative nature of our industry.” But if the WGA prevails in its ongoing strike, it wouldn’t be the first guild to require minimum staffing in its contract.
The Directors Guild of America doesn’t call it “minimum staffing” or a “hiring quota,” but its current film and TV contract, which is up for renegotiation beginning Wednesday contains mandatory staffing provisions for various below-the-line members of the director’s team, including unit production managers, assistant directors and associate directors.
The AMPTP declined comment, but producers see staffing mandates for directors’ teams and staffing minimums for writers rooms as apples and oranges.
Unit production managers, assistant directors and associate directors all have defined sets of duties and responsibilities, while writing sometimes is done by a single individual, other times by a small group and other times by a very large group of writers.
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