Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/309120
10 CINEMONTAGE / MAY-JUN 14 OUTREACH CONNECTION Help Us Help You Make a Difference by Stephanie Brown and John Vitale L et us introduce ourselves: We are the Membership Outreach Committee. The committee was established by the Editors Guild Board of Directors as an avenue through which members can interact with each other to generate and distribute solutions to issues that you, the membership, help identify. It is staffed and served by various members from different classifications with a mission to increase overall membership participation in our post-production community and to implement innovative tools to better assist members in addressing workplace concerns. The Membership Outreach Committee helped in the creation of summary booklets and downloadable links for the most current contracts. It is always important for you to know what contract you're working under. These summaries provide convenient access and less complicated language to better assist in applying your contractual provisions and ensuring that you have a clear understanding of what is rightfully expected under the contracts. If for any reason you are still in doubt about which contract you are working under or do not understand the application of some term or working condition, call the Guild office and speak with a Field Representative — keeping in mind that such conversations are always kept in strictest confidence. A helpful reminder of some of the more general contract provisions are the "Post-Production Code of Conduct" posters that many of you have already displayed in your editing room. Call the Guild if you'd like a poster sent to you for your workplace. Another of the committee's implemented inspiration is the "Coffee and Donuts with the Reps" at the studios. This was meant to maximize the amount of people the reps could visit within a couple of hours. Your Field Representatives enjoy meeting with you and answering any questions you may have; don't be afraid to get to know them. Most are your peers and came from the rank and file membership. These gatherings also afford you an opportunity to meet fellow members working on the lot. It is a networking advantage not to be missed! In an effort to provide an environment for union members to connect with each other to exchange ideas and discuss issues that are important and relevant to us, we created a private Facebook page called I AM THE UNION: A Motion Picture Editors Guild Discussion Group at www.facebook.com/groups/iamtheunion/. It currently has over 1,000 members and is growing each day. Many members have already used the Facebook group to engage in spirited discussions about the current film tax credit being considered in the California State Senate. Our most ambitious project to date is the development of the roundtable series. Last year, we reached out to the membership to start working on identifying workplace issues and trying to formulate effective ways to address them. Based on input from our colleagues, we decided to start with members working in television — an area in which workflow changes quickly and has had more than its share of problems. Randy Morgan, left, Ara Ashjian, Stephanie Brown, Charles Kramer, Dave Jackson, A.J. Catoline, Sharon Smith Holley, Rob Kraut, Glenn Morgan, John Vitale and J.J. Moore. Not pictured: Robert Cotnoir, Christy Richmond, Richard Sanchez and John Trask. Photo by Wm. Stetz CineMontage_May-Jun_14-3.indd 10 4/15/14 2:43 PM