 |
GUILD |
April 25, 2024 |
 |
|
Local 800 is a local union of the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE). The "IA", as it is commonly known, is an international union, which exclusively represents employees in the entertainment industry, spanning the United States and Canada with more than 110,000 members. Local 800 is comprised of Art Directors, Graphic Artists, Illustrators, Matte Artists, Model Makers, Scenic Artists, Set Designers, Title Artists and Previs Artists.
While the craft of Production Design and Art Direction dates back 100 years to the very beginning of filmmaking, it wasn't until 1924 that 63 of the top men and women pursuing that craft formed the Cinemagundi Club (named after New York's club for artists, the Salmagundi Club), a casual organization that met mainly for socializing at a Hollywood restaurant.
Through the years the Cinemagundi Club developed into a forum for Production Designers and Art Directors to exchange views and to discuss problems. In 1937, the Club transformed itself into the Society of Motion Picture Art Directors. Television was added to its name 30 years later and in January of 2000 it became the Art Directors Guild.
The 1930s were bleak times, however, for Art Directors and other industry craft artists who were not being given proper credit for the important creative contributions they made to films. That attitude dramatically changed in 1939 with "Gone With the Wind", when producer David O. Selznick agreed to give the new credit of Production Designer to William Cameron Menzies for his brilliant work on the classic film. Menzies (the dean of U.S. film Art Direction at the time) produced scene-by-scene storyboards and illustrations for GWTW that revolutionized the film industry. They demonstrated the vital role that Production Design plays in the overall look of a theatrical motion picture, establishing practices still in use today.
After the Second World War, many below the line industry labor organizations, including the Art Directors Guild, signed on with the powerful International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE) for overall union representation. The Guild became more active, grew in membership, and expanded opportunities as television developed.
In January 2003, the 900 members of ADG merged with the 700-member Scenic, Title and Graphic Artists to form Art Directors Guild & Scenic, Title and Graphic Artists, IATSE Local 800. In 2008, IATSE Locals 790 and 847, representing Set Designers, Model Makers, Illustrators and Matte Artists, merged into the Guild. The total ADG membership now numbers over 2,000. In addition to union representation, its ongoing member activities include a Film Society, an annual awards banquet, an annual art show (Art Unites, an exhibition of members’ personal artwork), the publication of an annual Membership Directory, a bi-monthly craft magazine (Perspective), an extensive technology-training program, creative workshops and exhibitions.
For more information about the Art Directors Guild, contact dooner, Organizer for the Art Directors Guild, at 818.762.9995
|
|
|
|
|
|
