How to Join the Producer's Guild of America

Many people are familiar with the Screen Actors Guild that creates a union for actors all over the country; however there are organizations for people that work in other areas of the film/television industry as well. One of them is the Producers Guild of America, which includes producers, executive producers, co-executive producers, supervising producers, co-producers, visual effects producers and coordinators, new media executive producers, associate producers, segment producers, production supervisors and production managers, post-production supervisors and managers and production and post-production coordinators. This is every production position that you will find on any given set, aside from the production assistant. Production assistants aren’t able to join the Producers Guild of America so there is just an additional reason for production assistants to work toward other positions. Once you’ve attained one of these positions, you still must meet certain requirements before you can become a member of the Producers Guild of America.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. If you have only done work as a production assistant and you want to join the guild, it’s time to seek out a different position. Once you manage to land a coordinator or producer title, congratulations, you are now on your way to becoming eligible to join the guild.

2. Unfortunately, just landing the gig with a different title isn’t enough to grant you the opportunity to apply to be apart of the guild. You have to have worked on at least two projects to be considered, however there are specifications that go along with the type of project you work on so you should visit the Producers Guild of America’s website for the specifics.

3. Now that you’ve researched the specific requirements, you are ready to work on your application. Before you even start to fill out the application, make sure you have at least three industry references that can speak on the positions that you held. Although the requirements are just for two, you want to make sure you have ample people that can speak on your behalf. Entertainment people can get busy at times and you may need to provide another reference should one of yours become unavailable.

4. Make sure you can afford to pay the initial dues. Even as you wait to see if you will be approved by the board, you want to make sure you have set aside the money necessary to pay those dues. They can vary depending on the type of position you seek within the organization. The different fees are listed here:
   * Producers Council Applicants: $935 - Non-refundable Application Fee ($35) + Initiation Fee ($725) + Dues ($175)
   * AP Council Applicants: $460 - Non-refundable Application Fee ($35) + Initiation ($350) + Dues ($75)
   * Coordinator Applicants: $110 - Non-refundable Application Fee ($35) + Dues ($75)
   * New Media Council Applicants: $460 - Non-refundable Application Fee ($35) + Initiation ($350) + Dues ($75)
   As you can see, the yearly dues aren’t that expensive, the most money you will pay will consist of the application fee and the initiation fee.

5. Be patient. It can take about 30 to 90 days from the receipt of your application before a decision is made whether to allow you to join the guild. If for whatever reason you aren’t accepted, your fees will be returned excluding the $35 non-refundable application fee.

Resources

• Producers Guild of America

[igislandgirl]

on 8/31/2009 Thanks for the info on ho to become a member of the producers guild.