The Australian Directors Guild now the official union to be consulted on 420 Visas for directors
As a result of the Australian Directors Guild (ADG) registration under the Fair Work Act, it is now the official union to be consulted for a non-objection letter for directors for a 420 Visa. Up until now only one union has been in this position, the Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance. They have been the sole union providing non-objection letters for all visas for anyone entering Australia to work.
The ADG’s status as a union means it is the “relevant union” for screen directors. This will cover all screen directors whether is by television commercials, music videos, documentaries, feature films, television drama, etc.
Says Kingston Anderson, CEO, the ADG: “We had been consulted by the MEAA for some time on directors coming into the country and it became clear that once we were registered we would be the relevant union as stated in the act.”
Under the Visa regulations, any production that wishes to bring in a non-Australian director to direct anything for the screen must apply to the ADG for a non-objection letter to support their application for a 420 Visa. This can be done by going to the ADG’s website under our resources section where the process is laid out for the producer.
The ADG is affiliated with a number of director’s guilds and unions around the world and this latest recognition by the Federal Government cements its place as the only organisations in Australia that truly represents screen directors.
4 Comments
YEW! 420 BLAZE IT
Yes the ADG is the relevant union for screen directors. The problem is not the Directors who are seeking the correct permits to come and work in Australia. The problem is the Directors who don’t have permits. This is not an Australian problem. Directors are working globally and often fly under the radar. Australian Directors are regularly working overseas too.
In the interest of this forum on Advertising I’d be interested to know how many applications have been made for Foreign Directors to work on TVC’s in Australia over the last 12 months. Then how many were approved or rejected.
In my dealings with the MEAA on this issue i understand numbers are very low indicating that non compliance is the norm and application for visas is the exception.
With the fast turn around of Treatments and Budgets and the regular need for multiple directors to bid on commercial projects it may often be considered that visa application is too slow and the risk of rejection to much of a financial risk to the Prod Co.
Perhaps the ADG could consult with Prod Co’s to try and develop a process that will be more suitable to the business terms of trade so that they can capture and monitor more of the international Director trade.
I am certain that all Prod Co’s and Directors would rather be operating with the support and consent of the ADG and have the correct Visa’s.
The film industry will benefit as a whole if we can access a broad range of directors allowing us to keep the productions on home soil and keep the budgets in Australia.
Like your thoughts “My Thoughts”. That’s a very astute way of thinking and looking forward.
Yes, most foreign directors are entering illegally.
No, this IS an Australian problem. The directors being brought in are overwhelmingly American or Canadian, with a smattering of Brits. If Australian directors work in these markets they require expensive, time consuming work visas, and in the case of the USA are required to engage with their union system.
No, the film industry will not benefit from using foreign directors, as the vast majority of the commercials that are engaging foreign directors are not of the scale that they would ever shoot overseas anyway for the sake of director availability.
And yes, Im sure the ADG would liase with production companies.
But the core issue is, every other job in Australia requires a work visa. I’m sure there are a great number of wonderful workers from all over the world that would gladly come to our country to work in advertising in both agency and production roles.
But they can’t, because they don’t have work visas. And if all of a sudden work visas were handed out to anyone who fancied in these areas, you would suddenly find a very different attitude to the topic of overseas workers. And I can guarantee you ‘astute and forward thinking’ would not be part of the discussion.