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By Kristin Marguerite Doidge
The inaugural MPEG Ignite event presented by the Local 700 Young Workers Group was held on March 25 at the Guild’s headquarters in Los Angeles. The full day of presentations and discussions was followed by the “Let’s Get Fired Up” mixer in the evening to allow for additional networking and connection, as well as remarks from Guild president Alan Heim, ACE.
The mission of the event was to bring the Guild’s newest members of all ages into the fold with “a warm embrace and with a thorough understanding of their worth and what it means to be union strong,” said volunteer Génesis Henriquez. “Events such as this showcase the commitment our membership has to the growth and betterment of each generation of worker so that they feel supported in advocating for themselves and others.”
The day began with a welcome from Young Workers co-chair Jason Brotman. “Today’s program is an interactive crash course on how our union operates, the responsibilities we all have as members, and why keeping these things forefront of mind throughout our careers is absolutely vital to the health of our corner of the industry as well as our success as individual professionals,” he explained, before passing the mic to the Guild’s national executive director, Cathy Repola.
MPEG Ignite: “An interactive crash course on how our union operates.”
Repola spoke briefly about what the Guild looked like 30 years ago when she was first hired, and shared how grateful she is to see the next generation coming together through the Young Workers Group to continue to build momentum. “I hope that you will find today’s event very useful, fun, and informative,” Repola said. “You’re all the future of this union … and the future is, I think, really bright for us.”
More than 20 volunteers came out to help plan and support the event, and more than 50 members were in attendance, which was important because many of them had joined the union during the pandemic. “Beforehand, they only knew the union as just a website, but now they got to see the building and the faces behind the name,” said Young Workers co-chair Shiran Carolyn Amir, ACE.
During Isabel Yanes’ “Know Your Rights” presentation, she used whiteboards to ask the audience questions and engaged them in a “Jeopardy!”-style lightning round to see what they remembered. After warming up the group with fun ice-breakers to start the day (and end it), field representative Alenis Leon was close by throughout the day’s seminars to add comments and highlight issues members should know about.
Josh Kirchmer kept the “History of IA and MPEG” presentation light and entertaining, while Preston Johnson inspired the attendees as he spoke about “Organizing Basics,” the meaning of being a union activist, and the tools members need to protect themselves and their coworkers through organizing. “Organizing is an attitude,” Johnson said, quoting longtime labor organizer Ellen David Friedman. “The emphasis should be on building relationships, not selling an idea.”
To reinforce Johnson’s message, the final activity of the day, entitled “Solidarity in the Workplace,” allowed the attendees to put some of these tools into action. After breaking out into seven smaller groups led by two volunteers per group, each attendee had a chance to speak up and express their thoughts on what they’ve been experiencing on the job, as well as how they perceived the union before and after the day’s seminars. To close, they were brought back together to share with the entire group their experiences, current concerns, and hopes for the future.
Amir ended the day by reading aloud the statement on the back of MPEG’s new Quick Reference cards, while the audience of attendees and volunteers enthusiastically read aloud with her.
Between sessions, members had an op-portunity to participate in raffle drawings with generous prizes provided by event sponsors: ACE, Avid, Adobe, BlackMagic Design, The Cargo Cult, Pro Sound Ef-fects, EditMentor, Master The Workflow, Optimize Yourself, Hollywood Editing Mentor, Assistant Editor Bootcamp, and book authors Bobbie O’Steen, Paul Hirsch, ACE, Troy Takaki, Roger Nygard, and filmmaker Diana Friedberg, ACE. All attendees received swag bags with items from the sponsors, and “MPEG IGNITE” T- shirts.
First Entertainment Credit Union generously sponsored breakfast and lunch, and Pacific Post generously sponsored the dinner during the evening mixer.
“I’m so proud to have been a part of the inaugural MPEG Ignite,” said Kirchmer. “Invigorating new members, rekindling longtime ones, making too many fire-based puns … it was brilliant. Together, we have the power to ensure a bright-burning future for our union!”
The evening’s “Let’s Get Fired Up” mixer hosted by the Membership Outreach Committee allowed new attendees to meet other Guild members of all classifications and levels of experience through a scavenger hunt game in which people had to meet various kinds of members to be eligible for raffle prizes.
With the Writers Guild of America (WGA) negotiations then looming (the WGA ended up calling a strike that started May 2), Heim spoke about the current climate for organizing, Local 700’s preparation for its own negotiations in 2024 (he encouraged members with enough availability to join the new Basic Agreement Planning Committee), as well as the newly formed New Technology Committee. He also congratulated the “Saturday Night Live” editorial crew in New York for their resolve and success in recently getting a contract.
“MPEG Ignite was a long-awaited event, with inspiring and informative presentations, raffles, and a great opportunity to learn about solidarity and meet members young and old,” said one attendee, while another shared that “anyone taking this program will leave from it feeling empowered being part of a united local.”
The event’s organizers said they hope this is just the first of what will become an annual hallmark event for the Guild.
“We hope this seminar day and mixer will be an annual event because it helps new members start on the right foot and be educated about the Guild and their rights from the very beginning, instead of learning these things way down the road,” said Amir. “It also encourages getting involved with the union early on. This lays the groundwork for a strong union for decades to come.”
At one point, I had too much help so I sent Molly Shock, Denise Barbass, and Paula Shanfield to the flower cage to prep the flowers. I tasked Alan Heim, Glenn T. and Jennifer Morgan, F. Hudson Miller and Patricia A. Kennedy to decorate the speaker covers. Being a longtime supervising sound designer/editor, Glenn T. Morgan said, “Me? Decorating the speaker covers for the float? Such a sonic idea!”
The hands-on workshop reviewed best practices for efficient assistant editor workflows on scripted projects. It was uniquely rewarding, Armistead said later, to connect with Atlanta members while sharing workflows and strategies he had learned from his varied narrative project experiences in film and streaming television.