In the Matter of the Arbitration between Directors Guild of America, Inc. and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. Relating to “Bad Medicine”

Jeffrey Ganz, a member of the Directors Guild of America (DGA) (plaintiff), was hired by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (Fox) (defendant) as a coproducer on the film Bad Medicine, which was filmed entirely in Spain. While Ganz was in Spain, he performed work as second unit director of photography, meaning that he was charged with overseeing the film’s auxiliary crew. Fox negotiated the terms and compensation for Ganz’s employment as second unit director with Ganz’s United States-based representative while Ganz was in Spain. Fox failed to pay Ganz the full amount to which he was entitled under the pay rates outlined in the DGA’s Basic Agreement (BA), the collective-bargaining agreement that governed employment terms for DGA members. DGA brought an arbitration against Fox to collect the remaining amounts owed to Ganz. At the arbitration, Ganz testified that he was engaged to provide second-unit-director services prior to leaving the United States, but Fox testified that Ganz volunteered to take on the second-unit-director role only after arriving in Spain. Fox argued that the BA was inapplicable because Ganz was in Spain when he took on the second-unit-director role. Ganz argued that, regardless of where he was when he accepted the second-unit-director role, the BA applied because the negotiations for Ganz’s compensation were handled by Ganz’s United States-based representative.