During his remarks, Congressman Neal spoke about his work on the Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over tax and health issues including the important Section 181 provision that provides federal tax incentives for film and television production in the United States. He also spoke about his awareness of the economic development role incentives play, having seen the impact first-hand in Massachusetts. In his role as Chair of the Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures, he is the tax point person on Ways and Means and was instrumental, together with Congressman Rangel, in proposing a fix to the participations and residuals problems that undermined the intent and effectiveness of Section 181. Congressman Neal was first elected to Congress in 1988 and is currently seeking his tenth term.

Bottom Row: DGA National Executive Director Jay D. Roth, Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA), and DGA President Michael Apted. Top Row: DGA Secretary-Treasurer Gil Cates, DGA First Vice President/PAC LC Co-Chair Paris Barclay, and DGA Third Vice President/PAC LC Co-Chair Taylor Hackford.

Congressman Berman, who spoke to the Leadership Council for the first time in 2002, has provided guidance and support to the Guild on many issues throughout the years, including serving as one of the three original authors of the DGA’s federal runaway production legislation in 2001; supporting copyright protection and recognizing that the rights of creators must be protected on the internet; and battling against the Clearplay provision in the Family Movie and Entertainment Act. He was first elected to Congress in 1982 and is now seeking his 14th term in office. While he currently serves as Chair of the Subcommittee on the Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property, in November he will step down having assumed the Chairmanship of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Michael Apted and DGA First Vice President/Co-chair of the Leadership Council Paris Barclay welcomed Congressman Waxman to the DGA a few days later.

As the second ranking Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee, Congressman Waxman faces many issues that concern and impact DGA members like Internet protection and new media, net neutrality, media consolidation, FCC oversight and sex and violence in the media. The Congressman, whose district covers the west side of Los Angeles including Malibu, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Brentwood and Westlake Village, noted that many members of his constituency work in the entertainment industry and that these important issues concern him not just on a societal level, but also on a district level as well.

National Executive Director Jay D. Roth welcomes Congressmen Howard Berman (D-CA) and Richard Neal (D-MA) to DGA Headquarters in Los Angeles.

Regarding media consolidation, the Congressman said, “I think we’ve got to reverse some of these decisions the FCC has made to allow any further consolidation…. There’s a loss to the public if we have consolidation of the media.” The group also enjoyed an informative discussion about the questions swirling around the intent and impact of net neutrality and Congressman Waxman spoke of his interest in continuing an ongoing dialogue with the Guild on this issue.Waxman is well known for his position as Chair of the Government Oversight and Reform Committee, where he conducts hearings into government practices in an effort to identify waste, fraud and abuse and to ensure that the government is functioning in the way it was designed. He also has played an active role in most of the environmental and health matters that have come before Congress during his 34 years in office.

These meetings marked the 60th and 61st Leadership Council events with elected leaders since the Council was created in 2001.