‘Out of touch’: Entertainment industry groups oppose FDCP’s latest guidelines for shoots

MANILA, Philippines – Members of the Inter-Guild Alliance (IGA), a community of various guilds from the entertainment industry, hit the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) over its the latest administrative order, as it told the council to come to “its senses.” 

Over the weekend, the FDCP released Advisory 6 or the “Clarificatory Guidelines on the FDCP-DOH-DOLE Joint Administrative Order No. 2020-001 on the Health and Safety Protocols on the Conduct of Film and AV Production Shoots.” According to the new advisory, productions companies must register their scheduled production with the FDCP and Deparment of Labor and Employment (DOLE) ahead of time. 

The IGA earlier drafted a set of proposed guidelines, which the Philippine Motion Picture Producers Association (PMPPA) approved to use.

In a statement released on Wednesday, July 1, the IGA said: “Not only has [FDCP] become out of touch with the industry it was tasked to develop and support, it is also making moves that are detrimental to the industry’s welfare.”

IGA said that the advisory was formed without any thorough “consultation, consensus, and collaboration from any members of film, TV, and advertising industries.”

The IGA is composed of several organizations, including the Director’s Guild of the Philippines, Ang Lupon ng Pilipinong Sinematograpo, Production Designer Technical Working Group, Assembly of Assistant Directors and Script Supervisors, TV and Film Screenwriters Collective, Alliance of Producers, Line Producers and Production Managers, Sound Speed Philippines, and Filipino Film Editors. 

“The JAO is confusing. The JAO is incomplete. The JAO needs to be junked,” IGA said.

The guild said they oppose the JAO for 4 reasons:

• The additional and totally unnecessary layers of bureaucracy every production has to go through;
• The disclosure of confidential information that have absolutely no bearing on health and safety;
• The way it encroaches on other industries beyond scope;
• The expansion of control that goes beyond its mandate and Bordens on government intrusion and censorship.

The IGA also reminded the FDCP that they are “not a regulatory board but a “developmental body.” “The film industry are its constituents. The FDCP needs to listen to their constituency, especially in this time of crisis. But it is the FDCP, or its lack of willingness, to listen that have compromised and broken the processes they govern,” the guild said.

The IGA pointed out that the FDCP’s latest order has caused more confusion and divisiveness in the industry.

“There has never been a time when we need to be united as an industry, as a community. We are hoping the FDCP will come to its senses. And start to listen. REALLY LISTEN.”

The guild called on government – the Department of Heath, Department of Labor and Employment, and other agencies — to review the order with the members of the film community themselves.

The Palace, on July 1, said that the Department of Trade and Industry and Department Education should be the ones issuing guidelines, and not FDCP.  

IGA’s statement comes after the Director’s Guild of the Philippines said it rejected the latest administrative order because it was an “additional agency intrustion on productions.”

This is not the first time the FDCP has been at odds with members of the film industry. Back in May, members of the Philippine Motion Picture Producers Association (PMPPA) questioned the draft guidelines on film and audiovisual production safety protocols, which the FDCP issued. (READ: Shorter shoots, less films out: PH film industry mull future post-lockdown).

The film and audio industry was among the first to close down in mid-March when the entire Luzon was placed under lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic. Other parts of the Philippines were later placed in lockdowns as well.

Metro Manila has since been placed under “general community quarantine,” which allows most industries to resume work, provided they follow health and safety protocols spelled out by the government. – Rappler.com