Euro tape tax yields $ 28 mil
While members of the Motion Picture Export Assn. of America have received the lion's share of that money -- they take 85% of any levies collected -- the Writers Guild of America and the Directors Guild of America collectively have received close to $ 5 million.
The money comes from levies Europeans placed on the sale of blank videotapes in the mid-1980s as a way of compensating the creative and producing talent whose product is being taped. To date, only Germany and France have sent money, though.
Somewhat analogous to residual payments, the plan conceived by the Europeans reroutes money from tape sales to producers, authors and performers, according to the number of times their shows are aired on European television. There has been some consternation from entertainment circles here because the Americans are only receiving monies from the author category, which covers directors and writers. Producers and performers are so far shut out from payments derived from the levies.
The problem the guilds now face, though, is being able to decipher how that money should be distributed to their members. While the German collection agencies have been extremely detailed and organized as to how they arrived at certain figures and what authors and directors should be paid, the French payments have been sent with a confusing array of paperwork.
"What we've found is that the supporting information the French have sent along to help us figure out who the money goes to has been woefully inadequate," said Paul Nawrocki, asst. exec director at the WGAW. "They've repeatedly promised over the last three months to rectify their reporting, but it's yet to happen."
The French collection agencies have been known to send along 200-page reports in French detailing airings of American shows that had been renamed by the French.
"When we asked if they had the shows' American titles in English, they said, 'Oh yes, we didn't know you'd want them in English,' " Nawrocki said.
To date, the WGA has received about $ 2.1 million from both the Germans and the French, $ 1.3 million of which is from France and has yet to be distributed. The DGA has received a similar amount.
The WGAW, meanwhile, has already distributed 70% of the German money--or $ 596,177--so far.
Both guilds have jointly hired one person to handle the initial administration of these monies, but it's proved to be a gigantic headache as they struggle to write computer software programs that will put the payments into quicker turnaround.
Perhaps the nicest bonus from all of this is that these payments, which initially have been retroactive (as much as possible), are providing a new source of income -- albeit small amounts -- for older writers and directors who have long since seen their residual payments fall off.
"Right now we're seeing significant monies coming in on product that's very old," Nawrocki said.
An example would be payments targeted for the authors (Julius and Phillip Epstein) and director (Frank Capra) of "Arsenic and Old Lace," which first aired in 1944.
Not surprisingly, these retroactive payments have also entailed a good deal of footwork to find beneficiaries for those artists who are no longer alive.
Meanwhile, Spain and Italy are expected to soon come on line with similar payment programs. Switzerland, the Netherlands and Austria also have been coming to grips with the levies program.
