Directors UK is the professional association for British directors working in the audiovisual sector, with over 4,500 members. The organisation is both a collective management organisation for the distribution of secondary rights payments to directors, and the campaigning body seeking to protect and enhance the creative, economic and contractual rights of directors in the UK.
Purpose
Directors UK works to protect and enhance the creative rights of directors working in the UK. It strives to ensure directors retain control of their material, and protect them from bad working practices. The organisation negotiates, collects, and manages the right to receive payment for the use of their work for all directors working in the UK. It achieves this via its relationship with UK broadcasters and international partners, and operates a monitoring, collection and royalty distribution system. Directors UK also represents directors and directing to Government in the UK and in Europe, to broadcasters, to regulators, to other industry bodies and to the media. Directors UK provides services and benefits to its members, such as, discounts, employment services via and legal advice.
History
In 2006 a group of leading film and television directors got together to discuss the challenges facing their industry, and the need to improve working conditions, fees and remuneration for directors in the UK. This informal group became known as The Century Group, named after The Century Club, the location of their first meeting. They were concerned about the fragmentation of directors’ representation and the need for a single voice acting on behalf of directors. Over the next two years this group worked closely with the Board of DPRS to create the current organisation - Directors UK, which was launched in June 2008. In November 2011 Directors UK launched its new Membership Scheme, open to all audiovisual directors regardless of whether they have works that are receiving payments from the collecting society.
Directors UK offers three membership categories in total:
Full: For directors working in film and television;
Associate: For audiovisual directors working outside of film and television, e.g. music videos, commercials, or short film;
Student: for students in their final year of study, on a full-time accredited course, of at least one academic year in length, with a recognised education provider.
