GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING HELD
The last meeting of Local 1461 saw the election of Judy Weiner and Bob Little as delegates from the Famous Unit to the Executive Board; Dave Tendler as Conductor and the Famous Unit staff for TOP CEL. TOP CEL eagerly awaits its Terrytoon news correspondents to be elected at the next meeting at New Rochelle.
The main business of this meeting centered around the appointment of Pepe Ruiz at a salary of $50 per week, this sum to cover the withholding of tax and all expenses involved in the job of being business agent. Too involved a subject for a single vote the motion was broken down into (1) Do we need an outside business agent? (2) Do we need a full or part time agent? (3) Do we want Pepe Ruiz at $50 per week? The results voted in by a strong majority were: (1) Yes. (2) Full Time (3) Pepe Ruiz was accepted "at $50. per week until the contract is signed or until such time that we decided to dispense with his services, and that Pepe Ruiz was to accept the position with those provisos.
The discussion preceding the votes involved the practicability of having a non-paid volunteer union member to act as business agent. There was no response to a general appeal for a volunteer. the reasons given included pressing outside interests and the feeling of inability to act freely while in the position of employee.
A full time business agent was voted in because said agent must be at the Union's instant call. This same argument ruled out using an AF of L representative who might not be available exactly when needed. The next joint meeting will go into the financial end more fully.
Mr. Colin MacDonald, International Organizer, addressed the membership regarding the cancellation of a $837.60 debt incurred by Local 1461 for per capita taxes. Starting as of January, 1944, the per capita tax should be paid regularly.
Mr. MacDonald turned over $53.80 which he had held in trust for the now defunct Miami Local. In addition, $112.75 was returned to the local which consisted of cash paid in for initiation fees by the Famous Unit.
MOST INTERESTING
According to "Variety", Walt Disney Productions, although devoting major portion of facilities to US agencies on non-profit basis, not-incomed $681,536 for the fiscal year ending last October 2nd as against $308,930 in the previous fiscal year.
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From "The Exchange": "Greatest gains in earnings from 1942 through 1943 were made by film companies."
FLIPPINGS
Eddie Rehberg at the Triboro Hospital, Jamaica, New York, would like to hear from Local 1461 by letters, cartoons and/or feelthy pictures...... .....Myron Waldman, now of the U. S. Signal Corps, has been around autographing his new book "Eve". Myron wishes his boss would send him to India... .....now they tell us Sgt. Lu Guarnier of the Signal Unit is not in Art School, but taking basic training in NJ ....sent to see a GI film release on bonds, fifty Signal Corps men responded by rushing to the Red Cross blood donor center. Go Thou and Do Likewise.....
STRICTLY BUSINESS
Ex-members from Miami, or members from Local 852 in Hollywood, with withdrawal cards are to request clearance cards. A lapsed withdrawal card requires an application as a new member. All dues payments must commence with the month of November 1943.
Thanks to Tom Golden for the swell job he did as dues collector. Mary Reden is taking his place. Collectors will be assigned to each department.
COAST - TO - COAST
From The Animator on production: [recap refers to THIS ISSUE]
"New releases. Fresh from Schless is 'Wakiki Wabbit'. This opus is notable for the imaginative experimentation of is layout and background, and the discovery that a flat tone can carry background movements. Novel but not so successful was the use of tapa cloth patterns with overlays of stylized splotches as backgrounds for action on a typical tropical island. It was only an unfortunate value choice that kept this simple solution from succeeding. As it is, it camouflages rather than clarifies the characters. Schless is pacing the current background breakaway from cute.
Production Units, a new idea on the West Coast, is basically a plan to have a unit responsible for say, five shorts of a minimum 600 feet per year. The hours worked, the vacations, etc. are the business of the unit ...if it gets out the work.
Something analogous to the minimum unit was set up at Disney's to produce their technical pictures.
The long planned, long overdue Disney-Labor Management Committee is finally in action, consisting of ten members, five from each group.
At Schlesinger, back from their one-week Christmas vacations, the employees discovered that the promised renovation, fumigating and general rehabilitation that had been promised, and for which, ostensibly, the studio had been closed had been limited to one room.
At Gems, the acceptance of the Unit Production System is being considered.
FROM THE EDITOR
TOP CEL will welcome any "Flippings", "Opinions", and "Ideas" --so hand them in to the staff member nearestyou.
1 comment:
In 1966, a junior in college, I phoned Pepe Ruiz (still the business agent) to meet with him. He was dressed in bumpy tweedy grey jacket and tie. At the meeting I asked if he knew of any studios that would hire me part time during the summer. Essentially, I was looking to intern somewhere - long before interns existed. I wanted to get myself into an animation studio anyway I could.
Pepe, who kept calling me "honey" and "dear" - a smarmy character if ever there was one - said he was sure no studio would ever agree to such a thing. However, he phoned Terrytoons and spoke to Nick Alberti the production manager. Alberti suggested I get there soon.
The trip to New Rochelle took about an hour from the Union office. Alberti was all dressed and ready to leave to play golf. He spent about 10 minutes with me telling me he didn't have a summer job for me.
However, I got the chance to see the outer offices of Terrytoons and felt elated at the success I'd had. I also got to meet Pepe Ruiz in one of his last years in the business.
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