The U.S. Department of Justice has given its blessing to the Producers Guild of America's proposed plan to certify producers, the DOJ announced on Friday. The go-ahead for the certification came following a review of the plan to ensure that it doesn't violate antitrust rules.
With the certification, the guild hopes to distinguish producers who actually provide a full range of production services, as opposed to financiers, lawyers, etc., who finagle a generic producer credit on a production in exchange for their services.
The guild is considering using the certification "p.g.a." after people's names in the credits to indicate they had provided valid producer's services.
Contrary to limiting competition, the Justice Department opined that the certification would actually help the film industry.
“The Producers Guild’s certification program may benefit the film industry and the public by providing a way to discern who performed the full range of producer functions on a film,” acting attorney general Sharis A. Pozen said. “The Guild’s certification program may make it easier to identify some of the key executives in bringing a film to theaters.”
“We’re extremely pleased that the U.S. Department of Justice has fully endorsed the Producers Guild’s certification mark." the guild said in a statement. "The DOJ’s critical decision clearly and definitively paves the way for swift adoption of the Producers' Mark, as there should be no further resistance from the motion picture studios to participate in the 'p.g.a.' certification program. We stand in solidarity with our nearly 5,000 Guild members, in our belief that the entire industry benefits from recognizing producers for their work.”
