EXCLUSIVE: It’s still a man’s world at Hollywood’s unions, where last year all 10 of the highest-paid executives were men. The revelation comes from the latest financial reports the unions filed with the U.S. Department of Labor, which show that men held 40 of the 50 highest-paid union posts in 2015.
DGA national executive director Jay Roth remains Hollywood’s highest paid union leader – the 21st year in a row he’s held that distinction. According to the DGA’s latest financials his 7% pay raise last year brought his base salary to $800,422. DGA officials claimed four of the 10 highest-paid union positions in Hollywood, according to the Labor Department’s LM-2 filings, while three others went to executives at SAG-AFTRA.
SAG-AFTRA leads all unions with 14 execs pulling down more than $200,000 a year.
Arianna Ozzanto, SAG-AFTRA’s chief financial officer, was the industry’s highest-paid female union official last year, pulling down $312,260 to finish 13th. Mary McColl, executive director of Actors Equity, came in 14th, with a salary of $308,077, making her the highest paid female chief executive of any union in the entertainment industry. She and Ozzanto are the only two women in the top 20.
Bruce Doering, the Cinematographers Guild national executive director who retired in December, made $281,612 in 2015, good for No. 17 on the list. He was replaced by Rebecca Rhine, who is expected to make the top 20 for 2016.
All together, the 10 highest-paid women in 2015 earned $2,473,058, for an average of $247,306. The 40 men earned a total of $12,230,889, for an average of $305,772.
Few would argue that the DGA’s Roth is overpaid. As the top executive of what is arguably Hollywood’s most powerful labor union, he’s gotten the guild what it wanted at the bargaining table for more than two decades without ever having to take the guild out on strike. By comparison, he makes less than his counterpart at the NBA Players’ Association; less than half the salary of the chief executive of the Major League Baseball Players’ Association; and about a third of the salary of his counterpart at the NFL Players’ Association.
His salary also pales in comparison to those of the CEOs of the companies with which he bargains. Last year, for instance, Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger made nearly $45 million; CBS chairman Les Moonves made nearly $57 million; and Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman made more than $54 million.
Also notable in the Top 50: Four business managers at New York IATSE Stagehands Local 1 – Kevin McGarty, Edward McMahon III, Robert Nimmo and Paul Dean Jr. – finished in a four-way tie for 25th, each earning $262,803. Their small but powerful local, whose 2,561 active members help stage Broadway shows, has only 14 officers, but nine of them made more than $200,000 last year. That’s one more than the local’s giant parent union IATSE and more than the DGA and the WGA East combined.
Here are the top 50 earners based on the unions’ LM-2s:
Name, Union (Title)…2015 Salary
1. Jay Roth, DGA (National Executive Director)…$800,422
2. David White, SAG-AFTRA (National Executive Director)…$600,485
3. David Young, WGA West (Executive Director)…$527,838
4. Matt Loeb, IATSE (International President)…$416, 041
5. Ron Kutak, Editors Guild (National Executive Director)…$397,505
6. Randall Himes, SAG-AFTRA (Assistant National Director)…$374,438
7. Ray Rodriguez, SAG-AFTRA (Chief Contracts Officer)…$355,809
8. David Korduner, DGA (Associate National Executive Director)…$350,550
9. Bryan Unger, DGA (Associate National Executive Director…$348,386
10. Russell Hollander, DGA (Associate National Executive Director)…$347,976
11. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA (Chief Operating Officer)…$320,531
12. Lowell Peterson, WGA East (Executive Director)…$316,352.
13. Arianna Ozzanto, SAG-AFTRA (Chief Financial Officer)…$312,260
14. Mary McColl, Actors Equity (Executive Director)…$308,077
15. James B. Wood, IATSE (General Secretary-Treasurer)…$302,149
16. Mathis Dunn, SAG-AFTRA (Associate National Executive Director)…$291,464
17. Bruce Doering, International Cinematographers Guild (National Executive Director)…$281,612
18. James Claffey Jr, NY IATSE Stagehands Local 1 (President)…$271,698
19. Alan Gordon, American Guild Of Music Artists (Executive Director)…$271,602
20. John McGuire, SAG-AFTRA (Senior Advisor)…$270,406
21. Craig Carlson, Chicago IATSE Stagehands Local 2 (Business Agent)…$266,298
22. Mike Miller, IATSE (International VP)…$263,398
23. Chuck Slocum, WGA West (Assistant Executive Director)…$263,336
24. Kathy Garmezy, DGA (Associate Executive Director)…$262,884
25. Kevin McGarty, NY IATSE Stagehands Local 1 (Business Manager)…$262,803
25. Edward McMahon III, NY IATSE Stagehands Local 1 (Business Manager)…$262,803
25. Robert Nimmo, NY IATSE Stagehands Local 1 (Business Manager)…$262,803
25. Paul Dean, NY IATSE Stagehands Local 1 (Business Manager)…$262,803
29. Brian O’Rourke, DGA (Chief Financial Officer)…$260,743
30. Richard Larkin, SAG-AFTRA (Associate Executive Director)…$251,609
31. Marcel Giacusa, DGA (Associate Executive Director Of Operations)…$249,423
32. Steve DiPaola, Actors Equity (Assistant Executive Director…$248,133
33. Martha Holdridge, SAG-AFTRA (Chief Human Resources Officer…$245,420
34. Steve Dayan, Teamsters Local 399 (Secretary-Treasurer)…$244,907
35. Scott Roth, Art Directors Guild (Executive Director)…$244,174
36. John Lewis, IATSE (International VP)…$241,031
37. Robert McDonough, NY IATSE Stagehands Local 1 (Treasurer)…$239,601
38. Samantha Dulaney, IATSE (In-House Counsel)…$238,258
39. Robert Score, NY IATSE Stagehands Local 1 (Secretary)…$236,446
40. Edmond Brown, IATSE Prop Local 44 (Business Agent)…$229,081
41. Kathleen Connell, SAG Awards (Executive Producer)…$227,820
42. Mary Cavallaro, SAG-AFTRA (Chief Broadcast Officer)…$224,397
43. David Dreyfus, DGA (General Counsel)…$223,022
44. Deborah Reid, IATSE (Assistant To The President…$221,946
45. Jeffrey Bennett, SAG-AFTRA (Chief Deputy General Counsel)…$221,430
46. Chaim Kantor, International Cinematographers Guild (Eastern Regional Director)…$220,386
47. Edmund Supple, NY IATSE Stagehands Local 1 (Admin Secretary)…$216,385
48. Catherine Repola, Editors Guild (Western Executive Director)…$216,322
49. Judythe Simmons, SAG-AFTRA (New York Executive Director)…$215,674
50. James Varga, IATSE (West Coast Counsel)…$215,010
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