Jay D. Roth (born October 23, 1946) is an American lawyer who for over two decades served as the National Executive Director of the

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of Film director, film and Television director, television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Dir ...

(DGA), the 17,000 member entertainment guild representing the economic and creative rights of directors and members of the directorial team working in film, television, documentaries, news, sports, commercials and new media throughout the world. Following his long-planned retirement in May 2017, Roth began a new role with the Guild as Senior Advisor.

Early life

Roth was born and raised in

Roslyn Heights, New York Roslyn Heights is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the North Hempstead, New York, Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island, in N ...

, and graduated with a B.A. degree in history from the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, commonly referred to as the University of Vermont (UVM), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont, United States. Foun ...

in 1968, where he served as editor-in-chief of his school newspaper and a J.D. degree from

Boston University School of Law The Boston University School of Law (BU Law) is the law school of Boston University, a private research university in Boston. Established in 1872, it is the third-oldest law school in New England, after Harvard Law School and Yale Law School. Ap ...

in 1971, where he spent his free time at the legal aid center in Dorchester protecting tenants' rights.

Career

After graduating law school, Roth moved to

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, and worked for legal services doing

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

and other civil and criminal litigation. In 1973, he moved to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, doing civil rights and labor litigation for a firm that eventually became Taylor, Roth, Bush & Geffner, where Roth served as managing partner and specialized in representing entertainment guilds, labor organizations and pension, health and welfare funds in labor, entertainment, bankruptcy and transactional matters, including the United Teachers Los Angeles, the

International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) is an AFL–CIO/ CLC trade union representing over 600,000 workers as of 2024 in more than 200 industries with most of its membership in the United States and Canada. Orig ...

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

(SAG), Directors Guild of America and the

International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada, known as simply the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE or ...

. He also served as counsel to several entertainment guilds including the

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is the name of two American labor unions representing writers in film, television, radio, and online media: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) is headquartered in New York City and is affiliated wit ...

(WGA), DGA, and SAG as part of the

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is a legal agreement between many countries, whose overall purpose was to promote international trade by reducing or eliminating trade barriers such as tariffs or quotas. According to its p ...

negotiations in 1993 and as a member of the U.S. government delegation to the treaty negotiations at the

World Intellectual Property Organization The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO; (OMPI)) is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN). Pursuant to the 1967 Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO was created to pr ...

. He was a founding board member of the Franco-American Cultural Fund of which the

Motion Picture Association The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the Major film studios, five major film studios of the Cinema of the United States, United States, the Major film studios#Mini-majors, mini-major Amazon MGM Stud ...

(MPA), DGA, SAG, WGA, and

Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique The Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers of Music or SACEM () is a French professional association collecting payments of artists’ rights and distributing the rights to the original songwriters, composers, and music publisher A mus ...

(SACEM) are members. In 1995, Roth was hired as national executive director at the

. Under his tenure, the guild had a renewed emphasis on three core functions: representing members in collective bargaining; organizing and jurisdiction; and member support; and added departments and executives to address credits, organizing, diversity, government affairs, research and communications. Together with a negotiations chair, Roth has led successful negotiations on the guild's major collective bargaining agreements eight times since becoming national executive director, including most recently in December 2016. Negotiations are conducted with the

Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) is a trade association based in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California, that represents over 350 American television and film production companies in collective bargaining negotia ...

approximately every three years. In 2004, during delicate negotiations in which the

and the

asked the DGA to take the lead, ''

Daily Variety ''Variety'' is an American trade magazine owned by Penske Media Corporation. It was founded by Sime Silverman in New York City in 1905 as a weekly newspaper reporting on theater and vaudeville. In 1933, ''Daily Variety'' was launched, based in ...

'' called Roth the "showbiz point person on making a deal to ensure Hollywood's labor peace." During Roth's tenure, DGA membership grew by 65% and annual residuals payments to DGA members increased 300% to nearly $400 million. Roth also modernized the Guild's infrastructure and increased internal support for members – tripling the number of field representatives, and growing the contracts department nearly five times in size. The guild's global presence was also expanded – including staff assigned to international affairs and the development of a Coordinating Committee in London. Roth serves as treasurer of the

Motion Picture & Television Fund The Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF) is a charitable organization that offers assistance and care to those in the motion picture and television industries and their families with limited or no resources, including services such as tempo ...

(MPTF) and is a member of their Board of Directors. He is also a member of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

. He formerly chaired the Labor Law Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and the American Bar Association Airline-Railway Labor Law Committee and was elected as a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers.

Honors and awards

Roth became the fourth recipient of the DGA Presidents Award at the 69th Annual DGA Awards in February 2017, and the 42nd recipient of the DGA's Honorary Life Member Award at the 60th Annual DGA Awards in January 2008, where he was honored for his outstanding contributions to the DGA and the profession of directing. In July 2017, Roth was presented with the first-ever IATSE Honorary Lifetime Membership Award at the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees 68th Quadrennial Convention in Hollywood, Florida. The award was given in recognition of Roth's decades of contributions to the industry and his 22-year tenure as National Executive Director of the DGA. In January 2009, French President

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa ( ; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...

named Roth a "Chevalier de L'Ordre de la Legion d'Honneur" (Knight of the

French Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

), in recognition of his role in promoting cultural exchange including creating the Franco-American Cultural Fund and its successful French film festival in Los Angeles, the

City of Lights, City of Angels The COLCOA French Film Festival (formerly "City of Light, City of Angels") is an annual competitive film festival in Hollywood, created and presented by the Franco-American Cultural Fund (FACF), a unique partnership of the DGA, the MPAA, la SACEM ...

Film Festival.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roth, Jay 1946 births Boston University School of Law alumni Lawyers from Los Angeles Living people People from Roslyn Heights, New York University of Vermont alumni