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The Panel “Derechos laborales en la industria,” Organized by Tinta, Was Held at the FICM 2023

Pablo Rendón, Estefanía Zúñiga

As part of the 21st Morelia International Film Festival, this Sunday, October 22, a panel called “Derechos laborales en la industria,” organized by Tinta, Sociedad de Escritores Audiovisuales y Cinematográficos México, was held at the auditorium of the Centro Cultural Universitario at the Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo.

Lucia Carreras, president of Tinta and and screenwriter of films such as Año bisiesto (2010), Nos vemos papá (2012), La jaula de oro (2013), Tamara y la Catarina (2016) and Todo el silencio (2023), welcomed the audience gathered at the auditorium to then acknowledge the participation of the organization's members in this edition of the festival. “Tinta is an organization whose goal is to become a referent for the defense of the labor rights of writers and screenwriters,” said Carreras.

The discussion, moderated by filmmaker Carlos Cuarón, secretary of organization of Tinta and screenwriter of films such as Sólo con tu pareja (1991), Y tu mamá también (2000), Rudo y Cursi (2008), Besos de azúcar (2013) and Amalgama (2020), focused on Rodrigo García Barcha, director and screenwriter who received an invitation to be part of Tinta as an honorary member.

“Rodrigo began as a cinematographer. Danzón (1991), by María Novaro, featured his extraordinary work,” Cuarón pointed out, before asking García Barcha, “why change that bright world for the dreadful world of the writer and screenwriter?,” to the laughter of the audience.

Rodrigo García Barcha, writer of films such as Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her (2000), Last Days in the Desert (2005), Four Good Days (2020) and Raymond & Ray (2022), pointed out the importance of the guild organization as a way of resistance against the mercantile siege that darkens the industry.

“Listening to the filmmakers talk about the subject interested me a lot, so I considered writing a script,” expressed the Colombian filmmaker. “It takes a little bit of madness to write a movie, it's a virus that leads you to get interested in the characters and their stories.”

Rodrigo Ordóñez, finance secretary of Tinta and writer of films such as Seis días en la oscuridad (2003), Depositarios (2010) and Esto no es Berlín (2019), and TV shows like El octavo mandamiento (2010), said that they, as writers, are the builders who don’t get paid until the house is finished.

Then, Marco Treviño, general secretary of the ANDA (Asociación Nacional de Actores) and actor in films such as Doña Herlinda y su hijo (1985), La habitación azul (2002) and Un mundo maravilloso (2006), and TV shows like Las Aparicio (2010), Sense8 (2017), Narcos: México (2021) and Pancho Villa: el Centauro del Norte (2023) shared his concerns about the labor situation that writers and screenwriters face in our country.

“We are paid through fees, it is not a salary-based job, which leads to employers taking advantage of us,” said Treviño, to which Rodrigo García Barcha added that “in most cases, employers brag about providing work to the writer, when actually it is a reciprocal benefit.”

Now in its third year of operation, Tinta, Sociedad de Escritores Audiovisuales y Cinematográficos México, is a civil association that seeks to improve the labor rights of writers and screenwriters in the Mexican film industry.