1 . What is the Motion Picture Industry Pension & Health Plan? 

The Motion Picture Industry Pension & Health Plan (“MPIPHP” or “Plan”) is a healthcare trust fund established through an agreement (called the “Non-Affiliate Agreement”) between the PGA’s early leadership and the AMPTP. The fund is primarily supported by employer contributions and provides pension benefits and health insurance coverage for a limited range of producers who qualify on eligible productions if all requirements set forth below are met. See Question 14, below, for a brief history.

2. When should I request health insurance coverage?

Before you sign your personal production services agreement with an AMPTP signatory company or with a non-signatory company that is signed to the IA Basic Agreement. There are strict election requirements to receive healthcare insurance through the Plan so you must immediately determine if your employer participates in the Plan and if you are eligible to participate (see Question 3, below). If you miss your election window, you will lose your opportunity to participate, even if you are eligible (see Question 5, below). It is critical that you properly negotiate your agreement to ensure eligibility to participate in the Plan.

3. Am I eligible for healthcare insurance through the MPIPHP?

To be eligible for the MPIPHP, all of the following requirements must be met:

• You must work for an employer company that is an AMPTP signatory, or is not an AMPTP signatory company but is signed to the IATSE Basic Agreement and willing to make contributions on your behalf.
• The company must meet all other applicable provisions of the Basic Agreement (the production must use a West Coast IA crewmember, some or all of the services in the crafts and classifications must be covered by the Basic Agreement, etc.).
• You must be credited as an Executive Producer, Producer, Associate Producer, Post-Production Supervisor, or Post Supervisor OR, if not receiving one of these exact credits, be contractually obligated to perform and in fact perform equivalent producing services associated with these credits under the Plan.²
• You must be working on a theatrical motion picture, primetime network television program or primetime dramatic first-run syndicated television program (alternately, you must work on a production, not expressly excluded below, for which the employer company agrees to make contributions). Please note:
  • with respect to television series, all episodes of such series for a season constitute a single production; individual episodes cannot be treated as separate productions;
  • eligible productions do not include newsreel, religious, educational, industrial, documentary, commercial, trailer, promo, news or sports productions.
• You must be considered a non-affiliate producer (not within any unit covered by any collective bargaining agreement with any union).
• You must be hired to work by an office of the employer that is based in the Los Angeles area (i.e., you must be on the payroll and under the supervision of the office, but you can work outside of the Los Angeles area).³
• You must first be credited with 600 hours (10 weeks) of work within a six-month qualifying period.

4. How many hours must I work to be eligible? 

To qualify for healthcare insurance coverage through the MPIPHP, you must first be credited with 600 hours of work within a 6-month qualifying period. Contributions are made on the basis of 60 hours of work per week.⁴ 

Once you have met the requirements for initial eligibility, you will be eligible for benefits in each subsequent 6-month eligibility period provided that you work or are on a weekly guarantee, resulting in a minimum of 400 hours and your coverage has not come to an end. For example, if you have accumulated 700 hours of work on Production #1, and the 100 hours above the qualifying 600 hours are eligible to be banked or roll over,⁵ then when you work on Production #2 you will need only an additional 300 hours to continue your coverage (you do not need another 600 hours of work in Production #2). 

If you become ineligible, your eligibility for benefits will be reviewed every month until you accumulate another 600 hours of work within a 6-month period to requalify for benefits. See https://www.mpiphp.org/home/eligibility.

5. How do I request coverage?

Contributions are not automatic; you must complete and submit a non-affiliate participation form within 60 days of starting eligible employment. Oftentimes, these participation forms are submitted by the payroll company on behalf of the production, so be sure to check with payroll. If you do not submit a signed participation form, you will be deemed to have waived your right to contributions with respect to that production. Importantly, you must complete an election form for each new production (an election to participate in the MPIPHP on a prior production will not be carried forward to the next production). Please remember to check with your production accountant as soon as they start work to make sure that contributions will be made on your behalf.

6. When do contributions begin under the MPIPHP?

According to information from the MPIPHP, contributions begin:

• on the first day of covered “production,” which the MPIPHP defines as beginning:
  • for theatrical motion pictures, 8 weeks prior to the commencement of principal photography;
  • for primetime network television programs and primetime dramatic first-run syndicated television programs, in accordance with your employment contract for that production OR
• as of the effective date of the designation (please contact MPIPHP to confirm this date); OR
• on the first date that you become a producer on a covered “production.”

Under MPIPHP guidelines, producing services offered prior to the start of a “production” as noted above, and post-production services, may not qualify for contributions without a written agreement between the producer and the employer.

In practice, producers have been able to obtain contributions beginning as early as the date that a West Coast IA crewmember begins work on the production. To avoid any confusion, at the time you negotiate your production services agreement, you should confirm the date when contributions on your behalf will begin. Please note that you must first be credited with 600 hours of work within a 6-month qualifying period before you can begin receiving health insurance coverage (see Question 4, above).

7. For how long am I able to receive contributions towards my coverage?

Contributions do not automatically end when the West Coast IA crewmember ceases work on the production but can continue through post-production until the film is delivered or until the employer submits a letter terminating its IA signatory form. Please note that if your production is ongoing at the time IATSE is renegotiating the Basic Agreement, the employer will need to renew its IA signatory form in order to continue with its contributions.

8. Am I eligible for health insurance coverage through the MPIPHP if I work through a loan-out company?

Yes, so long as you meet the other qualifications for coverage and actually perform producer services for a contributing employer through your loan out agreement.

9. Am I eligible for health insurance coverage through the MPIPHP if I am an executive?

No, you may not be working as an entrepreneur or as a company executive with general duties not limited to the supervision of producers.

10. What if my employer is not an AMPTP signatory, but is a signatory to the IA Basic Agreement? Can I still get coverage under the MPIPHP?

Yes. An employer, including an independent production company, that is signed to the IATSE Basic Agreement can sign the Non-Affiliate Agreement and make contributions towards your MPIPHP insurance even if it is not a member of the AMPTP provided all other eligibility requirements are met (but note that negotiated terms in your producing services contract may not override the MPIPHP’s terms and rules).

11. My employer is making MPIPHP contributions to another producer on my production. Does that mean that I should automatically receive contributions, too?

An employer is only obligated to make MPIPHP contributions for you if you meet all requirements for eligibility. It is not enough just to have a qualifying credit; you must also provide producing services and meet all other requirements. To be safe, you should negotiate your right to contributions at the time you are negotiating your production services agreement.

12. I am currently receiving health insurance through the MPIPHP but my ability to work has been impacted by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Does MPIPHP offer strike relief?

Yes, depending on your particular circumstances, you may be eligible for no-cost COBRA, an hours credit to help you maintain your coverage, or an early withdrawal from your Individual Account Plan.⁶ Please review the latest information by clicking on the “Strike Relief” button on the MPIPHP homepage (www.mpiphp.org/home).

13. At what point do I become eligible for benefits under the MPI’s Pension Plan?

Your employer will make contributions to your pension plan for each hour that you work on a qualified production (called “credited hours”). After you receive 400 credited hours in a year, you are considered to have earned one “qualified year.” After you have earned 5 qualified years, you become vested in your pension plan, which means that you cannot forfeit your retirement benefits for the years that you worked.

14. How did the PGA secure insurance for producers through the MPIPHP?

Producers are eligible to participate in the MPIPHP by virtue of the “Non-Affiliate Agreement,” an agreement that the PGA’s early leadership negotiated with the AMPTP after the courts invalidated a collective bargaining agreement between the PGA and the AMPTP, and following the National Labor Relation Board’s subsequent refusal to certify the PGA as a labor union. The agreement was originally created to allow producers who previously had received health coverage through the Guild’s former agreement with the AMPTP to maintain health coverage. According to the agreement, AMPTP signatory companies agree to make contributions to the MPIPHP on behalf of a limited range of qualifying producers working for them on eligible productions.

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_{¹This information was created based upon MPIPHP materials and Guild member experiences. Importantly, this information does not constitute legal or other professional advice. Your entitlement to insurance through the MPIPHP is subject to interpretation by your employer and the MPIPHP. Please make sure to consult with your own attorney and other representatives to determine whether you are eligible to participate in the MPIPHP.}

_{²Production Supervisors, Co-Producers, and other producers who do not have these exact credits have in certain circumstances been deemed eligible where they perform producing services recognized by the Plan and meet all other requirements. The focus is on the substantive services that you are obligated to perform (and in fact perform) on the production. Line producers have often been excluded from eligibility unless they are substantively performing the producing services recognized by the Plan. Please contact your attorney or other representative to determine the particular requirements that apply to your circumstances.}

_{³Post-Production supervisors also may be eligible if they work for an employer based in New York City.}

_{⁴Please note that the rules for eligibility, contributions, the banking of hours, etc. are different if you are considered under the MPIPHP to be a “controlling employee.” If you are a partner, shareholder, officer, or owner of an employer production company, you may be considered a “controlling employee."}

_{⁵Please contact MPIPHP to determine if your hours are eligible to roll forward as they expire after a certain period of time. If you are considered to be a “controlling employee” you are not permitted to bank or roll forward any hours.}

_{⁶Please note that if you receive MPIPHP insurance through a nonaffiliate producer designation, you are not eligible to participate in an Individual Account Plan.}