Cinematographers Guild president resigns in a dispute with the union

IATSE Local 600 President Lewis Rothenberg is resigning from his position just eight months after he was elected as leader of the Cinematographers Guild.

Dejan Georgevich, vice president of Local 600, will become interim National President until the Guild’s board elects a successor within the next 30 days, according to a statement Friday from the ICG.

The union added that Rothenberg, who was elected to a three-year term in June, would step down from his position today, without specifying the reasons for the departure.

In a statement, Rothenberg, who lives in New Jersey and also has a residence in Sherman Oaks, cited a disagreement with the union over whether he met the union’s residency requirement and other differences with the guild’s leadership.

“I realize that my vision for this union, as to who runs it and how it should be run, is not fully aligned with some of our senior staff and National Officers,” he wrote in an email to union members. “I ran for this office to bring change, unite us, and increase activism. Regretfully I do not feel that I will be able to accomplish this with the vast differences of philosophy of the leadership team.”

Since 2002, the ICG represents publicists nationwide as well as camera crews. National Executive Director Rebecca Rhine sought to assuage the concerns of members.

“I want to assure our members that all systems are in place to ensure a smooth transition,” Rhine said in a statement. Of Rothenberg, she said, “His commitment to members and the local was long-standing and unwavering.”

Long Island, New York native Rothenberg was a digital imaging technician and had “an exciting new vision that includes internal refinement and stepped-up organizing in new technology,” the ICG said in a statement in August.

His credits include Academy Award winner Bong Joon Ho’s “Okja” and Walt Disney’s “Avengers: Infinity War.”

Rothenberg had served three terms on the national executive board with two terms as ICG National Vice President, before taking over the presidential role from Steven Poster last summer. Poster had been in office 13 years.