Directors Guild of America’s tentative deal with studios and streamers: All you need to know

A tentative deal has been made between the Directors Guild of America, and top studios and streamers of Hollywood. The new three-year labour contract has come up after around a month of negotiations.

The current basic agreement of the DGA will expire on June 30. The Writers Guild is also currently on strike.

Jon Avnet, chair, Negotiations Committee, DGA, said, “We have concluded a truly historic deal. It provides significant improvements for every Director, Assistant Director, Unit Production Manager, Associate Director and Stage Manager in our Guild. In these negotiations we made advances on wages, streaming residuals, safety, creative rights and diversity, as well as securing essential protections for our members on new key issues like artificial intelligence – ensuring DGA members will not be replaced by technological advances. This deal would not have been possible without the unity of the DGA membership, and we are grateful for the strong support of union members across the industry.”

New Contract

See the details of the new contract between the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

Wages and Benefits

The gains in benefits and wages include a 5% rise in the first year of the contract, 4% (second year) and 3.5% (third year). There will be an additional 0.5% to fund a new parental leave benefit for these professionals.

Global Streaming Residuals

In the residuals, there will be a substantial hike for dramatic programs made for SVOD by securing a new residual structure to pay for foreign residuals. The result is a 76% raise in foreign residuals for the big platforms. So, the residuals for an hour episode will now be $90,000 for the first three years.

Artificial Intelligence

The groundbreaking agreement confirmed that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not a person. And that AI should not replace the duties, which are carried out by the members.

Reduction in Hours

There will be unprecedented reduction in the length of the day of an Assistant Director by around an hour.

FAQs

Q1:Who led the negotiations for the DGA and the studios/streamers?
Russell Hollander, National Executive Director of the DGA, led talks for the union, while Carol Lombardini, AMPTP president, led discussions for the studios and streamers.

Q2:When was the Directors Guild of America formed?
It was formed in 1936.