DGA national board unanimously approves new film and TV contract
The deal provides ‘significant improvements’ for DGA members in categories including wages, global streaming residuals and creative rights.
The Directors Guild of America (DGA) national board has unanimously voted to approve a new film and TV contract deal.
The deal provides “significant improvements” for DGA members in categories including wages, global streaming residuals and creative rights.
It will be submitted to DGA members for ratification this week, the DGA said.
Prominent members of the national board include Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, Ron Howard and Ava DuVernay.
“We set out to negotiate a contract that would build for the future. This is a significant deal with gains for every director, assistant director, unit production manager, associate director and stage manager,” said DGA president Lesli Linka Glatter.
“Our industry is rapidly changing and expanding, and this agreement is what we need to adapt to those changes, break new ground and protect the DGA’s 19,000 directors and directorial team members today, and in the years to come.
“Along with the rest of the DGA national board, I am proud to enthusiastically recommend this tentative agreement to our members for ratification. Together, we will secure the future we deserve.”
The tentative agreement reached with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) also establishes new provisions confirming that generative AI cannot replace the duties performed by members.
“Across the country, Directors and their teams, writers, actors, crews and drivers have shown unwavering resolve in demanding to share in the success of the films and television shows we create together,” said Glatter.
“We are all union members and deserve to be compensated fairly for our contributions.
“We don’t bargain in a vacuum and the gains we have achieved in our tentative agreement would not have been possible without the strong support and unity of our members, and the solidarity of our sister Guilds and Unions.”
It comes amid the ongoing strike by the Writers Guild of America (WGA), which began on May 2.
On Monday it was announced that Hollywood actors represented by Sag-Aftra had voted to authorise a strike if their own new contract with major studios, streamers and production companies could not be reached.
Glatter added that the DGA stood “firmly” with members of Sag-Aftra and the WGA in “our shared fight for a vibrant, sustainable industry that fairly values us all.”
