The Directors Guild of America has reached a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), ending the threat of two major Hollywood talent guilds being on strike at the same time.
The DGA’s deal includes not just improvements in wages and benefits, but also a major bump in foreign residuals from subscription streaming companies and protection of replacement threats from artificial intelligence.
In fact, foreign streaming residuals received one of the biggest pushes from DGA leaders, who complain that the current rules dramatically undervalue international distribution.
“Every member of our union can be proud of the gains we’ve achieved across the board,” said Russell Hollander, national executive director of the DGA, in a statement. “Significantly, and for the first time ever, global SVOD residuals will be paid based on the number of international subscribers. The result is a 76% increase in foreign residuals for the biggest services. As our industry becomes increasingly global, these gains are imperative to ensuring our members are valued and compensated for their incredible work.”
The DGA brass now must sell the agreement to the guild's 19,000 members and get it ratified.
The template effect of the agreement is said to be minimal in solving the month-old Writers Guild of America strike.
But here are the major deal points for the DGA:
• Big gains in wages and benefits include a 5% increase in the first year of the contract, 4% in the second year and 3.5% in year three. And an additional 0.5% was kicked in to fund a new parental leave benefit.
• DGA members won a substantial increase in the foreign residuals for dramatic programs made for SVOD by securing a new residual structure to pay foreign residuals. This amounts to a 76% increase in foreign residuals for the largest subscription streaming platforms. Residuals for a one-hour episode will now be roughly $90,000 for the first three years of exhibition.
• The agreement also establishes the industry’s first-ever terms and conditions for directors and their teams on non-dramatic (variety and reality) programs made for subscription streaming. Also for the first time, associate directors and stage managers will now get a piece of residuals.
• The agreement stipulates that artificial intelligence is not a person and that generative AI cannot replace the duties performed by DGA members.
• The deal stipulates the industry’s first-ever terms, creative rights protections, working conditions and residuals for scripted dramatic projects made for free-to-consumer ad-supported streaming. Unit production managers and assistant directors will share in the residuals.
• For pay TV and SVOD, episodic directors receive expanded paid post-production creative rights. They also added an additional guaranteed shoot day for one-hour programs. That's the first additional day added in more than 40 years.
• For the first time, feature film directors will receive compensation for the months of “soft prep” they have to perform — currently for free — prior to the start of the director’s official prep period.
• DGA member assistant directors won an unprecedented one-hour reduction in the length of their work day.
• The agreement outlines safety advancements, including the first-ever pilot program to require the employment of dedicated safety supervisors. Also included are expanded safety training programs for both directors and their teams, as well as the ban of live ammunition on set.
