Directors Guild of America Board reach cautious agreement
The board of directors for the Directors Guild of America (DGA) have signed off on a deal made by the negotiating committee, which serves to raise streaming residual rates whilst setting clear and distinct boundaries regarding the use of artificial intelligence in the industry.
“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,” DGA president Lesli Linka Glatter said in a statement.
“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. Together, we will secure the future we deserve.”
With approval secured from the board, the contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) will be sent for a confirmation vote by DGA membership, with the Guild expecting its members to see the relevant materials this week.
The deal will see Directors securing extra rights in the editing room and post-production process, as well as an extra day for filming drama series’, with a confirmation that “generative AI cannot replace the duties performed by members”. The news comes against the ongoing Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) strike, the WGA having failed to reach an agreement, which is now in its second month.
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG), who has expressed vocal support for the WGA strike, is reportedly also close to the brink of striking — the first time they would have done so in years — due to the same concerns regarding AI and compensation.
With huge uncertainty and worry unfolding across all departments of the industry, the DGA has made its support for the other creative unions clear: “We stand firmly with SAG-AFTRA and the WGA in our shared fight for a vibrant, sustainable industry that fairly values us all.”
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