DGA Approves Potential Contract With AMPTP

The board of the Directors Guild of America (DGA) has quickly come to a unanimous agreement that pertains to creating parameters surrounding the use of artificial intelligence within films and an urge to increase the streaming residual rates.

The board is expecting to send members of the DGA information regarding a contract by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) that will be ratified through the vote. DGA president Lesli Linka Glatter noted in her statement, “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.” Since the industry is always changing, “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.”

This all comes at the forefront with the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike (already in its second month) in the background. Additionally, The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) is set to begin negotiations with AMPTP on June 7th.

In Glatter’s DGA statement, she voiced the union’s support for the others:

“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… 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. We continue to support the actors who are entering negotiations tomorrow and the writers who remain on strike. We stand firmly with SAG-AFTRA and the WGA in our shared fight for a vibrant, sustainable industry that fairly values us all.”