The Directors Guild of America (DGA) has recently come to a tentative agreement with regard to a new three year contract that must now be voted on by the over 16,000 members of the guild. The agreement was reached after the DGA, in conjunction with the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers (AMPTP), bargained and negotiated for three weeks. Terms of the agreement were not released but it is expected to have an immediate effect regarding residuals for streaming content.
In a formal statement, the AMPTP, the negotiators for the productions companies, said that, “The action taken by the DGA Board unanimously recommending to its membership approval of the tentative agreement reached with the AMPTP represents an important step in securing labor stability in the industry. The AMPTP looks forward to the ratification of the new three-year agreement by the DGA membership in the coming months.”
The DGA stated that one of the most vital parts of the negotiations involved residuals for original content, particularly drama based content, that involves such major streaming players as Amazon, Hulu and Netflix. The DGA stated that the agreement will, for the most part, triple current residual levels for members working on the higher tier original content. The agreement also covers all foreign SVOD related residual situations.
President of the DGA, Paris Barclay, said that, “Our 70-member strong Negotiations Committee and professional DGA staff set specific goals and worked together for months to help make this contract a reality. When it comes to our major gain, SVOD, our approach can best be summed up by the famous words of hockey great Wayne Gretzky: ‘Skate to where the puck is going. Not where it has been.’ Protecting our future is the goal of all our negotiations, and the end result is a stellar contract with substantial gains.”
Another sticking point that was hammered out in the agreement concerned the policy of "gifting" certain would be directors who are not looking to really establish a career in the profession. The agreement looks to seriously curb that practice. The agreement, if ratified by the membership, would require all potential directors with no experience to first attend a director development program sponsored by one of the studios.
National Director, Jay Roth said, “After intense preparation, and a tough negotiation centered on complex issues, what we have achieved in High Budget SVOD, together with significant pension and compensation gains, is historic in terms of setting the tracks deeper and wider for all our guild’s members. We began laying the groundwork nearly a decade ago as the course of the industry began to shift – technologically and globally – and today we’ve taken a huge leap forward in realizing that vision. I am proud of the work accomplished to protect the future through this forward-looking contract.”INDUSTRY NEWS2 min read
Directors Guild Moves Closer To New Contract Agreement That Will Include Streaming Residuals
Broadcast Beat
Contributor
The Directors Guild of America (DGA) has recently come to a tentative agreement with regard to a new three year contract that must now be voted on by the over 16,000 members of the guild. The agreement was reached after the DGA, in conjunction with the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers (AMPTP), bargained and negotiated for three weeks. Terms of the agreement were not released but it is expected to have an immediate effect regarding residuals for streaming content.
In a formal statement, the AMPTP, the negotiators for the productions companies, said that, “The action taken by the DGA Board unanimously recommending to its membership approval of the tentative agreement reached with the AMPTP represents an important step in securing labor stability in the industry. The AMPTP looks forward to the ratification of the new three-year agreement by the DGA membership in the coming months.”
The DGA stated that one of the most vital parts of the negotiations involved residuals for original content, particularly drama based content, that involves such major streaming players as Amazon, Hulu and Netflix. The DGA stated that the agreement will, for the most part, triple current residual levels for members working on the higher tier original content. The agreement also covers all foreign SVOD related residual situations.
President of the DGA, Paris Barclay, said that, “Our 70-member strong Negotiations Committee and professional DGA staff set specific goals and worked together for months to help make this contract a reality. When it comes to our major gain, SVOD, our approach can best be summed up by the famous words of hockey great Wayne Gretzky: ‘Skate to where the puck is going. Not where it has been.’ Protecting our future is the goal of all our negotiations, and the end result is a stellar contract with substantial gains.”
Another sticking point that was hammered out in the agreement concerned the policy of "gifting" certain would be directors who are not looking to really establish a career in the profession. The agreement looks to seriously curb that practice. The agreement, if ratified by the membership, would require all potential directors with no experience to first attend a director development program sponsored by one of the studios.
National Director, Jay Roth said, “After intense preparation, and a tough negotiation centered on complex issues, what we have achieved in High Budget SVOD, together with significant pension and compensation gains, is historic in terms of setting the tracks deeper and wider for all our guild’s members. We began laying the groundwork nearly a decade ago as the course of the industry began to shift – technologically and globally – and today we’ve taken a huge leap forward in realizing that vision. I am proud of the work accomplished to protect the future through this forward-looking contract.”Found this article useful?