Writers strike: Directors Guild of America votes on new contract

Members of the Directors Guild of America voted Friday to approve a new three-year contract with studios, with 87 percent of members voting in favor of the deal.

“Our new contract creates wage gains, global streaming residuals, safety, diversity and creative rights that build the future and impact every class of members in our Guild,” said Lesli Linka Glatter, President of Directors Guild of America.

The contract, which was recommended by the DGA’s negotiating committee, was a “historic” deal covering wages, hours, residuals and artificial intelligence. The studios, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, include Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), CBS (VIAC), Disney (DIS), NBC Universal, Netflix (NFLX), Paramount Global, Sony ( SNE), and CNN’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery.

The tentative agreement was reached against the backdrop of the Writers Guild Strike, which has been going on for eight weeks. AMPTP and the Writers Guild were unable to strike a deal before their contracts expired on May 1. Members authorized a strike if no agreement was reached.

The DGA deal includes salary increases each year of the contract of 5 percent, 4 percent and 3.5 percent. The contract also addressed some aspects of the use of artificial intelligence and reaffirmed that it cannot replace members’ duties. The agreement would also ban live ammunition on set. In October 2021, actor Alec Baldwin was rehearsing a scene for the movie Rust, when his prop gun fired a live shot, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

And for the first time, the contract included global streaming video-on-demand residuals, which would be paid based on the number of international subscribers, resulting in a 76 percent increase in foreign residuals for the largest streaming services.

This vote result could set the tone and precedent for the standout Writers Guild. However, the bottlenecks for the writers were the number of writers in the writers’ room and the length of time writers are hired for shows – which makes for more consistent and reliable work. AMPTP says WGA’s one-size-fits-all solution won’t work for every show.

“We support the actors who are negotiating and the writers who continue to strike, and we will be with the IA and Teamsters as they negotiate their agreement next year,” Glatter said. “We won’t be satisfied until we all have fair contracts that reward us for our creative work – we need to create a vibrant, sustainable industry that values ​​us all fairly.”

SAG-AFTRA and the studios are currently negotiating their new contract which expires on June 30. Members have already authorized a strike if a deal is not reached by then.