June 26, 2023 – LOS ANGELES, CA (CelebrityAccess) – The Directors Guild of America (DGA) members have voted on the terms of their new contract between the DGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), bringing the industry closer to achieving some peace.
The AMPTP studios include Amazon, Apple, CBS, Disney, NBC Universal, Netflix, Paramount Global, Sony, and Warner Bros. Discovery.
The DGA and Lesli Linka Glatter, President, DGA announced Friday (June 23) that 87% of its membership had voted in favor of the new agreement but with a less than 50% turnout (41%). The DGA said despite that; it was the biggest turnout ever for a contract ratification vote. According to the DGA press release, 6,728 members voted out of 16,321 that were eligible.
“I’m proud to report that DGA members have joined together to ratify a new contract that will allow every Director, Assistant Director, Unit Production Manager, Associate Director and Stage Manager to share in the success of what we create,” said President Glatter. “Our new contract secures gains on wages, global streaming residuals, safety, diversity and creative rights that build for the future and impact every category of member in our Guild. The strength of our new contract is a testament to our Negotiations Committee Chair Jon Avnet, Negotiations Co-chairs Karen Gaviola and Todd Holland, National Executive Director Russell Hollander and our outstanding professional staff.”
The new agreement includes several improvements for DGA members, including extensive wage advances, global streaming residuals, diversity, safety and creative rights. The deal also sets in place minimum terms and conditions in two new areas, non-dramatic programs made for subscription video on demand (SVOD) and high-budget dramatic programs made for advertising-supported video on demand (AVOD) – with new provisions confirming that generative artificial intelligence (AI) cannot replace the duties performing by members.
“I also want to acknowledge that the DGA didn’t bargain in a vacuum. We stand united with writers, actors and all crew members in our shared fight to move our industry forward,” continued President Glatter. “We support the actors in negotiations and the writers who remain on strike, and we will stand with the IA and Teamsters when they negotiate their agreement next year. We won’t be satisfied until we all have fair contracts that reward us for our creative work — we must create a vibrant, sustainable industry that fairly values us all.”
Formal negotiations between the DGA’s 80-member Negotiations Committee and the AMPTP began Wednesday (May 10) and were concluded on Saturday (June 3). DGA Negotiations Committee Chair Jon Avnet, Co-chairs Karen Gaviola and Todd Holland and DGA National Executive Director Russell Hollander led the talks.
Thomas Schlamme and Nicole Kassell led Television Creative Rights Negotiations. The Negotiations Committee and DGA National Board both unanimously approved and recommended ratification of the agreements.
The new contract’s three-year term will take effect on July 1, 2023, and run through June 30, 2026.
