Directors and Producers Reach Tentative Agreement on New Contract

The Directors Guild of America has reached a tentative agreement on the terms of new three-year collective bargaining agreements with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the DGA announced tonight. The agreements cover motion pictures and television work.

The terms of the new contracts were not announced, but will be released after the agreement has been submitted to the Guild’s national board for approval at a special board meeting. The DGA did not respond to an email asking when the board meeting will take place.

Negotiations, which began Dec. 5, were led by Negotiations Committee Co-Chairs Michael Apted and Thomas Schlamme, and the Guild’s chief negotiator, National Executive Director Jay D. Roth. 

The DGA’s current contracts expire June 30, 2017, as do SAG-AFTRA’s. That union is expected to begin negotiations this spring, most likely in or around February.

In practical terms, the basic wage increases that the DGA has achieved in today’s deal will set a pattern for the actors, as well as for the Writers Guild negotiations, which are likely to begin in or around March, ahead of a May 2 expiration of that guild’s current contract. Similarly, if any new or modified residuals formulas have been agreed on by the DGA and AMPTP — which comprise primarily the major studios but which act on behalf of a wide range of producers — then those formulas will likely set a pattern for the other two unions as well. Other issues are union-specific.

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