Michael Buckner/Variety
Members of the Directors Guild of America have voted to ratify their new treaty, bringing the industry one step closer to industrial peace.
The DGA announced Friday that 87% of members voted in favor of the agreement, with a turnout of 41%. The guild said turnout for a ratification vote was the highest ever, at 6,728 out of 16,321 eligible voters.
The deal includes a 76 percent increase in overseas streaming leftovers, which was a top priority for the guild in talks. It also includes a “second cut” for TV directors and a pilot on set safety. Also, the overtime penalties for assistant directors will be pushed back an hour earlier.
Since announcing the tentative agreement on June 3, DGA has held multiple membership meetings, both in person and via Zoom. The leadership has explained the terms of the agreement, which also include provisions on artificial intelligence, family leave and increases in minimum wages from 5% in the first year, followed by 4% and 3.5%.
The DGA deal might be the easiest hurdle for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The DGA went on strike only once in its history, in 1987 for a few minutes.
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The AMPTP is still in discussions with SAG-AFTRA, which represents 160,000 artists. That contract expires on June 30 and the leadership could call a strike if no agreement is reached by then.
The AMPTP must then negotiate a deal with the Writers Guild of America, which has been on strike for 53 days. The studio group typically tries to apply one guild’s terms to the other two in a system of “model bargaining,” but both SAG-AFTRA and the WGA have said they will not be bound by the terms of the DGA contract.
In interviews, DGA members generally expressed support for the agreement, but some had reservations about the AI language.
The AI stipulation – the first in a guild contract – states that generative AI does not constitute a “person” and that it will not replace the duties traditionally performed by guild members. But it doesn’t ban AI and simply asks for “advice” on how to use AI in the creative process. It also makes no provision for how AI programs can be trained – which are key priorities for the WGA and SAG-AFTRA.
Many writers and directors who are members of both the WGA and the DGA had publicly announced that they would be voting “no” in solidarity with the WGA strike.
Some authors also publicly criticized the DGA for reaching an agreement, saying it would have been better to wait until the authors had a treaty before ratifying it.
In a statement, DGA President Lesli Linka Glatter said the guild had “not negotiated in a vacuum” – a subtle acknowledgment of those who said the writers’ strike had strengthened directors’ influence.
“We stand with writers, actors and all crew members in our common struggle to move our industry forward,” said Glatter. “We support the actors who are in negotiations and the writers who continue to strike, and we will stand by the IA and the Teamsters as they negotiate their agreement next year. We will not 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.”
Had DGA members voted against the agreement, negotiators would have been forced to return to the negotiating table.
The DGA’s custom is to announce that members voted “overwhelmingly” in favor of ratification, but not giving the exact number.
The last time the Guild published actual results was in 1996, when the treaty passed by a vote of 2,949 to 112 – or 96.3% in favour.