Film studios respond to directors’ guild demands for higher pay to avoid strikes

There will be no directors’ strike in the US. American film studios, television companies and streaming services have decided that it is better to raise directors’ salaries and guarantee them that they will not be replaced by artificial intelligence than to allow a repeat of the situation with screenwriters – they have been on strike for the second month, disrupting the release dates of many projects, and do not intend to give up. .

directors guild of americaDGA) announced on Sunday it had reached a “historic” agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which brings together movie studios, TV channels and streaming service operators. The parties have been negotiating to improve the working conditions of directors and their assistants since May 10. As a result, the alliance decided to satisfy the requests of the guild.

The full text of the agreement between the parties will be published later, after the extraordinary meeting of the DGA board, which will be held on Tuesday, June 6. But even from the excerpts cited in the press release of the guild, it is clear that film studios and streaming companies have satisfied all the key requirements of directors.

Thus, DGA members will receive a 5% increase in the minimum salary in the first year of the agreement, in the second year it will be increased by 4%, and in the third – by 3.5%.

Much more important from the point of view of remuneration was the item on the new system for determining the size of the fee for each repetition of the display of a work. This paragraph applies to payments from streaming services. Until now, U.S. directors have been paid royalties based solely on the number of U.S. subscribers to such services. The DGA has ensured that global streaming platform performance is now taken into account. As a result, the size of the fees in some cases should increase by about three-quarters.

Finally, the directors’ guild secured written assurances from AMPTP that artificial intelligence would not replace union members.

The last point is perhaps the main demand of another Hollywood trade union – the Writers Guild of America (WGA), which for several months has not been able to agree with film studios and TV channels on increasing payouts and a ban on replacing people with neural networks like ChatGPT. These negotiations were eventually curtailed on May 2, the day the agreement between the parties ended. And since then Hollywood writers carry out indefinite strike. And on Wednesday, June 7, AMPTP negotiations with another union, the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), should begin, the requirements of which are almost no different from those of directors and screenwriters.

Both SAG-AFTRA and WGA have already congratulated the directors on reaching an agreement with film studios. At the same time, both unions noted that this fact would not affect their own negotiations with AMPTP. One of the leaders of the negotiation process on behalf of the WGA, Chris Keiser declaredthat wishes the DGA the best in their negotiations with film studios and broadcasters, noting that sister unions are empowering the WGA itself.

“We have always been strong enough to get the deal we deserve using only writer’s power,” Mr. Keyser summed up.

“Our own negotiating positions remain the same as they were on May 1, 2023,” reads the statement the WGA itself.

“Our negotiating strategy has never been based on or dependent on the outcome or status of negotiations of any other union, and we do not adhere to the philosophy that the terms of deals concluded with other unions oblige us to do anything,” commented the WGA. and AMPTP Screen Actors Guild Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland.

Kirill Sarkhanyants