Directors Guild of America membership has voted to ratify the new collective bargaining agreements between the DGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).
DGA members approved the new three-year agreement by a vote of 87% in favor. 6,728 members voted out of 16,321 eligible voters (41%). The turnout level exceeded any prior DGA ratification vote.
“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 DGA president Lesli Linka 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.”
Gains include significant improvements for DGA members in all categories, with extensive advances on wages, global streaming residuals, safety, diversity and creative rights. The deal also establishes minimum terms and conditions in two new areas–non-dramatic programs made for SVOD and high-budget dramatic programs made for AVOD–and includes new provisions confirming that generative AI cannot replace the duties performed 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 Glatter. “We support the actors who are 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. Talks were led by DGA Negotiations Committee chair Avnet, co-chairs Gaviola and Holland and DGA national executive director Hollander. Television Creative Rights Negotiations were led by Thomas Schlamme and Nicole Kassell. The Negotiations Committee and DGA National Board both unanimously approved and recommended ratification of the agreements. Ratification voting opened on Wednesday, June 7 and closed today at 6PM PT.
The new contract’s three-year term will take effect on July 1, 2023 and will run through June 30, 2026.
Full Lineup Set For AFI Fest; Official Selections Span 44 Countries, Include 9 Best International Feature Oscar Submissions
The American Film Institute (AFI) has unveiled the full lineup for this year’s AFI Fest, taking place in Los Angeles from October 23-27. Rounding out the slate of already announced titles are such highlights as September 5 directed by Tim Fehlbaum, All We Imagine As Light directed by Payal Kapadia, The Luckiest Man in America directed by Samir Oliveros (AFI Class of 2019), Zurawski v. Texas from executive producers Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton and Jennifer Lawrence and directors Maisie Crow and Abbie Perrault, and Oh, Canada directed by Paul Schrader (AFI Class of 1969). A total of 158 films are set to screen at the 38th edition of AFI Fest.
Of the official selections, 48% are directed by women and non-binary filmmakers and 26% are directed by BIPOC filmmakers.
Additional festival highlights include documentaries Architecton directed by Victor Kossakovsky; Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie directed by David Bushell; Devo directed by Chris Smith about the legendary new wave provocateurs; Gaucho Gaucho directed by Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw; Group Therapy directed by Neil Berkeley with Emmy® winner Neil Patrick Harris and Tig Notaro; No Other Land directed by a Palestinian-Israeli team comprised of Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor and Hamdan Ballal; Pavements directed by Alex Ross Perry; and Separated directed by Errol Morris. Notable narrative titles include Black Dog (Gou Zen) directed by Guan Hu; Bonjour Tristesse directed by Durga Chew-Bose with Academy Award® nominee Chloë Sevigny; Caught By The Tides directed by Jia Zhangke; Hard Truths directed by Mike Leigh with... Read More