The National Board of Directors Guild of America has approved the tentative deal that top negotiators reached with studios and streamers on June 3.
The group, which includes Christopher Nolan and Steven Spielberg, met on Tuesday before wider members were given full details of the pact on Wednesday.
The union reached a tentative deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the top entertainment companies in collective bargaining, by midnight on Saturday after a full day of negotiations. The union revealed some of the features of the agreement, including that minimum rates will be increased by 5 percent in the first year of the contract, by 4 percent in the second year and by 3.5 percent in the third year. The union stated that both sides have agreed on a new payment structure for foreign residuals that will result in a “substantial increase in residuals for dramatic programs made for SVOD” (the largest streamers will pay 76 percent more in foreign residuals), compensation for “soft prep time for feature film directors and more ‘creative rights’ in post-production for episodic directors.
The agreement also brought up artificial intelligence, though details on how so far have been vague. The parties agreed that “AI is not a person and Generative AI cannot replace members’ duties,” without mentioning whether members’ work can be used to train AI programs.
The DGA also provided some safety language in the deal that mirrors a bill the union has already supported. The deal, like SB 735, which is currently in the California State Assembly and has a good chance of reaching the governor’s office, would create a pilot program of putting safety supervisors on certain sets and bolster safety training for DGA members. (The agreement would also ban live ammunition on set, which the bill does in most cases.)
Members still have to vote to ratify the tentative deal.
The union began negotiations on May 10 and ended them just days before artist union SAG-AFTRA was due to start their own union with the AMPTP. DGA National Executive Director Russell Hollander led negotiations for the union, while AMPTP President Carol Lombardini led talks for AMPTP.
