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.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More