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DGA Reaches Tentative Deal With Producers

Sep 24, 2004  •  Post A Comment

The Directors Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have reached a tentative agreement for a three-year contract, the parties announced Thursday.

The deal does not include any changes in DVD residuals — the most hotly contested item in this year’s trio of talent guild negotiations — but does include health care gains.

“We walked into negotiations with two goals in mind — getting the best possible deal for our members and keeping our members and the industry working,” said Gil Cates, DGA’s Negotiating Committee chairman. “And we were successful on both counts.”

The Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild have been closely watching the Directors Guild negotiation this year. SAG extended its contract to align its expiration date with the DGA to potentially increase the groups’ bargaining leverage. Writers have been working without a contract since May and also hoped to utilize the DGA negotiations as leverage.

The maneuvering raised the possibility of a massive strike involving all three talent wings if the DGA negotiations had gone poorly. This relatively quick deal, however, means SAG and WGA will have to fend for themselves and denies future negotiators a precedent for increasing DVD residuals. SAG and AFTRA will resume negotiations later this year.