The Directors Guild of America (DGA) announced on Thursday that
it has reached a tentative three-year agreement with Hollywood
studios over wage and residual increases.
Director Garry Marshall (C)
walks with striking members of the Writers Guild of America, West
during a rally in Hollywood, California Nov. 20, 2007.
(Xinhua/Reuters, File Photo)
The agreement envisages the establishment of a new residual
formula for paid Internet downloads and residual rates for
ad-supported streaming and the use of clips on the Internet, the
DGA said.
The agreement, which will be submitted to the DGA's National
Board for approval on Jan. 26, was reached after more than five
days of negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and
Television Producers (AMPTP), an umbrella group of Hollywood
studios.
"This was a very difficult negotiation that required real give
and take on both sides," said DGA President Michael Apted.
"Nonetheless, we managed to produce an agreement that enshrines the
two fundamental principles we regard as absolutely crucial to any
employment and compensation agreement in this digital age."
"First, jurisdiction is essential. Without secure jurisdiction
over new-media production -- both derivative and original --
compensation formulas are meaningless," he said. "Second, the
Internet is not free. We must receive fair compensation for the use
and reuse of our work on the Internet, whether it was originally
created for other media platforms or expressly for online
distribution."
According to the DGA, the proposed contract reached on Thursday
ensures that programming produced for the Internet will be directed
by DGA members and their teams. The exceptions will be lower-budget
shows that cost less than 15,000 U.S. dollars per minute to
produce, 300,000 dollars per program or 500,000 dollars per
series.
The proposed contract more than doubles the residuals for paid
Internet downloads. The DGA residual rate will be 0.7 percent for
television downloads and 0.65 percent for film downloads, above a
certain number of units downloaded. Below that number, residuals
will be based on the current formula employees use.
The deal also calls for annual three-percent wage increases for
primetime drama shows and daytime serials and 3.5 percent for all
other types of programming.
"Two words describe this agreement -- groundbreaking and
substantial," said Gil Cates, chairman of the DGA's Negotiations
Committee. "The gains in this contract for directors and their
teams are extraordinary, and there are no rollbacks of any
kind."
In a statement, the heads of studios represented by the AMPTP
said the DGA deal sets an important precedent of ensuring that the
industry's creative talent participates financially in every area
of new media.
"The agreement demonstrates beyond any doubt that our industry's
producers are willing and able to work with the creators of
entertainment content to establish fair and flexible rules for this
fast-changing marketplace," according to the statement.
"We hope that this agreement with the DGA will signal the
beginning of the end of this extremely difficult period for our
industry," said the statement.
"Today, we invite the Writers Guild of America to engage with us
in a series of informal discussions similar to the productive
process that led us to deal with the DGA to determine whether there
is a reasonable basis for returning to formal bargaining. We look
forward to these discussions and to the day when our entire
industry gets back to work."
The speed of the negotiations and agreement is in stark contrast
to the AMPTP talks with the Writers Guild of America (WGA), which
has been on strike since November. Contract talks between the two
groups broke off Dec. 7, and no new negotiations are scheduled.
Writers are striking primarily over payment for work distributed
online and through other forms of new media.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa urged writers and
producers to return to the bargaining table.
"The film and television industries are the lifeblood of the Los
Angeles economy, sustaining thousands of behind-the-scenes workers
who can't afford to miss another paycheck," the mayor said.
(Xinhua/Agencies January 18, 2008)
