The Director's Guild of America has concluded negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the trade association of the TV and film industry, and arrived at a mutually satisfactory deal. Although the details are still emerging, the deal precludes the looming threat of all three major talent unions on strike at the same time. The Writers' Guild of America has been on strike since May 1st and the Screen Actors' Guild will join them if a deal is not reached before the June 30th deadline.
The DGA has only struck once in its 87 year history, unlike its more combative sibling the WGA, so a deal was widely expected. In a statement, the WGA reiterated their demands are unaffected by the DGA deal and they welcome a return to the negotiating table when the AMPTP is ready.
The DGA managed to negotiate a 76% bump in foreign residuals and this is something both SAG-AFTRA and WGA negotiators are seeking. The WGA is also focused on mandatory minimum numbers of writers in each writers room, and a minimum number of weeks guaranteed. Many insiders expect the WGA strike to last through the summer, roughly the same length as the 2007 strike which lasted 100 days.
