DGA, AMPTP reach tentative deal
 

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/...6475d05d3b7aed

DGA locks down deal

By Carl DiOrio

Jan 17, 2008

The DGA has accomplished in six days what the WGA hasn't in six months: secured a deal from studio reps the guild says it can take to its members.

Whether WGA brass will feel similarly positive about the terms the DGA secured is another matter. But on Thursday, the directors announced a new three-year tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture of Motion Picture & Television Producers that would deliver:

-- Increases in wages and residual bases for each year of the contract.

-- DGA jurisdiction over programs produced for distribution on the Internet.

-- New residuals formula for paid Internet downloads (electronic sell-through) that essentially doubles the rate currently paid by employers.

-- Residual rates for ad-supported streaming and use of clips on the Internet.

Key new-media provisions appear substantial.

The agreement more than doubles the current residual on downloads of TV programming and boosts film residuals on downloads by 80%, officials said. A roughly $600 payment for ad-supported streaming kicks in after the first 17 days of streaming, followed by additional payments after 26 weeks totaling $1,200 for a year's worth of streaming.

"Two words describe this agreement -- groundbreaking and substantial," said Gil Cates, chair of the DGA's Negotiations Committee, in announcing the terms of the agreement. "The gains in this contract for directors and their teams are extraordinary -- and there are no rollbacks of any kind."

The WGA, which launched since-aborted talks with the AMPTP on July 16, has been out of contract since Oct. 31 and on strike since Nov. 5. The AMPTP has refused to negotiate further with the writers since Dec. 7, when it demanded that the WGA remove demands including reality TV and animation jurisdiction and the right to stage sympathy strikes.

There was no comment from the WGA on news of the DGA-AMPTP agreement.

Yay, the format war is over!

HUGE news. I imagine if the studios offer even a copykat deal to the WGA it has to be seriously considered.

That was my thought as well. I also find it interesting that, after all of the claims that the AMPTP has been the greedy, unyielding side, this agreement includes all of the significant items that the WGA was seeking. That tells me that all that stands between the WGA and an agreement are the reality and animation issues, which, IMO, are an example of asking for too much too soon.

It also shows that the WGA's alleged plans for a larger-scale strike to put pressure on the AMPTP is basically scuttled.

Where's the outcry for the DGA getting paid for the internet stuff and ad-supported streams?

Wasn't that the "unreasonable" request the WGA was making?

I think the WGA was asking for a tad more.

Possibly, but I think a lot of people that are against the WGA were saying that writers didn't deserve any money beyond their initial paycheck. That internet was a risk, that money couldn't be made on the streaming stuff.

I'm just wondering if they think that about directors too.

Great news for the DGA. However, 1 union down, still 2 more to go. Considering how stubborn and hardball the WGA has been playing, I'm not optimistic they will accept this as a framework for their deal.

I just assumed the reality and animation demands were just bargaining tools, something that's a non-starter for the studios which the WGA can conceded during negotiations. If they really ruined this season's shows because of it then that's just ridiculous.

All hell is going to break loose now with the WGA. There are probably going to be a lot of people who feel something like this would be pretty damned good and who aren't going to be happy. At the same time, SAG is the issue here if you ask me. Are they just itching to strike?

We're not out of the woods yet, but the DGA getting a deal worked out is going to make things mighty interesting.

Nice. Hopefully this goes through so we can get the back 8 of Lost.

I wouldn't be surprised that AMPTP reaches a deal with SAG fairly quickly, too. That could put a LOT of pressure on the WGA to settle on something akin to the DGA deal.

Bad news for the WGA. Good news for people that want TV back. I think this pressures WGA to come back to the table.

I thought the word on SAG was that they were not eager to make a deal and that the speculation was there was some chance of a WGA-SAG strike even with a DGA deal, premised on the idea that the WGA doesn't splinter and descend into chaos now that a DGA deal has been signed.

I think SAG would take this deal. Frankly, I think WGA would too. The question is, will they get it offered to them, or will the AMPTP rake them over the coals for the strike?

What does this deal specifically mean for Lost?

Nothing directly. The directors' contract hadn't expired and they were still working.

WGA better take a serious look at a deal now. My experience is that after one gets a deal this easy and the other has been holding out, the deals don't get this good again. It can end up looking like the WGA is holding everything up.

Just to make this clear, the terms of this deal were never offered to WGA - at least not publicly. AMPTP has said that digital distribution was not even on the table for discussion with WGA.

It still doesn't mean squat for Lost. All it really means is that Jack Bender and Stephen Williams (some of the show's many directors) can continue to work. Even if the WGA accepts a deal similar to this next week, the writers still need at least a 2 month head start to get scripts ready.

You are probably right, but it might have been if the WGA took off reality and animation (and final say).

It's my understanding (from what I've read), and I may be wrong, but WGA did take animation and reality off the table in exchange for good faith digital distribution negotiations. Once the AMPTP refused to negotiate on digital, WGA put everything back on the table and dug in.

Well, that's the way that the WGA has spun it, anyway. Given the quickness of the DGA deal, that spin is even more questionable than before, at least in my mind.

I'm just worried what will happen when the directors don't get paid because the studios say that ad-supported streams and internet distribution don't make them any money.