© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: People stand atop the Hollywood sign under an overcast sky in Los Angeles, California, US, May 31, 2023. REUTERS/Mike Blake/FilePhoto
Written by Lisa Richwin and Steve Gorman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Film and television directors voted overwhelmingly on Friday to endorse a new three-year contract with major Hollywood studios, averting a second layoff that would have added to the turmoil caused by the ongoing writers’ strike.
The Directors Guild of America (DGA) stated that 87% of voters supported the deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), a group representing Walt. Disney (NYSE: Co), Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:) and other major studios.
The DGA represents 19,000 directors, assistant directors, and others who work in film and television production.
On its website, the union said the turnout of 41%, with 6,728 members out of 16,321 eligible voters casting ballots, surpassed any previous DGA ratification vote.
In the new work charter, members were given base pay increases starting at 5% for the first year, an increase in residual payments from the stream, and a guarantee that generative AI “cannot replace duties performed by members.”
Artificial intelligence has also emerged as a major concern for writers and actors, who see their jobs as particularly vulnerable to the new technology.
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has been on strike since May 2, shutting down several TV and movie projects like the new season of “Stranger Things” and “Game of Thrones.”
There are no new contract talks scheduled between the WGA and the studios, whose dispute has largely centered on changes to show business that have resulted from the broadcast boom.
During the WGA’s last strike in 2007 and 2008, a studio deal with the DGA prompted the writers to return to the negotiating table. The striking writers insisted that the directors’ latest deal would not affect their position this time around.
Meanwhile, Hollywood actors are locked in their labor talks with the studios. Members of the SAG-AFTRA actors’ union have given their negotiators the power to call a strike if they cannot agree on a new contract by June 30.
(This story has been rephrased to correct a typo in paragraph 4)
