(Reuters) – The Directors Guild of America (DGA) said it reached a tentative contract deal with major film and television studios that have been grappling with arduous negotiations with Hollywood unions.
The three-year labor agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents major studios like Netflix and Walt Disney Co include gains in wages, streaming residuals, an agreement on artificial intelligence and a decrease in work hours.
“We have concluded a truly historic deal,” Jon Avnet, the chair of the DGA’s Negotiation Committee, said in a statement on Saturday. The Directors Guild represents more than 19,000 directors and members of the directorial team. The guild and the AMPTP began contract negotiations on May 10.
The tentative deal marks a relatively quick resolution of contract negotiations in Hollywood this year, where the film and television writers have been on strike since May 2 after failing to reach an agreement with studios on better pay and work security.
The month-long work stoppage by members of the Writers Guild of America has disrupted production of late-night shows and shut down high-profile productions such as Netflix’s “Stranger Things.”
A vote to ratify the tentative agreement is scheduled for Tuesday, the DGA said. If approved, the deal could offer a blueprint for negotiations with the striking writers and for the upcoming talks between studios and SAG-AFTRA, the union representing Hollywood actors.
Striking film and television writers have received support from labor unions representing workers in the tourism and hospitality industries, teachers, logistics workers and public employees, setting the stage for what one union leader called a “hot labor summer.”
(Reporting by Maria Caspani; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
