The Directors Guild of America’s National Board of Directors voted unanimously to recommend ratification of the new three-year collective bargaining agreements between the DGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), DGA President Jack Shea announced today. The vote followed the report to the Board of the recently agreed upon terms of the new contract by Negotiating Committee Chairman Gil Cates and DGA National Executive Director Jay D. Roth.
The vote took place at the Board’s regularly scheduled meeting today at the Guild’s Los Angeles headquarters. The contract, which includes both economic and creative rights provisions, will now go to the DGA’s 12,416 members for ratification.
“I am happy that we were able to successfully conclude early negotiations on these significant issues, and I anticipate that our membership will overwhelmingly ratify the new contracts,” said Shea. “Our negotiating team delivered an extraordinary economic package, and at the same time ensured stability to our members, to the industry and to our community at large.”
Among the highlights of the economic terms of the agreement are:
- WAGE INCREASES*
- With the exception of network primetime programs, all minimum salaries and residual base rates will increase by 3.5% per annum in each year of the Agreements, effective July 1, 2002, 2003 and 2004. This amounts to a compounded increase of 10.87%.
- Directors' initial minimums for network prime time programs (including residuals base rates) will increase by 3.0% per annum in each year of the Agreements, effective July 1, 2002, 2003 and 2004. This amounts to a compounded increase of 9.27%.
- FOX BROADCASTING
- Effective July 1, 2002, the residuals for programs broadcast on Fox Broadcasting Corporation will be 80% of the residuals for programs broadcast on ABC, CBS or NBC. This number will increase to 90% effective July 1, 2003, and to 100% effective July 1, 2004. Reruns of programs produced in 2003 will remain at 90% rate until January 1, 2005. In 2001, Fox residuals amounted to $1,261,000. In 2004, they will amount to $1,994,000, an increase of 58% for DGA members.
- Effective July 1, 2004, Fox Broadcasting Corporation will be considered a network for all purposes.
- FOREIGN RESIDUALS FOR TELEVISION PROGRAMS
- The 2002 Contracts add a fourth level of residual payments. In previous contracts, there were three separate levels: an initial residual payment and two additional payments to be made when certain Distributor's Foreign Gross amounts were met. Once those three payments were made, no more followed, regardless of the profitability of the show. The fourth level of residual payments added by the 2002 contract extends into perpetuity, and consists of 1.2% of the Distributor's Foreign Gross in excess of a certain amount based upon the length of the program.
- MADE FOR BASIC CABLE RESIDUALS
- The improved residual schedule for programming made for basic cable gains more money faster for directors by increasing residuals for runs 2-5 by 40%.
- THEATRICAL SEQUEL PAYMENTS
- The Director of a theatrical motion picture based on an original script will receive a payment of $20,000 if a sequel is produced, utilizing the same characters, etc. This is the first time such a concept has be achieved in the DGA Basic Agreement.
- RUNAWAY PRODUCTION
- No later than January 1, 2003, the AMPTP will convene a meeting with Employer representatives and representatives of the DGA, SAG, WGA, IATSE and Teamsters, AFTRA and other affected unions to discuss the problems of “runaway production” and ways of resolving or mitigating these problems, including possible contractual remedies.
- RESIDUALS STUDY
- The Employers and the DGA agree to continue to participate, together with the Screen Actors Guild, in the Industry Residuals Study.
- SAFETY
- When members of the shooting crew have worked 16 hours from crew call, the First Assistant Director may call a meeting to discuss safety issues involved with the continuation of production. This is the first time such a provision has been included in the DGA contracts.
- The AMPTP will, as soon as practical, consult with DGA representatives for the purpose of issuing a safety “check list” to the Employers it represents. This “check list” should be distributed to Employers on or before February 15, 2002. This is the first time such a provision has been included in the DGA contracts.
- EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
- Each Employer agreed to designate one or more high level creative, production or programming executives to meet on an individual Employer basis at least once per year with designated representatives of the DGA.
- BLENDED CONTRACT
- Any single camera prime time dramatic program will continue to be governed by the terms of the Basic Agreement (BA), no matter how the images are recorded.
- Any existing multi-camera series now recorded on film will continue to be covered by the BA regardless of any technological change in production of the series.
- Any existing multi-camera series now recorded on tape or broadcast live shall continue to be covered by the Freelance Live and Tape Television Agreement (FLTTA).
- All other multi-camera programs or series covered by this agreement will be governed by the BA, with the following provisions:
- DGA has UPM jurisdiction on all productions.
- Directors' minimum compensation will be according to the BA. Directors' residuals will be increased an average of 20% over FLTTA rates.
- The duties of First Assistant Directors, Second Assistant Directors and Associate Directors/Technical Coordinators employed on programs or series produced under this Interim Agreement are specifically defined.
- CREATIVE RIGHTS
- Beginning September 30, 2002, the Employer will provide information to enable the Guild to monitor timeliness of script delivery on all dramatic series.
- The Employers will meet with DGA representatives on a Company-by-Company basis to consider solutions to the problem of late script deliveries. These meetings may involve showrunners, network and production executives, individual writers, and/or the Writers Guild of America.
- The AMPTP and DGA agreed to an arbitration to determine the appropriate relief for late script delivery.
- The Employers have also agreed to meet with the DGA's TV Creative Rights Committee to review progress on this issue.
The DGA and AMPTP agreed to an historic interim settlement that adapts outmoded agreements to the new technologies that are modernizing the method of television production. This new "blended contract" agreement recognizes that the methods of recording television programming are changing, and will cover all primetime dramatic programming regardless of whether it is shot on film, traditional videotape, or digital video. The blended contract provides certainty to DGA members and producers as technology evolves. The interim agreement will expire on June 30, 2005.
The agreement applies to free television dramatic programs intended for initial broadcast on prime time, made-for-pay/home video dramatic programs of a type made for network prime time and basic cable "high budget" dramatic programs one half-hour or more in length.
The Terms of the Interim Settlement Agreement are:
The DGA's Basic Agreement creative rights will now apply to all prime time dramatic productions, regardless of the medium on which they are shot.
A primary issue in the creative rights discussions involved the industry-wide problem of late script delivery in television, which impacts production costs and the ability of TV directors to do their jobs. The Guild and the AMPTP agreed on a process to address this situation:
