November 23, 2021
Los Angeles – The Directors Guild of America today announced that the National Board of Directors has approved a tentative new national commercial contract to be sent to the membership for ratification.
The agreement was negotiated with the Association of Independent Commercial Producers, Inc. (AICP) and covers a two-year term from December 1, 2021 – November 30, 2023.
Highlights of the agreement include:
- Wage increases of between 3% and 3.5% in the first year of the contract depending upon category, and 3% in the second year of the contract, with an additional 0.5% increase to the employer contribution rate to the DGA Pension Plan – for total first year economic increases of between 3.5% and 4%.
- A 10.5% increase in the base salaries upon which pension and health contributions are made for most Directors, which will result in increased retirement benefits and also make it easier to qualify for health coverage.
- Adding Juneteenth as a holiday.
- An additional mandatory prep day for First Assistant Directors when there is a substantial change to the production schedule or shooting boards.
Negotiations with the AICP took place over several stretches between August and November of this year and were led by Eastern Executive Director Neil Dudich and a committee of experienced members who work in commercials.
The DGA’s National Board voted unanimously at a special board meeting on November 20 to approve the agreement and send it to the membership for ratification.
“Our Commercial Negotiations Committee negotiated a fantastic agreement coming out of a tumultuous period for the industry,” said DGA President Lesli Linka Glatter. “This contract contains significant gains for our members and will grow this area of work for years to come.”
“Although change is a constant in the commercial industry, one thing that will always stay the same is our determination to maintain the strong commercials contract we have, and steadily improve upon it in a way that makes sense for our members and the commercial producers to thrive together,” said Dudich. “And I’m proud to say that’s what we achieved in this tentative agreement.”
Ratification materials are being sent to members this week.