DGA Announces Revisions To Film & TV Contract, Including Addition Of Streaming Bonus To Match WGA’s

Directors are getting some revisions to their latest contract with the Hollywood studios.

In a rare move, the Directors Guild of America managed to push for some additional gains to the basic agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which was ratified in June, including a streaming performance bonus that matches the WGA’s.

“For almost nine decades, the DGA has fought to protect and extend the creative and economic rights of directors and members of the directorial team,” a DGA spokesperson said in a statement to Deadline. “Understanding the urgent needs of our members after a difficult year, we’re proud to have achieved these gains and protected the Guild’s Pension and Health Plans.  We will never stop fighting on behalf of our members.”

In addition to the bonus for directors whose shows contribute significant viewing for streamers, the DGA will also have access to the same viewing data that the WGA negotiated as well. The guild conceded that the current residual structure still “will not impact a large number of DGA members,” though it may open the door for this topic in future negotiations.

The DGA also secured an increase in employer contribution rates to the pension or health plan by 0.5% in the second and third years of the agreement. The distribution of this additional money between the pension and health plans is up to the union.

Among the other new provisions are:

The DGA overwhelmingly approved its new basic agreement with the AMPTP in June, after its board, whose members include Steven Spielberg and Christopher Nolan, had unanimously recommended ratification. The ratification came 53 days into the writers strike, though a deal was reached before the actors joined the picket lines in July.

It is not very common for the guilds to revise their contracts after ratification, and it requires an agreement from both parties to go back to the table. The DGA says these additional gains took months of “difficult discussions” with the studios.

Among the provisions that were secured in the original contract was an increase in streaming residuals, specifically through a new residual structure to pay foreign residuals. However, at the time, there was no framework in place for the streaming bonus model that the WGA achieved in its contract after a 148-day strike. SAG-AFTRA managed a similar bonus structure in its contract, which was ratified in December.

The DGA also did not secure any data transparency in its original contract, but it did have language about additional transparency with residual reporting in general.