Directors Guild of America National Board voted unanimously to approve a new three-year collective bargaining agreement, union president Thomas Schlamme announced Saturday.
The term of the agreement — which includes improvements in streaming residuals, pension, wages and TV creative rights — is three years, July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2023.
“The future is what drives us, and that’s what you see in this agreement,” Schlamme said. “As the streaming sea change we anticipated for so long is now overhauling the industry, and new services continue to enter the market, this pivotal deal boosting streaming residuals beyond traditional TV levels is a major victory for our members thanks to our Negotiations Co-Chairs Jon Avnet and Todd Holland, and our fearless chief negotiator National Executive Director Russ Hollander.”
The new agreement increase residuals for members working on original SVOD series by 50%, bringing the three-year residual for a 60-minute series on the highest subscriber SVOD services to more than $73,000. General wage and residual base will also increase by 2.5% in the first year of the agreement and 3% in the second and third years of the agreement.
There will also be increased funding for the DGA-Producer Pension Plan, with the employer contribution rate to the Pension Plan permanently increasing by 1% in the first year of the agreement from 7% to 8%.
In addition, the Guild secured a commitment from the film studios to meet with the DGA twice yearly to discuss ongoing efforts to expand feature film directing opportunities for individuals from underrepresented groups.
Complete details of the agreement can be read here.