DGA Negotiations Committee Chair Gil Cates lays out the strategy before a session.

Basic Agreement/Freelance Live & Tape Television Agreement

“These votes reflects the strong support and enthusiasm our members have for our new contracts,” said Apted. “We won important gains such as higher wages, higher residual bases, significant improvements in basic cable, a more secure health plan, and solutions to problems affecting our ADs and UPMs.”

The new contract also includes a series of important precedents designed for the digital age, among them: jurisdiction in new media, a doubling of the home video rate as it applies to electronic sell-through, and the establishment of a gross-based payment in ad-supported streaming while maintaining the Guild’s historic fixed residuals where there is continued uncertainty about actual grosses.

“We entered this round of bargaining steadfast in our belief, borne of 70 years of negotiating experience, that what would make it possible for us to achieve our goals was our 18 months of research and preparation, our understanding of the issues our industry faces, and our willingness to sit across the table and negotiate until a conclusion was reached,” Apted continued. “We also recognized that this was only the beginning of a series of difficult negotiations and that we are still years away from the time when new media will be our industry’s dominant revenue source. This was, is, and will continue to be our approach to collective bargaining in this digital age. We believe the results speak for themselves.”

DGA Negotiation Committee Members and staff, led by Cates and DGA National Executive Director Jay Roth reach a tentative agreement with AMPTP negotiators on January 17, 2008.

After being preceded by months of informal discussions and nearly two years of preparation and research by Guild staff and consultants, on Saturday, January 12, 2008, formal negotiations began between the AMPTP and the DGA’s 50-member Negotiations Committee led by DGA Negotiations Committee Chair Gil Cates and DGA National Executive Director Jay D. Roth. The DGA and AMPTP reached a tentative agreement on terms of the new contract on January 17, 2008. The DGA’s National Board of Directors unanimously recommended sending the contract to members for ratification on January 27, 2008, and a summary of the new contract was mailed to members, along with a voting ballot. The new Basic Agreement and FLTTA will be effective July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2011.

DGA Eastern Executive Director Russ Hollander, Network Negotiating Committee Chair William M. Brady and Vice Chair Scott Berger led the Network Contract team.

Network Agreement

The new DGA Network Agreement incorporates annual wage increases and other negotiated benefits for directors and their teams and provides a framework for ongoing dialogue during the term of the agreement.

DGA Network Negotiating Committee Chair William M. Brady, Vice Chair Scott Berger and DGA Eastern Executive Director Russell Hollander headed negotiations on this contract.

The DGA’s National Board of Directors approved sending the contract for ratification by members at the regularly scheduled board meeting on January 27, 2008 and ballot materials were sent to members on February 11, 2008. Only members who work under this contract were eligible to vote on ratification. The new DGA Network Agreement will be effective July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2011.