The membership of the Directors Guild of America voted to ratify 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 DGA's National Board of Directors had approved the contract on December 15, 2001, after completion of negotiations on December 12. A summary of the new contract, including the historic Interim Settlement Agreement, was mailed to members, along with a voting ballot, and the results were tallied on February 8, 2002. The current DGA contracts expire on June 30.
As per an agreement reached between the DGA and the AMPTP during negotiations, the Interim Settlement Agreement takes effect immediately upon ratification, and therefore will be operative for the upcoming television pilot season. The ISA adapts current agreements to the new technologies that are modernizing the method of television production. This new “blended contract” recognizes that the methods of recording television programming are changing, and covers all primetime dramatic programming regardless of whether it is shot on film, traditional videotape, or digital video.
“I’m gratified that our membership overwhelmingly voted to ratify the new contract,” Shea said. “Our Negotiating Committee was able to achieve some major gains for Guild members, including the revolutionary Interim Settlement Agreement. This ratification vote is a tribute to the unceasing determination and matchless skill of our Negotiating Committee Chairman Gil Cates, our Creative Rights Negotiating Co-Chair Martha Coolidge, our National Executive Director Jay Roth and the rest of our negotiating teams.”
The newly ratified Basic Agreement (BA) and Freelance Live and Tape Television Agreement (FLTTA) will take effect on July 1, 2002.
“Although our negotiations with the AMPTP were tough, we were able to achieve very significant economic and creative gains for the DGA membership,” Roth said. “Additionally, the blended contract will help to ensure the economic security of DGA members and eliminate contractual uncertainties with the advance of new technologies. In ratifying the new contracts almost five months before the expiration of our current ones, the DGA membership has once again demonstrated its seriousness of purpose and commitment to keeping the entertainment industry working.”
New DGA Contract Summaries: [NEED TO INSERT LINKS]
