DGA National Board Unanimously Recommends Ratification of New Contracts

New York City – The Directors Guild of America's National Board of Directors voted unanimously to recommend ratification of new three-year collective bargaining agreements between the DGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and the Networks (ABC, CBS and NBC), DGA President Michael Apted announced today.

The DGA Basic Agreement (BA) and Freelance Live and Tape Television Agreement (FLTTA) codify creative and economic terms for all members in a new three-year collective bargaining contract with the producers and studios. The Network Agreement covers staff and freelance members employed in news, sports and operations at the companies' television networks and local stations. Both current three-year contracts expire on June 30, 2005.

The votes on both contracts took place at the Board's regularly scheduled meeting today at the Guild's New York headquarters. The votes followed presentations to the Board of the recently agreed upon terms of the new contracts by Negotiations Committee Chairman Gil Cates and Network Negotiations Committee Chairman William M. Brady.

"This has been a great achievement for DGA members and for me as their president. Last week we announced our tentative agreement with the studios and this week we announced that we reached a tentative agreement with the networks – and the board has unanimously ratified both agreements," said Michael Apted, President of the Directors Guild of America. "Considering the significant health and wage gains we were able to achieve with the studios and the networks, I am proud of what the Guild has been able to accomplish on behalf our members."

Both contracts will now be sent to all 12,800 members of the DGA for ratification.