DIRECTORS MAKE DEAL
The DGA’s reached a tentative three-year deal with the AMPTP with key advances in jurisdiction and payment for programming on the Internet.
“Two words describe this agreement -- groundbreaking and substantial,” said Gil Cates, chair of the DGA’s Negotiations Committee. “The gains in this contract for directors and their teams are extraordinary -- and there are no rollbacks of any kind.”
The was announced Thursday afternoon following six days of negotiations at AMPTP amid widespread expectations that the helmers would quickly reach an agreement with the majors. Deal, if ratified by the 13,500 DGA members, will take effect on July 1.
DGA touted a trio of new-media gains:
Establishing DGA jurisdiction over programs produced for distribution on the Internet;
Boosting the residuals formula for paid Internet downloads (electronic sell-through) by double the current rate;
And establishing residual rates for ad-supported streaming and use of clips on the Internet.
The DGA deal amps up the pressure from all sides on the leadership of the Writers Guild of America, which has been on strike since Nov. 5. Its last negotiations with the AMPTP collapsed on Dec. 7 with the congloms demanding that the guild drop six of its proposals.
The WGA had no immediate reaction to the announcement.
The town’s focus will immediately shift to whether the terms of the DGA deal will be acceptable to the WGA. A group of moderate writers have been pushing in recent days for the leaders not to reject the DGA deal out of hand but optimists believe that the DGA deal will be enough of a breakthrough on new-media questions to pave the way for a WGA pact.
Talks, launched Saturday, were led by on the DGA side by Cates and DGA national exec director Jay D. Roth. The key informal talks -- which laid the groundwork for the deal -- took place in recent weeks with Fox topper Peter Chernin and Disney chief Robert Iger.
“This was a very difficult negotiation that required real give and take on both sides,” said DGA president Michael Apted said in a statement. “Nonetheless, we managed to produce an agreement that enshrines the two fundamental principles we regard as absolutely crucial to any employment and compensation agreement in this digital age: First, jurisdiction is essential. Without secure jurisdiction over new-media production -- both derivative and original -- compensation formulas are meaningless. Second, the Internet is not free. We must receive fair compensation for the use and reuse of our work on the Internet, whether it was originally created for other media platforms or expressly for online distribution.”
The DGA deal opens the door for AFTRA to launch its delayed network code negotiations. AFTRA prexy Roberta Reardon delivered the first official reaction to the deal and noted that the net code talks will start by Feb. 19.
“AFTRA is encouraged by the news that the DGA has reached a deal with the AMPTP,” she said. “We have yet to have an opportunity to review the specifics of their deal but we remain optimistic that the Writers Guild will soon resume negotiations with the studios so people can return to work. AFTRA’s priority is to negotiate strong wages, residuals, benefits, and working conditions for talent in all TV day parts and formats and we intend to resume our own negotiations with the networks and major producers for the Network Code on or before Feb. 19.”
http://www.variety.com/VR1117979228.html
