Directors Guild Prepares To Fight For More Global Streaming Residuals With Contract Talks One Week Away

EXCLUSIVE: With the Writers Guilds strike now in its second day, negotiations for a new Directors Guild contract are now just one week away. And like the WGA, streaming residuals are on the DGA’s bargaining agenda when its contract talks start May 10.

And while the DGA has struck only once in its history – for three-plus hours back in 1983 – a directors strike cannot be ruled out this time. The DGA’s current film and TV contract expires June 30.

Related Story

DGA Members Extol Virtues Of Strong Pension & Health Benefits As Contract Talks Loom – Watch Video

“Residuals are one of the most important benefits of being a DGA member,” the DGA said in a recent message to its members. “Residuals tie you to the economic success of your work, they provide a safety net between jobs, and they are a major funding source for our Pension Plan. For over 60 years, residuals have helped provide a secure future for our members.”

RELATED: WGA Strike Picket Line Locations List For Los Angeles & New York

In a statement posted on social media before the WGA strike, the DGA said it will be “fighting” at the bargaining table for “a fair share” of streaming residuals and put a particular emphasis on gaining more residuals from the foreign reuse of its members’ work on subscription video on demand.

“In 2008, the DGA was the first guild to win jurisdiction and residuals for the Internet, a crucial precedent that established the framework for the future of the entertainment industry,” the guild said. “In the years that followed, SVOD streaming services became the dominant Internet medium for scripted programs, and the DGA prioritized building this residual for the future.

RELATED: What Went Wrong? Writers & Studios Reveal What They Couldn’t (And Could) Agree On As Strike Is Set

“In 2014, the DGA developed a groundbreaking SVOD residual formula for high-budget dramatic programs to address how the industry was changing and enable our members to share in the growth and success of SVOD. As the business grew, so did our residual, as we negotiated substantial increases for our members in 2017 and 2020.

“Today, the vast majority of SVOD subscriber growth is based abroad and many of the streaming services’ business models are now focused on global growth. As we prepare to bargain for a strong and modern contract, we’re committed to negotiate a residual formula that provides our fair share of the global growth of this industry and the distribution of our work around the world.”

RELATED: TV Shows Affected By The WGA Strike: ‘Cobra Kai’, ‘Yellowjackets’, ‘Abbott Elementary’, More

In an accompanying video (watch it here), five directors discussed the importance of foreign streaming residuals, which the WGA is also striking for. When the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers broke off their talks Monday night, they were still very far apart on the guild’s demands for a new high-budget SVOD residual formula that would be based on the streaming services’ foreign subscriber counts.

See the WGA and AMPTP bargaining positions here, as detailed by the Writers Guild.

RELATED: WGA Strike Explained: The Issues, The Stakes, Movies & TV Shows Affected — And How Long It Might Last 

“So when I started directing television, the world was very different,” Paris Barclay, former DGA president and currently the guild’s secretary-treasurer, says in the video. “You would actually direct a television show; it would appear once; you’d be paid; it would repeat again and you’d be paid again substantially, actually. And you continue on down the line. When those repeats diminished because streaming took over, we started losing value.

“One of the magic things about residuals is it keeps us going in tough times,” he continued. “It keeps our families going, and it’s a lifeline that continues the investment we’ve made in each project. So our feeling is that it’s super important, and more important than ever, that as the world grows into a streaming model, that we participate both financially and actually creatively in the work that’s done.”

Ed Ornelas, whose TV directing credits include Grey’s Anatomy, said, “The biggest challenge for DGA members in the upcoming contracts is just how the landscape has changed tremendously. I think the residuals are critical because we are part of the DNA of these shows that get made.”

RELATED: Deadline’s Full Strike Coverage

Said Michael Goi, who has helmed TV shows including The Rookie and Big Sky: “As we progress into global markets, residuals are going to get even more important. So the DGA taking an active stance and going to the forefront of fighting for residuals in international markets is hugely important to our members – all of our members – and for the future of our employment through the guild.”

Tessa Blake, whose TV directing credits include A Million Little Things and Station 19, said: “We are fighting for streaming residuals in international markets because this is the great growth of our industry, and we want our beautiful creative industry to be seen globally. But we must be compensated for the work we do.”

Young Sheldon and Saved by the Bell reboot director Kabir Akhtar said: “I mean, the future of streaming is global. I mean, the present of streaming is global. Right now, all the shows that we’re working on – show that I direct here – are shown not just nationwide, but like around the world. And all the studios that we work for do make money, and rightfully so, off our work showing internationally. And it seems like it makes sense that we should participate in that also, just because it’s our work.”

Must Read Stories

WGA Chief Negotiator Ellen Stutzman Talks AMPTP Inaction, AI & Making Good Deal

NBC, Jimmy Fallon & Seth Meyers To Extend Staff Pay Amid Strike

Artist, Writer & Editor Jim Lee Promoted To President Of DC Comics

Florida Passes Bill To Void Disney World’s Development Deal With Special District

Writers Guild Strike

Dispatches From WGA Picket Lines Day 2: ‘SNL’s Bowen Yang, Krista Vernoff, Michael Schur, Cynthia Nixon Among Those Marching To Support Writers Strike

Whoopi Goldberg Addresses Writers Strike On ‘The View’: “We’re Still Writing Things On Cards”

Read More About:

Source: Read Full Article