Hollywood directors ratify labor pact while writers continue picketing

By Lisa Richwine and Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Film and television directors voted overwhelmingly to ratify a new three-year labor contract with major Hollywood studios on Friday, avoiding a second work stoppage that would have added to the unrest caused by a strike of writers in progress.

The Directors Guild of America (DGA) said 87% of voters supported the deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), a group that represents Walt Disney (NYSE:) Co, Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:) and other major studios.

The DGA represents 19,000 directors, assistant directors and others who work on film and television productions.

The turnout level of 41%, with 6,728 members out of 16,321 eligible voters voting, exceeded any previous DGA ratification vote, the union said on its website.

In the new labor pact, affiliates secured increases in base salary starting at 5% the first year, an increase in streaming residual payments and the guarantee that generative artificial intelligence (AI) “cannot replace the functions performed by the affiliates.

AI has also become a major concern for writers and actors, who view their jobs as especially vulnerable to new technology.

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has been on strike since May 2, shutting down several film and television projects, including a new season of “Stranger Things” and a “Game of Thrones” spin-off.

There are no new contract talks scheduled between the WGA and the studios, whose dispute has largely centered on changes in show business brought about by the streaming boom.

During the last WGA strike in 2007 and 2008, a studio deal with the DGA brought the writers back to the bargaining table. The striking writers have insisted that the directors’ latest agreement will not sway their position this time.

Meanwhile, Hollywood actors are in the midst of their own job talks with the studios. Members of the SAG-AFTRA actors’ union have given their negotiators the power to call a strike if they cannot agree a new contract by June 30.

(This story has been rearchived to correct a typo in paragraph 4)