Directors Guild President Lesli Linka Glatter, speaking tonight at the 75th Annual DGA Awards, vowed that the guild will “fight like hell” later this spring to win a fair film and TV contract – and not just for current members, but for generations to come. “These negotiations are about more than just bargaining a strong contract for the next three years – they are about setting the course for the future of our industry,” she told the members, nominees and guests gathered in the main ballroom at the Beverly Hilton. “The DGA is prepared and ready to fight for an excellent deal to protect the future for directors and their teams – and that is exactly what we are going to achieve.” Earlier this month, DGA leaders told their members that the DGA won’t be the first guild at the bargaining table with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers this year because “the studios are not yet prepared to address our key issues.” That’s a break from recent tradition, as the DGA has gone before the WGA and SAG-AFTRA in each of the last three three-year bargaining cycles.
The last time the DGA didn’t go first was in 2010, when pre-merger SAG and AFTRA came to the bargaining table first. The last time the WGA went first, back in 2007, resulted in a 100-day writers’ strike.
DGA leaders, however, have stressed that “The date we begin to bargain is far from the most important issue. The more important issue at stake is whether the studios will decide to appropriately address the concerns of our members.
Those concerns include wages, streaming residuals, safety, creative rights and diversity. If the studios do not address these issues, they know we are prepared to fight.” Founded in 1936, the DGA has only struck once in its entire
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