DGA as peacemaker
If the directors cut the right deal, it could save Hollywood from civil war.
The studios and the Directors Guild started talking Saturday -- the day before the Golden Globes' televised implosion into a hurried news conference -- and some people think an agreement is imminent, if for no other reason than the hope that the Oscars can be saved from a similar fate. But a quick deal for directors may not signal progress on Hollywood's larger labor issue, the Writer's Guild strike that is dragging down the industry and local economy.
All three guilds -- the writers, actors and directors -- are focused on new-media residuals, which are reuse fees paid when a movie or TV episode is streamed or downloaded from the Internet. The studios have so far offered writers peanuts -- for instance, just $139 for a year of streaming a half-hour TV program, no matter how much ad revenue it generates. The Writers Guild is demanding about eight to 10 times that amount. Will the Directors Guild take a similarly tough stance? Probably not. But it should.
The Directors Guild cares about new-media residuals -- it reportedly spent almost $2 million researching the issues -- just not as deeply as writers or actors do. The top echelon of movie directors are paid millions and promised a cut of the gross, so new-media residuals don't amount to much mad money for them. Meanwhile, 40% of DGA members are assistant directors and unit production managers who receive practically no residuals now.
As a result, the Directors Guild likely is more willing to trade off new-media residuals against other issues, such as larger base payments up front. Indeed, the studios would prefer to hike those minimums rather than increase residuals. That's because the first residuals deal negotiated often becomes a blueprint for the others -- it's called "pattern bargaining" -- but upfront minimums don't work that way. If the directors' deal were to become the contract template, each dollar of residuals the studios grant multiplies into more than $12 across all the unions' contracts.
What about the actors? So far, the Screen Actors Guild has stood firm with the writers. Normally, though, SAG conducts its studio negotiations in tandem with a less-assertive actors union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. But this time around may be different: SAG will vote next month on severing that joint-bargaining relationship. That's an ominous sign; it means SAG wants the freedom to take as hard a line as possible this year.
