Breaking! Directors Reach Deal! (UPDATE)
It's here! It's finally here! According to Var, the Directors Guild has reached the much-rumored deal with the AMPTP that's had Hollywood aching with uneasy anticipation since the formal start of negotiations over the weekend. No details are in yet; stay tuned to see if the terms offer hope that a similar agreement can be struck with the WGA, or whether the proposed contract is so disappointing that it will just drive a fresh wedge between striking writers and the studios, plunging the town even deeper into gut-wrenching despair.
UPDATE: After the jump:
The hightlights of the deal, according to the DGA's press release:
* Increases both wages and residual bases for each year of the contract.
* Establishes DGA jurisdiction over programs produced for distribution on the Internet.
* Establishes new residuals formula for paid Internet downloads (electronic sell-through) that essentially doubles the rate currently paid by employers.
* Establishes residual rates for ad-supported streaming and use of clips on the Internet.
Meanwhile, United Hollywood is cautiously optimistic about what they see in the deal summary: "As good as that sounds — and it sounds really, really good — we can't really evaluate what kind of teeth it has until we know what the structures and provisions they have in place actually are. Information we can only get from the more detailed document. In short, we gotta get a look at all the fine print."
