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The Directors Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers struck a tentative agreement late Saturday for a new three-year contract, as per The Hollywood Reporter<\/em><\/a>. The union and representatives from the top studios and streamers entered discussions amid significant industry tumult, as the Writers Guild has now entered its second month of striking.\u00a0<\/p>\n The deal includes “gains in wages and benefits, streaming residuals, AI protections\u201d\u2014all points of contention over which the WGA and AMPTP failed to come to terms. The next step is a special meeting on Tuesday among the DGA\u2019s national board, which will be followed by a membership vote to ratify the new contract.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jon Avnet<\/strong>, chair of the DGA\u2019s negotiating committee (and director of films as diverse as Fried Green Tomatoes<\/em> and Righteous Kill<\/em><\/a>),<\/em> called it a \u201ctruly historic deal\u201d and cited \u201csignificant improvements\u201d in the areas of \u201cwages, streaming residuals, safety, creative rights and diversity, as well as securing essential protections for our members on new key issues like artificial intelligence.\u201d (THR<\/em>‘s report goes into granular detail<\/a>.)<\/p>\n The DGA\u2019s current contract is set to expire on June 30. The DGA and AMPTP entered negotiations on May 10, eight days after the WGA began their strike. Moreover, SAG-AFTRA (the union representing actors), whose contract also expires on June 30, has urged its members<\/a> to pre-authorize a (last resort) strike option against the AMPTP. The deadline to vote on that is (checks calendar) tomorrow, June 5. Negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP begin on June 7.<\/p>\n The newly announced agreement obviously has repercussions for the other two unions. While Avnet and his team are taking a victory lap, some on the picket line have a different interpretation. Striking writers reacting to the news<\/a> were quick to weigh in.\u00a0<\/p>\n Steven DeKnight<\/strong>, whose credits include the series Spartacus<\/em>, Smallville<\/em>, and the film Pacific Rim: Uprising<\/em> tweeted that \u201cthe DGA sadly continues to toe the line, knowing that they can draft off of the WGA\u2019s resolve to strike for a truly historic deal. Disappointing, but not surprising.\u201d Amy Berg<\/strong>, whose credits include Tom Clancy\u2019s Jack Ryan<\/em> and Warrior Nun<\/em>, tweeted that \u201cthe DGA was able to use the power of the WGA\u2019s labor action to secure a deal that works for them\u201d and added: \u201cWe proposed a number of these terms\u2026 before the AMPTP cut off negotiations in order to hand a deal to the DGA. They will continue to not speak to us, offering them next to SAG. But we have needs in areas they don\u2019t, and will secure a deal that works for us. This isn\u2019t it.\u201d<\/p>\n It all gets very complex because many Hollywood creators are members of both groups. The WGA, however, does have concerns that are less germane to the other unions, like the introduction of \u201cmini-rooms<\/a>\u201d in the development of (predominantly) streaming television shows.\u00a0<\/p>\n Thunder Levin<\/strong>, a writer on most of the Sharknado<\/em> pictures and director of Mutant Vampire Zombies from the \u2018Hood<\/em>, put the day\u2019s ambiguity into a tweet<\/a> that read, \u201cAs a director, I’m glad to hear negotiations were fruitful.\u00a0 As a writer, I fear this means the strike will last a long time, though we’ll have to see what the actors do\u2026”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n