DGA/AMPTP Accord

The word is out, but no details: the Directors Guild of America has reached a new contract with the AMPTP. The only thing we're waiting to find out is how badly the WGA is screwed.

It will be interesting to see if the DGA members who are also WGA members will be happy with the results. In features, the director is likely to be in a position to negotiate a better than minimum deal, but there are only a relatively few feature writers in this position (if the Swamp Thing movie is ever made, Len is likely to see far more money from his creator's deal with DC than he will for the back end of his contract with Warner Bros. for writing the script.) That's why the WGA negotiations are so important for most writers.

OTOH, if the deal the DGA struck is so onerous, the WGA may not be willing to take the scraps offered. In that case, directors will find themselves putting their respective creative touches on 120 blank pages. It doesn't start with the director. It starts with the writer.