In a far, far cry from the severe strikes of three years ago, the studios and streamers tonight heaped nothing but praise and good will on the Hollywood guilds as the DGA became the final of the Big Three to approve a new four-year contract.
“The AMPTP congratulates the DGA on ratifying its new contract,” an Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers spokesperson told Deadline late Thursday as members of the Christopher Nolan-led Directors Guild of America “overwhelmingly” voted to ratify a longer than traditional deal. “This agreement delivers historic contributions to the guild’s health plan, meaningful wage and residuals improvements, and strong job protections,” the Greg Hessinger-run AMPTP added.
Despite initial opposition from the WGA, SAG-AFTRA and the DGA to anything more than a three-year deal, tonight big vote by the almost 20,000 members of the Director’s union is a smooth victory for the AMPTP in an otherwise rocky industry.
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Cutting and pasting from the scribes and actors agreements, the new DGA deal codifies big healthcare plan contributions, seeks to build in AI safeguards, and puts strict protections in place for professional small screen directors over actors and other stepping to the other side of the camera. There are also wages and residual increases in the new contract. Giving the C-suite gang the stability of a longer fixed deal, the new DGA contract contains a pinky promise that CEOs will lean on the Trump administration and Congress for a national Film and TV tax credit program “when it is strategically advantageous to do so.”
“With the spring 2026 bargaining cycle now complete, the AMPTP thanks the DGA, WGA, and SAG-AFTRA for their thoughtful and collaborative approach to negotiations,” the Alliance stated Thursday. “Together, we reached agreements that deliver substantial gains for guild members while supporting greater stability across the entertainment business. We are encouraged by the trust built throughout this cycle and look forward to building on that momentum to advance opportunity and shared success across our industry.”
The tentative DGA deal was revealed on June 9 after around a month of talks between the parties. Less than a week later, the Guild’s National Board of Directors unanimously voted to recommend ratification to the membership. Today, the majority of voting members said “Yes.”
Christopher Nolan
DGA
“Throughout this process, our focus was clear: protect our members, strengthen the Guild, and address the challenges facing our industry during a period of profound change,” DGA brass told members Thursday after ratification was achieved. “This incredible show of support from our membership for this new contract shows the strength of our unity and our solidarity.”
Unlike in a number of contentious past negotiation rounds, the DGA ratification today of the AMPTP deal finds the Guilds all signed off before their current contracts had expired. In the case of the DGA themselves, their current contract was set to end on June 30.
Following a few stops and starts, SAG-AFTRA reached a deal with the AMPTP on May. 2 The actors approved the deal in the early days of June. Going first for one-on-talks with studios and streamers, the WGA ratified its own deal with the AMPTP on April 24
