Directors Guild reaches tentative four-year contract with studios, capping TV actors from directing and boosting health funds

Deal terms revealed after board approval

The Directors Guild of America released the full terms of its provisional four-year contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on Friday, three days after a tentative deal was struck. The union's National Board voted unanimously to recommend ratification, sending the agreement to the full membership for a vote that is expected before the current pact expires on June 30.

We entered this negotiation with three main priorities: secure our Health Plan, protect jobs, and ensure that our members remain secure as AI continues to impact our industry. We succeeded in these areas and gained in many others.

Nolan, the union's president, said the four-year length was chosen to provide stability amid an industry contraction that has seen employment in television drop 35 percent and film directing jobs fall 8 to 12 percent in 2024 alone, according to earlier data he shared with The Hollywood Reporter.

Limiting multi-hyphenate hires

The most distinctive provision targets the practice of TV actors or other on-set personnel taking episodic directing slots without a directing track record. The contract states it will "preserve valuable episodic directing slots for career directors by limiting the number of episodes that can be directed by those who have no track record in directing and are already employed in other capacities on a scripted series." While it does not ban the practice outright, the language makes it harder for, say, a lead actor to secure a vanity credit. A recent example cited by Variety is Noah Wyle, star of "The Pitt," who directed an episode in its second season; Wyle had previous directing experience and would not necessarily be blocked, but the guild wants to ensure that genuine directing careers are not squeezed out.

The union also secured a labor bulletin forbidding employers and talent agents from explicitly excluding DGA directors from jobs that move outside the U.S. or Canada, and the parties agreed to form a committee to study how the DGA contract applies abroad. The move responds to the trend of American companies hiring cheaper non-union directors in territories like the United Kingdom.

Federal incentive push

Studio and streamer executives committed to personally lobby alongside the Motion Picture Association and unions for a federal tax incentive intended to bring productions back to the U.S. The DGA has long argued that an American incentive is necessary to compete with countries like the UK and Canada, where subsidies attract shoots that could otherwise employ DGA members.

Health plan and AI safeguards

Employer contributions to the health plan will rise by what the guild describes as the largest dollar increase in its history, while the cap on wages subject to contributions will also be raised to keep pace with health inflation. Wage and residual increases are in line with those obtained by the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA in their recent contracts.

On artificial intelligence, the agreement confirms that any footage generated by AI remains under the director's control, treated like material captured with a camera. Employers must give notice of AI training and be transparent about its use, mirroring provisions in the writers' and actors' deals. A new employer-funded skills enhancement program will help interested directors integrate AI tools into their work.

Ratification timeline

The membership vote must conclude before the end of June, when the current contract lapses. If ratified, the deal would run for four years and provide what Nolan called "stability and potential for growth at a moment when the industry has been experiencing contraction."