Directors and Hollywood studios are prepping for contract talks.
The Directors Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers Tuesday set early December as a tentative time frame for starting the official negotiations on DGA's new collective bargaining agreement. The current three-year pact expires June 30, 2017.
The two are already talking and will continue those discussions in the interim to define and refine issues before deciding the official start date of discussions.
The agreement covers TV shows and movies shot on film and covers directors, assistant directors and unit production managers and everything from salaries and holidays to director's cuts, looping, dubbing and credits.
For example, in the current contract, a director required to use a diving suit, mask or helmet to set up a shot more than 10 feet underwater gets $175 per dive, no maximum.
DGA had no comment on what those issues might be given that one thing DGA and AMPTP have already agreed on is that they won't comment until the next announcement about the talks.
Another point of agreement between the studios and DGA: They both oppose the FCC's new set-top box/app "unlocking" proposal, saying it could adversely affect the livelihoods of everyone who makes a living in the TV, film and music industries.
