Directors Guild talks intensifying
The lead negotiators for the Directors Guild of America are scheduled to meet today and discuss opening formal negotiations with the studios for a new contract.
The meeting of the DGA's negotiating committee follows two weeks of informal talks between DGA officials and studio executives to establish a framework and economic parameters for a deal that could determine when Hollywood goes back to work.
With the television industry largely shut down as a result of the ongoing writers strike, attention is turning to whether the directors and studios can forge an agreement over the biggest issue that divides Hollywood in its most contentious labor brawl in 20 years: how guild members will be paid when their work is distributed over the Internet.
The purpose of the early under-the-radar talks between the directors and studios is to sketch the broad terms of a pact that could lead to a speedy contract after official talks begin. Unlike the writers, the directors have had few labor disputes with the studios, and the two sides have a history of quickly settling new contracts.
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--Richard Verrier and Claudia Eller
