The Directors Guild of America has secured a provision in its new contract that limits actors on TV series from directing episodes, as it seeks to preserve jobs for career TV directors.
The provision is meant to address the 40% downturn in production jobs over the last four years, which has left a great many of the union’s 19,500 members out of work.
The DGA reached its tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on Tuesday. The terms — released on Friday — also include other provisions meant to protect members’ jobs, as well as increases in contributions to the health fund and in residuals, and new provisions on artificial intelligence.
According to a summary provided by the union, the contract “seeks to 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.”
A case in point might be Noah Wyle, the star of “The Pitt” who directed an episode in its second season, though Wyle has previously directed on other shows. The provision is intended to support career directors, while still allowing those who are serious about building directing careers to continue to work.
