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Jacques Audiard’s musical thriller “Emilia Pérez,” Coralie Fargeat’s body horror “The Substance” and Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière’s epic adventure “The Count of Monte Cristo” have more in common than the fact that they’re directed by French filmmakers.

Despite being set in Mexico and Los Angeles, respectively, “Emilia Pérez” and “The Substance” both shot entirely in France, for the most part in studios in Paris.

France has been able to attract, host and retain a wide range of local and international productions, primarily thanks to its locations and crews, even if its tax incentives aren’t as competitive as in other popular filming destinations in Europe, such as London and Prague.

At a panel discussion at the American French Film Festival in Los Angeles, “The Count of Monte Cristo” producer Dimitri Rassam; Jay Roewe, SVP of production planning and incentives at HBO Max and Wbd; L.

Exclusive: Angel Studios, the crowdfunding studio behind titles like Sound of Freedom, is set to release The Last Rodeo, a new bull riding drama co-written, produced by and starring Neal McDonough (Band of Brothers), for Memorial Day weekend on May 23, 2025.

Directed by Jon Avnet (Fried Green Tomatoes) from his script written with McDonough and Derek Presley (Boon), The Last Rodeo‘s cast also includes Mykelti Williamson (Forrest Gump), Christopher McDonald (Hacks), Sarah Jones (For All Mankind), and Professional Bull Riding Champion Daylon Swearingen.

Neal and Ruvé McDonough

Pic shares the story of Joe Wainwright (McDonough), an aging retired champion bull rider, and his daughter Sally (Jones), who face a crisis that can only be solved by Joe entering and winning a bull riding competition. Joe must connect with a bull fighter and his estranged best friend of many years, Charlie Williams (Williamson), to enter the legends contest as the oldest contestant in history.

Exclusive: Veteran actor Mykelti Williamson has signed with More Medavoy Management for representation.

Known for his iconic role as Bubba in the Oscar-winning Forrest Gump, Williamson will next be seen in the Amazon feature Unstoppable, alongside Jharrel Jerome and Jennifer Lopez, produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. He most recently wrapped director Jon Avnet’s feature The Last Rodeo in the lead role of Charlie Williams – a former bull rider and bullfighter who steps back in the ring one more time. He’ll also appear in the Apple TV+ series Bonneville, opposite David Oyelowo.

His recent film credits include Mark Amin-directed Emperor, Butter with Mira Sorvino and The 24th, based on the historic Houston Riot of 1917, directed by Oscar winner Kevin Willimott.

Williamson also appeared in Blumhouse’s Don’t Let Go, directed by Jacob Estes and opposite David Oyelowo, Alfred Molina, and Brian Tyree Henry, as well as Saint Judy with Michelle Monaghan,...

Released Sept. 17, 2004, “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow” was a romance-tinged action adventure inspired by the same 1930s serials that inspired George Lucas and Steven Spielberg when they made “Star Wars” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Earning $58 million against a budget that at the time was reported to be $70 million, the film was considered a box office failure for Kerry Conran, the writer-director making his first film — and to date, his only one.

“As much as this film was a great thing for me, it was also a painful thing for me,” Conran told Variety during a recent interview.

The Flint, Michigan native was not the first filmmaker to employ a “virtual backlot” to tell his stories — notwithstanding Lucas’ use of digital pre-visualization and blue screen technology to make the “Star Wars” prequels, Kazuaki Kiriya’s “Casshern” preceded him, and Robert Rodriguez’ “Sin City” followed shortly afterward. But...

The recently released film adaption of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel “It End with Us” was a lot of things and has certainly gotten a lot of people talking. It’s unfortunate, however, that the most important subjects at its center — that of domestic violence and emotional abuse — have not been top-of-mind for most conversations regarding the film, but rather alleged personal riffs between star Blake Lively and director/co-star Justin Baldoni. When domestic violence and abuse have been discussed in reference to the film, it has typically been with criticism over how the film and its rollout have avoided more thoughtfully grappling with these themes, rarely reaching for a narrative that goes any deeper than a casual beach read.

In speaking on adapting Hoover’s novel for the screen in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Baldoni acknowledged his interest in focusing on how Lively’s character, Lily Bloom, overcomes her circumstances,...

The 1983 classic Risky Business is getting the Criterion Collection treatment with an upcoming 4K Uhd and Blu-ray release – and the list of special features reveals that this release will feature both the theatrical cut of the film as well as writer/director Paul Brickman’s director’s cut, which has the original, darker ending. That ending was available as a bonus feature on a previous Blu-ray release of Risky Business, but these Criterion discs will be the first to actually have a full, official “director’s cut” of the film on them.

Risky Business has the following description: A sly piece of pop subversion, this irresistible satire of Reagan-era materialism features Tom Cruise in his star-is-born breakthrough as a Chicago suburban prepster whose college-bound life spirals out of control when his parents go out of town for the week and an enterprising call girl (Rebecca De Mornay) invites him...

Fried Green Tomatoes, an acclaimed 1991 film, has found renewed success on Netflix's top 10 list. The film, based on the Fannie Flagg novel, includes was nominated for 2 Oscars. Despite being over 30 years old, Fried Green Tomatoes has resonated with audiences and deserves a rewatch, as it continues to captivate viewers on Netflix.

Oscar-nominated drama Fried Green Tomatoes emerges on the Netflix top ten decades later. Directed by Jon Avnet, the 1991 film tells the story of a downtrodden housewife who befriends a woman at a nursing home and becomes transfixed by the stories that she regails about her life. Fried Green Tomatoes features a leading cast of Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, Mary Stuart Masterson, Mary-Louise Parker, Cicely Tyson, and Chris O’Donnell.

Years after its release, Fried Green Tomatoes finds success again on Netflix’s United States top 10. Fried Green Tomatoes came in no. 9 on the United States Netflix top 10 chart for...

Trey Curtis, the actor-musician whose credits include numerous roles in various productions of Hamilton, will take on the lead role in the Lin-Manuel Miranda Broadway musical this month.

The Houston native will take over for Miguel Cervantes, whose final performance is January 7. Curtis becomes the sixth actor to take on the role since the musical’s 2015 debut.

Curtis has been associated with the musical since 2019, appearing as various characters in Hamilton stagings in Puerto Rico, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Toronto, Melbourne and Manila. He joined the Broadway cast last January as part of the ensemble and understudied most of the principal roles including Alexander Hamilton before going back out on tour.

Curtis’ early credits include Five Points, the Facebook series produced by Kerry Washington’s Simpson Street and Jon Avnet’s Indigenous Media. He performs and records his own music under the single name Trey, and he created his own Instagram series Revival Series.

Wolfgang Puck’s now-iconic Chinois on Main, which pioneered what came to be known as Asian fusion or Pacific Rim cuisine, has turned 40 this year. An entertainment industry haven since the day it opened in Santa Monica at the address of a former New Wave punk club, it’s since gone from radical to old guard. The restaurant’s starry clientele has ranged from Tom Selleck and Mike Ovitz to Gwyneth Paltrow and Frank Gehry (who is now designing Puck’s planned replacement of the oceanfront Gladstone’s restaurant along Pch).

Wolfgang Puck

Back in 1983, Angelenos first got a streetside sneak peek of Chinois in the months before its arrival, when the chef was buying a dozen ducks at a time from Chinatown wholesalers and blowing them up with a compressor at a gas station a few blocks down from Spago, the Sunset Strip restaurant that had earned him renegade...

In a memo to members on Wednesday, leaders of the Director’s Guild of America insisted that the studio deal it reached in June was a good one, despite growing criticism from members.

In the memo, first published by The Ankler, DGA leaders said:

“We are extremely proud of the contract we negotiated and you overwhelmingly ratified earlier this year. That’s why we’ve been discouraged to see a number of recent news articles and social media posts misrepresenting the extraordinary gains we made.

“The bottom line is that we negotiated an excellent agreement for our members which contains advancements impacting every category of member in our Guild, secures our economic and creative rights and prioritizes safety and diversity. Everything we won in our deal is focused on building for the future, adapting to the massive changes in our industry and making sure we can all continue to share...

The Directors Guild, which closed what it described as a “historic” deal with the AMPTP in June, responded Sunday to the WGA’s deal with the AMPTP.

“Congratulations to the WGA on reaching a tentative agreement tonight on behalf of their members,” according to the statement. “We have been proud to support the writers in their fight for a fair deal and look forward to reviewing the details of the agreement. Now it’s time for the AMPTP to get back to the table with SAG-AFTRA and address the needs of performers.”

A month after the WGA hit the picket line earlier this summer, the DGA reached a three-year contract with the studios that included wage increases and “a 76% increase in foreign residuals for the largest platforms.” At the time, the DGA said the new deal with the AMPTP “achieves major breakthroughs in addressing the international growth of the entertainment...

Exclusive: Haley Elizabeth Anderson has wrapped production on Jazzy Jumpers, a documentary she was tapped to direct for Indigenous Media, P&g Studios and A Seed & Wings Productions.

The film tells the story of the Brownsville, Brooklyn-based Double Dutch Team Jazzy Jumpers, headed up by Coach Toni Veal, watching as this group — which has, in recent years, attracted national media coverage — works to defend their World Championship title from their headquarters bordering a public housing complex.

This is the first project on which P&g and Indigenous have partnered, as well as the first feature to emerge from 60 Second Docs, the latter’s three-time Webby Award-winning label, which has to date put out around 1,000 short documentaries about the world’s most interesting and unusual characters. Anderson came to the film as an alum of P&g’s Queen Collective, a longstanding program developed in partnership with Queen Latifah, Flavor Unit Entertainment...

Lesli Linka Glatter has been re-elected president of the Directors Guild of America by acclamation of the delegates at the DGA’s Biennial National Convention in Los Angeles.

“I am thrilled to say we are as strong and united as ever before,” she said. “Together, we will continue our shared fight — along with SAG-AFTRA and the WGA — for an industry in which we are all fairly valued and celebrated for the work we do.”

“At this critical time for our industry, I am more committed than ever to our Guild’s mission of protecting the creative and economic rights of our members and working collaboratively both internally and externally on the issues affecting us all,” she said. “As we embark on the next chapter of our Guild, I’m elated to work alongside an incredibly talented, creative and diverse Board, all of whom generously volunteer their time to advocate for...

Justified: City Primeval is based on Elmore Leonard’s crime novel City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit and features the return of Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens. Once upon a time, Quentin Tarantino was rumoured to be attached to direct an episode or two of Justified: City Primeval, but how close did he actually get?

Quentin Tarantino is no stranger to the work of Elmore Leonard, as Jackie Brown was based on Leonard’s Rum Punch. Justified: City Primeval co-showrunner Michael Dinner knew that Tarantino had an interest in Leonard and told THR that they just decided to ask him if he wanted to do it.

“To be really honest, our intention was never to involve him in it,” Michael Dinner said. “And then, as we got the room together and we got the green light, we were saying, ‘Well, if he really did whisper sweet nothings in Tim’s ear,...

New directors contract will run from July 1 through June 30, 2026.

Update: A Hollywood directors strike has been averted after Directors Guild of America (DGA) membership ratified the new collective bargaining agreement with Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on Friday night (June 23) with an 87% vote in favour.

The deal, which concludes negotiations that ran from May 10 to June 3, approves a new contract that will last from July 1 of this year through June 30, 2026.

Meanwhile on Saturday SAG-AFTRA leadership posted a video saying ongoing talks with AMPTP were “extremely productive” and Guild president Fran Dreschler and national executive director and head...

New contract will run from July 1 through June 30, 2026.

A Hollywood directors strike has been averted after Directors Guild of America (DGA) membership ratified the new collective bargaining agreement with Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on Friday night (June 23) with an 87% vote in favour.

The deal, which concludes negotiations that ran from May 10 to June 3, approves a new contract that will last from July 1 of this year through June 30, 2026.

Meanwhile the writers are in the eighth week of their strike and Hollywood remains on tenterhooks as to the outcome of the SAG-AFTRA talks with AMPTP. SAG-AFTRA contracts expire...

The Directors Guild of America has formally ratified the new collective bargaining agreement that its leaders struck with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on June 4. The deal, which passed with the support of 87% of DGA members, officially ensures that the guild will not join Hollywood’s writers in striking this summer.

The three-year deal included a 76% increase in foreign streaming residuals for projects produced for the largest studios and streaming platforms. Other highlights included increased parental leave benefits and language stating that artificial intelligence is “not a person” and cannot replace directors on film and television projects.

“I’m proud to report that DGA members have joined together to ratify a new contract that will allow every Director, Assistant Director, Unit Production Manager, Associate Director and Stage Manager to share in the success of what we create,” guild president Lesli Linka Glatter said in a statement. “Our...

Members of the Directors Guild of America have overwhelmingly ratified a new film and television contract. The vote was 87% in favor to 13% opposed, with 6,728 members voting out of 16,321 eligible (41%).

Releasing the voting data is a break from DGA custom; it the past the guild would only say that contracts were ratified “overwhelmingly.”

“I’m proud to report that DGA members have joined together to ratify a new contract that will allow every Director, Assistant Director, Unit Production Manager, Associate Director and Stage Manager to share in the success of what we create,” said DGA president Lesli Linka Glatter. “Our new contract secures gains on wages, global streaming residuals, safety, diversity and creative rights that build for the future and impact every category of member in our Guild. The strength of our new contract is a testament to our Negotiations Committee Chair Jon Avnet, Negotiations Co-chairs Karen Gaviola and Todd Holland,...

The Directors Guild of America announced on Friday evening that its members have voted to approve its bargaining agreement with Hollywood studios.

Out of 6,728 votes received, 5,853 votes were in favor of ratification for a vote share of 87%. In a sign that more Hollywood creatives are getting involved with their unions, 41% of the 16,321 eligible DGA members voted, the highest turnout percentage ever for a DGA contract ratification vote and with an overall vote count higher than the 4,155 votes received by the Writers Guild during its 2020 ratification vote.

“I’m proud to report that DGA members have joined together to ratify a new contract that will allow every Director, Assistant Director, Unit Production Manager, Associate Director and Stage Manager to share in the success of what we create,” said DGA President Lesli Linka Glatter. “Our new contract secures gains on wages, global streaming residuals, safety, diversity and creative rights that build for...

Directors Guild of America members have voted to ratify the agreement that union negotiators struck with studios and streamers in early June.

Eighty-seven percent of the union voted in support of the deal in a referendum that ended on June 23, while 13 percent voted against it. Forty-one percent of the union’s 16,321 eligible voting members — a group that includes directors, assistant directors, unit production managers and stage managers, among others — turned out for the vote. The union framed this as a turnout level that “exceeded any prior DGA ratification vote.”

“I’m proud to report that DGA members have joined together to ratify a new contract that will allow every Director, Assistant Director, Unit Production Manager, Associate Director and Stage Manager to share in the success of what we create,” DGA president Lesli Linka Glatter said in a statement. “Our new contract secures gains on wages, global streaming residuals, safety, diversity...

Part of a series of accounts from striking Hollywood writers at different levels in their careers. The diarists have been granted anonymity to encourage candor. You can read previous entries by ‘Well-Known Creator’ and others here.

In addition to being a member of the WGA, I am also a member of the DGA and SAG-AFTRA. (Yes, this means I get all the screeners during the holidays. And yes, it also means I am pretty much insufferable.) The announcement this week that the Fran Drescher-led SAG-AFTRA turned in a Strike Authorization Vote percentage that eclipsed even that of the WGA surprised me deeply, and not only because, well, it’s the kind of guild that is led by people like Fran Drescher. No knock on the Nanny, but the actors who historically want to run their union tend to not be the giants in the field, but rather people like Andrea from Beverly Hills,...

Voting is now underway for the ratification of the new DGA film and TV contract. Members were sent ballots tonight along with the memorandum of agreement, as well as an executive summary of the new deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The tentative agreement was approved last night by the DGA national board, which unanimously recommended that members ratify it. Voting must be completed by June 23.

“In this new agreement,” DGA President Lesli Linka Glatter told members, “we were able to win many significant advancements, including a number of important industry ‘firsts’ including: essential protections regarding AI, terms and conditions in non-dramatic SVOD programs as well as high-budget AVOD programs, Feature Director compensation for ‘soft prep,’ expanded paid post-production for Episodic Directors, a new foreign streaming residuals structure based on subscribers, and banning live ammunition on sets. We also obtained critical improvements in wages, streaming residuals,...

The Directors Guild of America’s national board of directors has unanimously approved the tentative agreement reached by the guild’s negotiating committee late Saturday, a deal that aims to set parameters around the use of artificial intelligence and boost streaming residual rates.

With the board’s approval, the contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers will be sent to a ratification vote by DGA membership. The guild expects to send materials to its members this week.

“We set out to negotiate a contract that would build for the future. This is a significant deal with gains for every Director, Assistant Director, Unit Production Manager, Associate Director and Stage Manager,” said DGA president Lesli Linka Glatter. “Our industry is rapidly changing and expanding, and this agreement is what we need to adapt to those changes, break new ground and protect the DGA’s 19,000 directors and directorial team members today,...

The Directors Guild’s national board voted unanimously tonight to approve a tentative agreement for a new film and TV contract. The deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which was reached late Saturday night, goes this week to the guild’s membership for ratification with the board’s recommendation to vote “yes.”

Prominent members of the guild’s board include Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, 2nd Vice President Ron Howard and 5th Vice President Ava DuVernay.

The deal, which came on the 33rd day of the Writers Guild’s strike – and just four days before tomorrow’s start of SAG-AFTRA’s contract talks – includes significant pay hikes, a 76% increase in foreign residuals for the largest streaming platforms, and assurances that artificial intelligence cannot replace directors or their teams.

“We set out to negotiate a contract that would build for the future. This is a significant deal with gains for every director,...

The votes are in and it’s a landslide. A massive 97.91 percent of almost half of the members voted yes in the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) referendum to authorize a strike if the union’s upcoming contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) fails to reach its goals. The current contract expires on June 30.

The union’s president Fran Drescher said that “the strike authorization votes have been tabulated and the membership joined their elected leadership and negotiating committee in favor of strength and solidarity.” She continued, “Together we lock elbows and in unity we build a new contract that honors our contributions in this remarkable industry, reflects the new digital and streaming business model and brings All our concerns for protections and benefits into the now! Bravo SAG-AFTRA, we are in it to win it.”

This maneuver is not happening in a vacuum.

Guild cites “major breakthroughs” on wages/benefits, global streaming, AI.

The Directors Guild of America (DGA) said it has reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year collective bargaining agreement with Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

The Guild said in a statement on Saturday night the deal secured “major breakthroughs” in addressing the international growth of the entertainment industry and “significant gains” across key economic and creative rights while reaffirming the critical role of DGA directors and their teams.

The tentative agreement will be submitted to the Guild’s national board for approval at a special board meeting scheduled for Tuesday,...

In what has to be seen as a blow to solidarity with the writers who’ve been striking since the start of May 2023, the Directors Guild of America has reached a tentative agreement with the AMPTP that will avert a strike of its own.

The DGA’s new three-year collective bargaining agreement with the studios appears to satisfy the guild’s demands for appropriate compensation related to streaming residuals and the international distribution of their work, as well as offer new protections for creative rights (including against AI) and safety issues.

The deal still needs to be presented to the DGA’s National Board, but includes these highlights:

A 76 percent increase on international residuals for work created for the largest platforms, so that a one-hour episode will now pay out roughly $90,000 in residuals over the first three years. A new parental leave benefit. Terms and conditions set for directors (as...

The Directors Guild of America has voted on a tentative deal that would avoid taking strike action.

Variety reports that the DGA arrived at a tentative three-year labour deal with the Hollywood studios and streamers after what the outlet describes as “a bruising skirmish.”

In a statement, the DGA’s negotiating committee lauded the deal reached with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers as “a historic new three-year collective bargaining agreement.” The deal will be put to a vote on Tuesday.

Read More: Writers Strike Looks To Be A Long Fight, As Hollywood Braces

“We have concluded a truly historic deal,” said Jon Avnet, chair of the DGA’s negotiations committee. “It provides significant improvements for every director, assistant director, unit production manager, associate director and stage manager in our guild. In these negotiations we made advances on wages, streaming residuals, safety, creative rights and diversity, as well...

The Directors Guild of America said Saturday night that it had reached a tentative three-year labor deal with the Hollywood studios and streamers after a bruising skirmish.

The DGA negotiating committee described the deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers as “a historic new three-year collective bargaining agreement.” It will put the deal to its board on Tuesday.

A separate strike by Writers Guild of America members over the terms of their relationship with studios and streamers remains ongoing.

“We have concluded a truly historic deal,” said Jon Avnet, chair of the DGA’s negotiations committee. “It provides significant improvements for every director, assistant director, unit production manager, associate director and stage manager in our guild. In these negotiations we made advances on wages, streaming residuals, safety, creative rights and diversity, as well as securing essential protections for our members on new key issues like artificial intelligence...

The Directors Guild and the studios have reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract. The deal includes wage increases and “a 76% increase in foreign residuals for the largest platforms,” says the DGA.

The pact, which also addresses AI, comes on the 33rd day of the Writers Guild strike, and just four days before SAG-AFTRA sits down at the bargaining table with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers – and two days before Monday’s 5 p.m. deadline for SAG-AFTRA members to vote for or against strike authorization. Like the directors, the actors’ guild current contract with the studios expires on June 30.

In a late night statement, the DGA said the new deal with the AMPTP “achieves major breakthroughs in addressing the international growth of the entertainment industry and makes significant gains across key economic and creative rights while reaffirming the critical role of DGA directors and their teams.

After less than a month of negotiations, the Directors Guild and Hollywood’s top studios and streamers have struck a tentative deal on a new three-year labor contract.

The agreement between the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) includes gains in wages and benefits, streaming residuals, AI protections and more. (Full details are below.) Union leaders will need to lay out what they perceive to be the gains and compromises in the contract to members in the coming days before members ultimately participate in a ratification vote. There is no date yet for the ratification vote; the tentative agreement will be submitted to the DGA’s national board at a special meeting set for Tuesday.

The new deal arrives after the DGA and AMPTP spent all day Saturday at the negotiating table.

“We have concluded a truly historic deal,” said Jon Avnet, chair of the DGA’s negotiations committee.

Exclusive: With the clock ticking and writers out on the picket lines all over town, the Directors Guild of America and the studios are far from even the framework of a deal.

Two weeks into their negotiations, the Lesli Linka Glatter-led union and the Alliance of Motion Picture Producers and Television Producers haven’t “agreed on anything significant,” well-positioned sources say. Not entirely surprising at this juncture in the media-blacked-out talks, the reality of the situation extinguishes the rumor flying around town today that an agreement is close.

“There is a process, it takes time,” a high ranking DGA member told Deadline. “Everyone in the rooms is following [the process] in full knowledge of what’s happening on the picket lines.” Another DGA member added of the pickets and protests: “There’s a lot of noise outside,...

Negotiators for the Directors Guild of America on Tuesday gave a video preview of their upcoming talks with the studios, saying they are “fighting to receive our fair share of the new, global future.”

The DGA begins its round of bargaining on Wednesday with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The guild is focused on rewriting the streaming residual formula to account for the growth in foreign subscribers.

“The explosive popularity of streaming around the world has transformed how, and where, our work is viewed, and our contracts must adapt to changing production and distribution,” said Karen Gaviola, negotiations co-chair.

The DGA talks will begin on the ninth day of the Writers Guild of America strike. The negotiations will take place in the same AMPTP conference room in Sherman Oaks where WGA negotiators spent six weeks attempting to reach an agreement, before those talks collapsed on May 1.

So...

The Directors Guild of America has released a new video outlining its bargaining position on the eve its contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which get under way Wednesday. The video features Jon Avnet, chair of the DGA’s negotiating committee, and co-chairs Karen Gaviola and Todd Holland.

“Now that formal negotiations are beginning, you will hear from us less frequently,” they said in an accompanying message to the guild’s members (watch it here). “As you know, we don’t negotiate in the press. Contract negotiations can bring speculation and rumors that appear online or in the media.”

They also laid out their priorities “for a strong contract that treats us fairly and allows us to share in the success of an evolving entertainment industry,” which include:

Securing wage increases that address inflation. Maintaining the strength and sustainability of our world-class pension and health care plans.

On the eve of the start of contract negotiations, top dealmakers for the Directors Guild of America are telling members that their 2023 talks with studios and streamers “are about more than our next contract.”

“We know there will be conflict. The battle will test us. But we won’t rest until we win a strong contract today that builds a bridge to continued DGA prosperity into the future,” negotiations committee co-chair Todd Holland said on Tuesday in a video message to the union’s 19,000 members, a group that includes directors, assistant directors, unit production managers and stage managers.

Featuring Holland alongside negotiations committee chair Jon Avnet and co-chair Karen Gaviola, the video overviews top negotiations priorities this cycle and sets a serious tone for the upcoming talks. “Together, we are an unstoppable union. We’ve negotiated world-class contracts because we deserve them,” Avent said. Added Gaviola, “This year, our negotiations...

If Hollywood’s labor drama were a script, this would be the start of Act Two.

On Wednesday, as writers walk picket lines outside the major studios, the Directors Guild of America will sit down for its negotiations on a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

A deal — if they are able to reach one — could help resolve the writers strike. That’s what happened 15 years ago, when the Writers Guild of America was on strike and the directors went in for their contract negotiations. Leveraging the pressure of an industry-wide work stoppage that was in its third month, the DGA secured milestone agreements for unfettered jurisdiction over the internet and a residual formula for what was then quaintly known as “new media” exploitation of movies and TV shows.

The WGA then had the same terms baked into its 2008 contract through “pattern bargaining,” which ensures...

“Make no mistake: the current position of the studios is a threat to the economic model that for decades has protected tens of thousands of good, union jobs in our industry,” says Directors Guild of America president Lesli Linka Glatter today, one week after the Writers Guild went out on strike.

“Like many others, we had hoped the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers would reach a fair and reasonable agreement during the WGA’s negotiating window,” Glatter added in her statement this morning. “But despite six weeks of negotiations, the AMPTP refused to adequately address the writers’ core issues and concerns.” (See the full statement below)

The message early Tuesday from Glatter comes one week exactly since the WGA went on the picket lines for the first time in 15 years, and one day before the DGA is set to start their own negotiations with the AMPTP.

Exclusive: “This is about setting the course for the industry for the future,” said Directors Guild of America chief Lesli Linka Glatter today on the guild’s upcoming talks with studios and the WGA strike that started this week. “We’re in a team sport. We’re only as good as our teams.”

In the midst of the biggest labor action to hit Hollywood in over a decade and with Writers Guild picket lines up all over LA and NYC, the DGA are set to sit down with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on May 10 to begin their own contract negotiations. As of now, the DGA have not made public what their specific goals in those negotiations are.

Talks for the guild this year will be led by Jon Avnet with negotiation co-chairs Todd Holland and Karen Gaviola as the heads of an 80-person negotiating committee. Earlier this week,...

SAG-AFTRA, which starts its contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on June 7, is in “the same boat” with the Writers Guild as it strikes for a fair contract, SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland told a cheering crowd Wednesday night at the WGA strike rally at the Shrine Auditorium.

Watch his remarks here:

“I am here on behalf of the 160,000 members of SAG-AFTRA,” he told the roaring crowd of 1,800 writers after being introduced by WGA West president Meredith Stiehm. “I come bearing greetings from our national president, Fran Drescher, who not only is president of SAG-AFTRA, but a member of the Writers Guild.

“I’m also here to say on behalf of the 80 members of the national board who voted unanimously last weekend a resolution of strong support for the Writers Guild and your fight with the studios in Hollywood to make...

Hollywood labor presented a united front last night at the Shrine Auditorium in support of the Writers Guild of America’s ongoing strike, which is now in its third day. That included Hollywood’s Teamsters Local 399, whose secretary-treasurer and chief negotiator Lindsay Dougherty had the biggest mic-drop moment in front of the crowd of 1,800 WGA West members.

Duncan Crabtree-Ireland

As Deadline reported yesterday, Jon Avnet, chair of the Directors Guild’s negotiating committee, and Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, national executive director of SAG-AFTRA and its chief negotiator, both called for solidarity among Hollywood’s unions and guilds. It’s their respective groups’ turn in the bargaining barrel next: The DGA starts its contract talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers Wednesday, followed by SAG-AFTRA on June 7, and by the Teamsters and IATSE next year.

Avnet and Crabtree-Ireland both revved up the crowd, receiving rousing cheers and waves of applause.

Intermittent rain and quite a bit of wind did not appear to deter striking writers from again hitting picket lines throughout Los Angeles on Thursday, many of them galvanized by the previous night’s solidarity rally that drew over 1,800 Writers Guild of America members.

During that Shrine Auditorium gathering, the first of its kind since the strike was called on Monday, guild leadership spoke at length about the issues where the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers remained furthest apart.

“To hear leadership really talk about what it was like to be in the [negotiating] room and to hear the words from them was just mind blowing,” Susan Hurwitz said to The Hollywood Reporter on the Thursday picket line at Sony Pictures Studios. A writer-producer whose credits include The Tick and Preacher, Hurwitz also addressed the other unions — the DGA, SAG-AFTRA, IATSE — that have voiced their support of the writers.

The Writers Guild of America West held a rally Wednesday night to demonstrate solidarity with the other Hollywood unions in their collective contract battles against Hollywood’s major employers.

About 1,800 guild members attended the meeting at the Shrine Auditorium, and heard from WGA leaders about the reasons behind the two-day old strike. One of the stars of the show, however, was Lindsay Dougherty, the 39-year-old leader of Teamsters Local 399.

“We’re all sticking together,” Dougherty told Variety outside the event. “We have an opportunity to change things in this industry, and the only way we’re going to do that is if we’re together.”

The Teamsters have a contract in place through July 31, 2024, and so cannot join the strike. But under their contract, Teamsters cannot be disciplined for refusing to cross established picket lines.

“Every single truck that we know of has not crossed,” she said. It’s...

Updated with details of L.A. meeting: On the second day of the Writers Guild of America’s first strike in 15 years, the guild is holding big meetings on both coasts to detail for members how they got here, what’s going on, and what’s next.

Picket lines broke up earlier Wednesday as the WGA East met at The Great Hall at Cooper Union in NYC and the WGA West gathered at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The event at the former was set to kick off at 6 p.m. Et, while the packed meeting at the latter was set for 7 p.m. Pt. The Great Hall has a capacity of nearly 1,000, and former Oscars venue the Shrine can hold about 6,000 people.

Although the Great Hall meeting took a bit longer than expected to get started, the crowd clearly was fired up, according to sources at the venue.

“National Treasure: Edge of History” has been canceled at Disney+ after one season, Variety has confirmed.

Based on the “National Treasure” film franchise, Disney’s TV adaptation followed treasure hunter Jess Venezuela. After a stranger gives her a tip about a centuries-old treasure possibly connected to her father, she and her friends set out on the hunt. Lisette Olivera, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Zuri Reed, Antonio Cipriano, Jordan Rodrigues, Jake Austin Walker, and Lyndon Smith were among the cast.

In the season one finale, which aired in February, co-creators Marianne and Cormac Wibberley (who also wrote the first two films) closed the first installment unveiling a “National Treasure” twist. FBI Agent Hendricks (Armando Riesco) — who appeared in both “National Treasure” films and recurred on the series — revealed himself to be the Cras Est Nostrum’s Salazar, a generational title for wizard behind the curtain and had been secretly sabotaging Billie’s (Zeta-Jones) Treasure Destoyer hunts.

Michael Mann has a great script, and Warner Bros. has its head all the way up it.

Deadline has reported that a deal is close for a follow-up to Mann’s 1995 sleek L.A. cops-and-robbers epic, “Heat.” The project is based on the novel “Heat 2” that he and Meg Gardiner published last summer. Moreover, it looks like Adam Driver is in talks to play the criminal mastermind Neil McCauley, who was played by Robert De Niro nearly 30 years ago. The “Marriage Story” and “Star Wars” actor is, indeed, about a decade younger than De Niro was at the time, but “Heat 2,” following the path of the book, is both a prequel and a sequel. The novel was a number one New York Times bestseller.

While Driver is the only “firm attachment” for the not-quite-greenlit project, as per the trade outlet, word is that Ana De Armas is rumored to play...

Former Directors Guild presidents Paris Barclay and Thomas Schlamme have been named co-chairs of the DGA Outreach Team in advance of what the guild predicts will be “difficult” negotiations for a new film and TV contract, which are set to start May 10.

The guild says that the mission of the Outreach Team, which is which is made up of a broad cross section of DGA members, is to “support increased member engagement and awareness as we prepare for negotiations.” The DGA’s current contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers expires June 30.

“With their experience as former presidents of the DGA and their unrivaled knowledge of our industry, Paris and Tommy will serve as incredible representatives of our guild to our members as we prepare to win the best possible contract for our members,” said DGA president Lesli Linka Glatter. “With their guidance, the DGA Outreach Team is...

The Directors Guild of America is ramping up its member mobilization efforts ahead of its 2023 negotiations with the studios and streamers.

The union, which represents thousands of directors as well as unit production managers, stage managers and others, has appointed its former presidents Paris Barclay and Thomas Schlamme co-chairs of its new outreach team, current leader Lesli Linka Glatter said on Tuesday. This group, which the guild announced in early March, will focus on communicating negotiations updates to members and boosting their engagement and solidarity in the talks.

“With their experience as former presidents of the DGA and their unrivaled knowledge of our industry, Paris and Tommy will serve as incredible representatives of our Guild to our members as we prepare to win the best possible contract for our members,” Glatter said in a statement. “With their guidance, the DGA Outreach Team is ready to unite our 19,000 members to fight for our future.

The Directors Guild of America set a date with studios and streamers for its latest contract negotiations.

The union, which represents directors, assistant directors, unit production managers and others, will enter into talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on May 10, the AMPTP and the DGA jointly announced on Monday. The DGA’s current basic agreement expires on June 30.

Directors Guild leaders communicated the date in a message to its members on Monday that positioned the union’s focus going into negotiations as forward-looking: “The DGA has always protected our members’ future by anticipating where the industry is going, where future growth will take place and negotiating agreements that reap benefits now and more significantly, in the future,” negotiations chair Jon Avnet, co-chairs Karen Gaviola and Todd Holland and national executive director Russ Hollander wrote. “Today, this means addressing the impact of vertical integration and Company self-dealing...

The need for greater residuals and more diversity were some of the vital issues expressed by filmmakers tonight at the DGA Awards ahead of the guild’s talks with the AMPTP.

The DGA’s contract expires on June 30, the same day as SAG-AFTRA’s and two months after the May 1 expiration of the WGA’s contract.

Eric Appel — a first time nominee for the Roku movie Weird: The Al Yankovic Story — noted, on a personal level, that while he’s directed his fair share of television over the years and remembers “a time” when he was able to collect “a lot of residuals” for that work, revenue of the sort “does not really exist” when it comes to projects he’s taken on of late in the brave new world of streaming. “I definitely want [the industry] to just rethink how those residuals work, so it’s not one-and-done when you make your project,...

Directors Guild President Lesli Linka Glatter, speaking tonight at the 75th Annual DGA Awards, vowed that the guild will “fight like hell” later this spring to win a fair film and TV contract – and not just for current members, but for generations to come.

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“These negotiations are about more than just bargaining a strong contract for the next three years – they are about setting the course for the future of our industry,” she told the members, nominees and guests gathered in the main ballroom at the Beverly Hilton. “The DGA is prepared and ready...