The Directors Guild of America board approved its four-year studio deal with the AMPTP on 12 June, the agreement reached on 9 June. The DGA represents film and television directors; the AMPTP is the trade body negotiating on behalf of the major studios. The members' ratification vote closes on 25 June, so the contract is approved by the leadership but not yet ratified by the membership.
The deal covers AI footage rights with no ban on training and no residuals when a director's work is used to train a model. That follows the template SAG-AFTRA accepted in its own AMPTP deal, which won digital-replica consent but no per-use royalty. Hollywood's unions are settling the terms on which studios may deploy AI faster than any statute, so the contract clauses agreed in Los Angeles this month will shape creative-sector AI practice well before the California bills moving through Sacramento become law.
