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DGA board backs AI deal, members vote

2 min read

12:41UTC

The Directors Guild board approved a four-year studio contract on 12 June; the members' ratification vote runs until 25 June, with AI footage rights at its centre.

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Key takeaway

The Directors Guild board backed an AI deal with no training ban; members ratify by 25 June.

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.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

The Directors Guild of America; the union representing film and TV directors; reached a deal with the major Hollywood studios covering how AI can be used in their work. The deal was board-approved on 12 June and members voted to ratify it by 25 June. The deal covers AI-generated footage; meaning studios can use AI to create or alter video; but it does not ban AI training on directors' work and does not pay directors residuals if AI uses their footage. Directors' union negotiators accepted this position; other Hollywood unions (the writers and actors) won stronger protections in their own deals.

What could happen next?

Precedent
The DGA deal's acceptance of AI footage rights without training ban or residuals sets a weaker template than the WGA and SAG-AFTRA precedents, potentially making it harder for other creative guilds to secure stronger terms in future rounds.

Source Landscape

This story draws on neutral-leaning sources

Primary parallel: The WGA (Writers Guild of America) 2023 deal, struck after a 148-day strike, is the only direct precedent for a Hollywood guild AI negotiation. The WGA deal prohibited AI-generated scripts being treated as source material and required human writers be paid if their work was used to train AI.

The DGA deal, reached without a strike and with no training ban or residuals for AI-generated footage, represents a structurally weaker settlement; directors accepted coverage of AI footage rights without the financial protections writers won.

Counter-parallel: The SAG-AFTRA 2023 deal required explicit actor consent for AI voice and likeness use, and included a residuals mechanism for AI-derived performances. The DGA deal covers footage rights but omits residuals entirely, placing it below both the WGA and SAG precedents in terms of financial protection; and the DGA negotiated in a stronger bargaining position (no strike).

The absence of residuals for AI-generated footage sets a precedent with direct financial implications for directors' long-term earnings. Residuals from streaming and rebroadcast currently contribute an estimated 15-20% of a working director's annual income.

A deal that covers AI footage rights without a residuals mechanism means directors have no financial share in the reuse value of their footage when AI systems build on it.

Sources:TrueUp / SkillSyncer

Mentions:Directors Guild of America →AMPTP →California →SAG-AFTRA →Sacramento →Los Angeles →Writers Guild of America →

First Reported In

Update #14 · The AI layoffs nobody is counting

TrueUp / SkillSyncer· 20 Jun 2026

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Causes and effects

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Directors settle Hollywood's AI fight weakest

The DGA board approval on 12 June advances the four-year AMPTP deal reached 9 June toward member ratification closing 25 June.

Occurred 9 Jun 2026

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This Event

DGA board backs AI deal, members vote

Hollywood is writing the private rulebook on AI-generated work that public legislation has not caught up to.

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