Directors, Studio Heads to Discuss Contract Talks

The Directors Guild of America’s board agreed over the weekend to hold talks with studio chiefs to see if the two sides can start negotiations on a contract to replace one expiring June 30.

The studios’ Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers has asked directors to start early to avoid the kind of production slowdowns that occurred this year stemming from uncertainties over the 11th-hour negotiations involving writers and actors.

Separately, director Gil Cates was named to head the guild’s negotiating committee, with Martha Coolidge and John Frankenheimer chairing the guild’s creative rights committee.