Movie and television directors said Thursday that they were prepared to begin bargaining toward a new contract with production companies after the New Year holiday, a move that could realign Hollywood?s troubled labor front. The contract between the Directors Guild of America, which represents about 13,500 directors and associated production workers, and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, an industry bargaining group, is to expire on June 30. The talks can be expected to jolt striking screenwriters, who walked out almost six weeks ago after failing to reach a deal with the producers? alliance. Members of the Writers Guild of America West and the Writers Guild of America East had lobbied directors to stay away from the bargaining table while the writers were still trying to negotiate with the companies.
See "Directors Offer Talks, Compounding Writers? Plight", Michael Cieply, The New York Times, December 13, 2007