Directors UK Demands Better Residuals from Streamers, Threatens Action

EXCLUSIVE: The battle for improved streaming residuals in the U.S. has at least partly been won but in the UK it is only just beginning.

Deadline can reveal that Directors UK (DUK), the body and collection society representing British directors, has written to Netflix, Amazon, Disney, Paramount, Apple and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) in the past few weeks seeking greater royalties for its plus-8,000 members. And in a move that raises the stakes, DUK’s letter said that the body could potentially withhold its members copyright from the streamers in future if they don’t come to the table and attempt to strike deals, we understand.

While Deadline has not seen the letter, we understand it has been doing the rounds in industry circles of late and could become a talking point at this week’s Edinburgh TV Festival. Netflix, Amazon, Disney, Paramount, Apple and WBD all declined comment.

DUK is asking for enhanced residuals for its members on UK streamer projects. Directors tend to get paid handsome sums for their work on these projects but DUK is understood to be making the point that directors deserve to be compensated further down the line via royalties, in line with improved streaming residual packages picked up by the writer, actor and director guilds in the U.S. last year. DUK, the UK broadcasters, Sky and producer trade body Pact already have a deal in place, by which DUK licenses its members copyright to Pact in return for royalties. No such blanket deal exists with the streaming services, and this is what DUK is targeting.

“It is a well-established principle that the director as a copyright owner is paid royalties,” said a spokeswoman for the body. “Directors in the UK, who we collect these royalties for, have asked us to ensure that the international streaming services align with UK television industry practice when producing here.”

As DUK collects copyright on behalf of its members, the body could withhold copyright from the streamers down the line if they don’t come to the table and negotiate, Deadline is told. We understand the streamers have been set a deadline for the negotiation and are currently considering the contents of the letter.

The DUK spokeswoman said it “wouldn’t be appropriate to comment on the detail of our consultation with the streaming services,” but she added that “making a living as a freelance director is increasingly challenging and royalties play a vital role in making a directing career sustainable.”

DUK is not the only British TV and film org seeking improved residuals. As Deadline revealed several weeks back, actors union Equity is demanding improved secondary payments in its current contract negotiations with Pact. Equity had initially threatened strike action, although that possibility has now diminished. Meanwhile, the Writers Guild of Great Britain recently struck a first-of-its-kind deal with Netflix and an improved residuals deal with the BBC.

In the U.S., and unlike its writer and actor counterparts, the Directors Guild of America struck a “historic” deal with the AMPTP without requiring strike action, which saw directors handed a 76% increase in foreign residuals for the largest platforms, amongst other things.