Christopher Nolan is a busy man.
When he’s not working on The Odyssey, a feature film adaptation of Homer’s epic poem, he’s tackling all the other challenges facing Hollywood as the new president of the Directors Guild of America.
The union’s 20,000 members are grappling with sharp declines in employment, the rise of artificial intelligence and the absorption of Warner Bros. into Netflix or Paramount, which portends threats to the consolidation of the streaming industry and the future of moviegoing.
“We have very serious concerns about how this is going to play out,” Nolan said in his first interview as DGA leader since being elected in September. “I think this is a very worrying time for the industry. The loss of a major studio is a huge blow.”
DGA will begin negotiations with major studios this spring. That contract expires on June 30, coincidentally two weeks before the release of “The Odyssey.”
Speaking to three reporters around a conference table at DGA headquarters, Nolan smoothly controlled the guild’s negotiating priorities, such as jobs, AI, and health care, while occasionally dropping “straightforward” sentences to hint at points of conflict.
“Frankly, we need to look at what kind of disconnect new models have created between production levels and overall consumer spending,” he said, warning that technological changes should not be used as an excuse for worker shortages. “That is completely unacceptable.”
He was a national of both Britain and the United States, a native of both cultures, and was diplomatic when necessary. He shot “The Odyssey” on location around the Mediterranean, but missed the opportunity to denounce President Trump’s proposed 100% tax on foreign films.
“I don’t know how the tariff system works,” he said cautiously. “Since President Trump started throwing these ideas around, I’ll be honest with you, there’s been a lot more serious discussion in the studio about how to improve the situation in America.”
The DGA has had prominent presidents since its inception. Frank Capra filmed “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” while playing the role. So is Joseph Mankiewicz and “All About Eve.” Nolan follows a succession of popular television directors, including Paris Barclay, Thomas Schramm, and Leslie Linka Glatter, who held their posts while also juggling day jobs.
When asked how he manages everything, Nolan said he has strong support from his staff, board and past DGA presidents.
“I see value in having a guild run by members who are actively working,” he said. “I’m ready to do everything in my power to solve it.”
Nolan, of course, is known as one of the great champions of the theatrical experience. But as chairman of the DGA, he primarily works in the television industry and represents a constituency that has struggled mightily since the demise of Peak TV.
Netflix’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. still needs to clear regulatory hurdles, raising concerns overall. Filmmakers fear the loss of a major distributor, while TV players face the prospect of HBO Max being integrated into the largest streaming platform.
DGA has not taken a position on the deal, but has been in discussions with both Netflix and Paramount, which is pursuing a hostile takeover of the studio.
Nolan, who has nine films in Warner Bros.’ library, said: “I’d like to know more about the details of how they manage these films.”
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos addressed concerns about the future of theaters, pledging to maintain the 45-day grace period. (DGA held out for 60 days.) Meanwhile, Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison offered to maintain a “healthy, traditional” time frame while expanding the combined studio’s theatrical output to 30 films a year.
“There’s encouragement, but it’s not the same as a promise,” Nolan said, making it clear that windows are not the main issue. “The theatrical window becomes kind of a clear symbol of whether Warner Bros. is going to operate as a theatrical distribution company or whether it’s going to be incorporated as a streamer. But the reality is that the issues on the television side and the streaming side are much more important to our membership.”
The DGA represents not only directors but also staff such as assistant directors, unit production managers and stage managers, who have already been hit hard by the decline in domestic production.
The decline was so severe that it attracted the attention of President Trump. No one in Hollywood wants 100% tariffs, but the hope is that President Trump’s attention will turn to federal production incentives on par with the generous rebates offered by other countries.
“The way we look at it is we want a stackable 25% federal rebate that can be combined with state rebates and compete with other parts of the world that are siphoning production out of the U.S. because they have good incentives,” Nolan said.
Nolan was quick to admit that the decline in employment was not primarily due to foreign competition. Rather, he sees it as a function of changing business models, often to the detriment of DGA members.
“If you look at overall consumer spending on media, entertainment and our work, it’s been very stable,” he said. “But we’re looking at a 35% to 40% decline in employment for our members. How do you reconcile these things? What’s happening to investments? Why not reinvest in consumers? Because consumers are invested in our work and value our work very highly.”
“There are always ebbs and flows in production levels,” he said. “That’s understandable. It’s a reality that needs to be addressed. But we see too much of a disconnect between the level of investment that consumers are making and how that is filtered down to our members in terms of employment opportunities.”
Hollywood unions are all grappling with the threat of further job losses due to AI in their own ways. Disney’s recent deal with OpenAI, which allows Sora users to play with the company’s iconic characters, highlights that threat.
“I think this is a good thing in terms of establishing licensing principles,” Nolan said. “But until we see how that will be paid out to members of all three unions – which we don’t know at this point – that’s when these companies can get the backing of the guilds and show how creators can benefit from that kind of licensing opportunity.”
For DGA, AI also raises concerns about the integrity of the director’s vision. In the 1980s, unions fought against the conversion of black-and-white films into color. This fight for “creative rights” is central to the union’s mission and self-image.
“We have to have a say in how this tool is used,” Nolan said. “There are myriad issues around control of our work and how it is manipulated through AI.”
That discussion isn’t limited to AI, he says. Nolan said that as a movie consumer, he has noticed a change in the home theater experience. Viewers are increasingly watching movies on ad-supported platforms rather than watching them uninterrupted on DVD or streaming.
“The first time it’s broadcast into homes, it’s interrupted by commercial breaks,” he says. “Frankly, nothing like that has happened since the 1970s. Oddly enough, with this brand new technology, we’re kind of going back to that scenario.”
Many of these will be on the agenda when the DGA consults with the Motion Picture and Television Producers Alliance in May. Breaking with convention, the DGA will be the last of the year after SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America. Unlike the other two agencies, the DGA did not go on strike three years ago. There was no actual strike. However, we secured almost the same conditions.
All three face difficult conversations about basic labor issues, especially funding for health care plans. As is customary for DGA presidents, Mr. Nolan will not be a member of the negotiating committee and will not participate in day-to-day negotiations, but he will certainly participate.
“We have a responsibility to our members to not only look to the future and consider what innovation means and what will change, but also to remain calm,” he said. “We don’t want innovation to be just an excuse to pay our members less.”
