Possibly setting some kind of record for speed, the Directors Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have a three-year deal after just five days of official negotiations, reports the WSJ, citing people “close to the talks.” The DGA contract has been suggested as a way to move along the stalled WGA talks, the idea being to let the lower-key negotiations take place first and possibly use the results as a template for the writers.

Update: The DGA and AMPTP describe the deal as “tentative” in a just-released announcement. The agreement includes:

-- increases in wages and residual bases each year.

-- DGA jurisdiction over programs produced for distribution over the internet. Exceptions: low-budget originals with costs of less than $15,000 per minute, $300,000 per program or $500,000 per series—whichever is lowest.

-- a new formula for residuals for paid internet residual downloads that “essentially doubles the rate currently paid by employers.” The TV rate is doubled; the feature film rate is increased by 80 percent. That works out to .70 percent tor TV downloads and .65 percent for features, above a certain number of downloads. (the threshold is 100,000 for television, 50,000 for films.) Below that, the current formulas stick. The release states: “The companies are now contractually obligated to give us unfettered access to their deals and data.”

-- residual rates for ad-supported streaming and use of clips online. The studios get a 17-day free promo window for streaming; 24 days for the first season to “build audience.’ After that, companies must pay 3 percent of the residual base—about $600 for a one-hour prime-time drama—for 26 weeks of streaming. Another 26 weeks requires a similar payment, anything after that would get 2 percent of the distributor’s gross.

-- a sunset clause for new media so doesn’t set a precedent for either side.

DGA speaks: Top DGA negotiator Gil Cates:  “Two words describe this agreement - groundbreaking and substantial. The gains in this contract for directors and their teams are extraordinary – and there are no rollbacks of any kind.” DGA President Michael Apted: After real give and take, “we managed to produce an agreement that enshrines the two fundamental principles we regard as absolutely crucial to any employment and compensation agreement in this digital age: First, jurisdiction is essential. Without secure jurisdiction over new-media production—both derivative and original—compensation formulas are meaningless. Second, the Internet is not free.

What next?: The agreement will be submitted to the DGA board Jan. 26 during its regular meeting; the current contract expires June 30.

AMPTP joint statement: “The agreement between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the Directors Guild of America establishes an important precedent:  Our industry’s creative talent will now participate financially in every emerging area of new media. ... We hope that this agreement with DGA will signal the beginning of the end of this extremely difficult period for our industry.” Ther statement continues with an invitation to the WGA for a series of “informal discussions” similar to those with the DGA.

Sidenote: Type AMPTP or WGA into Google (NSDQ: GOOG) and you get a sponsored link ad from FT.com promising “Breaking Articles About the Ongoing Writer’s Strike.” DGA brings up a security system.

Update: NYT: “Over all, the agreement — which also increases minimum compensation rates and other gains for the union — was designed to reflect the directors’ belief, bolstered by an independent study of industry economics, that digital media will render the companies a negligible amount of revenue during the life of the contract. In the directors’ opinion, digital media revenues will become significant only after 2010.” The deal postpones the fight. The NYT says the execs balked at the “relatively rich payout” but agreed on condition that it isn’t a precedent.