More than 50% of British directors say their residuals have fallen over the past five years, according to a new survey from Directors UK (DUK).
The survey of nearly 600 directors comes just a few months after the trade body wrote to six American media giants seeking greater royalties for its plus-8,000 member base, and will help DUK build its case.
DUK asked members whether the value of residuals or royalties they receive has changed over the past five years, with a hefty 17.1% saying it has “substantially decreased” and 34.2% saying “moderately decreased.” The combined 51.3% figure bested the 40.1% who said compensation has risen, while 8.6% said “no change.” At 39.2%, the percentage of those who say residuals decreased is lower for those who consider directing to be their primary occupation.
The figures were published in DUK’s UK Screen Directors (2025): A survey of earnings and contracts report. It found that nearly half of directors (48.8%) have attempted to negotiate a contract in the past five years, with 83.3% of those negotiations being successful. However, despite this apparent bargaining strength, 40.3% reported that their negotiation position has worsened over the past five years.
DUK has been seeking greater residuals and royalties from American media giants. When the body penned a letter to Netflix, Amazon, Disney, Paramount, Apple and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) last year, it raised the stakes by saying it could potentially withhold its members copyright from the streamers in future if they don’t come to the table and attempt to strike new deals. We understand this situation is still a live one. In 2023, the Directors Guild of America struck a “historic” deal with the AMPTP that saw directors handed a 76% increase in foreign residuals from the largest platforms.
Male-female disparity
DUK’s new research also shone a spotlight on a sadly unsurprising disparity between male and female directors.
Men make up nearly two-thirds (65.4%) of the UK director base, according to the survey, while at an average £55,000 ($68,000) per year male directors are paid 23% more than women. The gender disparity gets even worse among those who consider directing their only occupation (27.5%), which DUK said “suggests that women may face greater challenges in pursuing directing as a full-time career.”
Directors are also majorly over-represented by people who come from backgrounds “associated with the highest levels of privilege,” according to the survey. They do, however, have low job security. DUK said nearly 80% of directors feel their income is unstable, while last year their number of average working weeks dropped by six to 27 – likely impacted by the broader industry slowdown. Around one third (32%) of directors undertake non-paid creative work, such as developing new ideas or writing scripts, showing that a significant part of their working time is dedicated to invisible, unpaid labour, DUK said.
The survey was conducted by the Centre for Regulation of the Creative Economy based at the University of Glasgow. DUK said it “confirms a number of stark findings regarding a lack of sustainable employment practices, fair contracts and equitable pay structures as well as revealing the impact of the poor working practices directors face.”
English (US) ·