Directors Guild Pension Plan Sues MGM Pictures for Alleged Self-Dealing

[Omaha Steve]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/directors-guild-pension-plan-sues-mgm-alleged-self-dealing-1236633121/

The pay TV-slash-streaming arm of MGM, now called MGM+, allegedly inked a “sweetheart” licensing deal with its owner that shortchanged the union benefits plan.

By Katie Kilkenny June 29, 2026 1:15pm

Remember Epix?

That’s the pay TV company that launched in 2008 with the backing of MGM, Viacom and Lionsgate and released some original shows like Graves and Berlin Station. In 2017, MGM bought out its venture partners and became sole owner, two years later launching the streaming service Epix Now, which became a home for shows like Belgravia and Godfather of Harlem. In 2023 it was all rebranded as MGM+, which lives on as a stand-alone streaming service and pay TV channels today.

Now, the Directors Guild of America pension plan is unearthing some of this old streaming-wars history as it sues MGM Pictures for allegedly self-dealing in its licensing agreements with Epix and failing to make appropriate benefits contributions to the workers behind those shows. On Friday, the DGA-Producer Pension Plans and its trustees filed suit in California seeking records and pension plan contributions they say the company has neglected to provide for years.

Here’s how licensing payments connect to the DGA’s pension plan. The pension plan is funded in part by a percentage of revenue generated by employers like MGM for union projects. Accordingly, when MGM licenses one of its projects for distribution on, say, a TV channel or streamer, it must report that revenue and set aside a portion of it to pay into the pension plan.

FULL story at link above.