The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment
guild
A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...
that represents the interests of
film and
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
directors in the United States
motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merged with the
Radio and Television Directors Guild in 1960 to become the modern Directors Guild of America.
Overview
As a union that seeks to organize an individual profession, rather than multiple professions across an industry, the DGA is a
craft union
Craft unionism refers to a model of trade unionism in which workers are organised based on the particular craft or trade in which they work. It contrasts with industrial unionism, in which all workers in the same industry are organized into the sa ...
. It represents directors and members of the directorial team (assistant directors,
unit production manager
In the cinema of the United States, a unit production manager (UPM) is the Directors Guild of Americaβapproved title for the top below-the-line staff position, responsible for the administration of a feature film or television production. Non- ...
s,
stage managers, associate directors,
production associates, and
location manager
The location manager is a member of the film crew responsible for finding and securing locations to be used, obtaining all fire, police and other governmental permits, and coordinating the logistics for the production to complete its work. They a ...
s (in New York and Chicago)); that representation includes all sorts of media, such as film, television, documentaries, news, sports, commercials and
new media
New media describes communication technologies that enable or enhance interaction between users as well as interaction between users and content. In the middle of the 1990s, the phrase "new media" became widely used as part of a sales pitch for ...
.
The guild has various training programs whereby successful applicants are placed in various productions and can gain experience working in the film or television industry.
, the guild had more than 18,000 members.
The DGA headquarters are on
Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in ...
in
Hollywood, with satellite offices in New York and Chicago and coordinating committees in San Francisco, Chicago, and London.
Composition
According to DGA's Department of Labor records, the guild's reported membership classifications currently account for 1,532 "retirees" (about 10% of total membership), 323 "suspended" members (2%), and 5 "life" members (<1%), compared to 13,577 "active" members. "Suspended" members pay dues but are ineligible to vote in the union. DGA contracts also cover some non-members, known as
agency fee An agency shop is a form of union security agreement where the employer may hire union or non-union workers, and employees need not join the union in order to remain employed.Pynes, Joan. ''Human Resources Management for Public and Nonprofit Organi ...
payers. These non-members currently number 172, or about 1% of the size of the union's membership.
Membership
The DGA site lists the following for membership:
Membership categories are:
*Director: Feature/Television
*Director: Commercial, Documentary, Low Budget Feature, Staff, Segment
*Unit Production Manager
*1st Assistant Director
*2nd Assistant Director
*AD/UPM Low Budget
*Associate Director
*Stage Manager
*AD/SM Low Budget
*Production Associate (West)
*Program Production Assistant (East)
Membership initiation fees in 2022 ranged from $200 for a Production Associate to $13,416 for a feature director.
The DGA site listed the following for dues in 2022:
Labor agreements
The agreements signed between the guild and film and television production companies make various stipulations covering pay and working conditions for guild members and require that all those employed in the relevant fields on a film made by that company are guild members. Guild members are generally prevented from working for companies that have not signed an agreement with the DGA. This sometimes leads production companies that have no such agreement to form new companies, purely for the purpose of making a particular film, which do then sign an agreement with the DGA.
The Guild enters into negotiations with the
AMPTP, the organization that represents the studios, networks and production companies, approximately every three years to update and renew the Basic Agreement and the Freelance Live and Tape Television Agreement, the DGA's two major agreements. The DGA negotiates minimum compensation levels that must be paid by the companies. Many DGA members have agents who may negotiate rates above the minimums for their clients. The DGA agreements also secure
residual payments for the reuse of members' work in film, television and new media.
Other than wages and basic working conditions, the DGA has a particular role in protecting the creative rights of film and TV directors. Such protections that the guild provides include defining the director's role, ensuring, with examples, the principle of "one director to a picture" and the right to prepare a
director's cut or edit. Generally, each of these protections is to help offset the power that producers can have over a director during the film-making process.
DGA Awards
The DGA hosts the annual DGA Awards, an important precursor to the Academy Awards. In its 69-year history, the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film has been a near perfect barometer for both the Best Director, and in some cases, the Best Picture Academy Award. Only seven times has the DGA Award winner not won the corresponding Best Director Academy Award. Honorees are awarded with a statue manufactured by
Society Awards
Society Awards is an American company best known for designing and manufacturing high-profile entertainment industry awards, including the Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, GLAAD Media Award, and YouTube Creator Awards, among others.
History
Societ ...
.
Credits
The rule that a film can only have one single director was adopted to preserve the continuity of a director's vision and to avoid producers and actors lobbying for a director's credit, or studios hiring multiple directors for a single film or television episode.
The rule is waived only for directorial teams recognized by the DGA who have a history of working together and sharing a common vision. Examples include
The Wachowskis
Lana Wachowski (born June 21, 1965, formerly known as Larry Wachowski) and Lilly Wachowski (born December 29, 1967, formerly known as Andy Wachowski) are American film and television directors, writers and producers. The sisters are both trans ...
,
Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris
Jonathan Dayton (born July 7, 1957) and Valerie Faris (born October 20, 1958) are a team of American film and music video directors who received critical acclaim for their feature film directorial debut, '' Little Miss Sunshine'' (2006). Later t ...
,
Hughes brothers
Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes (born April 1, 1972), known together professionally as the Hughes brothers, are American film directors and producers. The pair, who are twins, are known for co-directing visceral, and often violent, movies, inclu ...
,
Russo Brothers
Anthony Russo (born February 3, 1970) and Joseph Russo (born July 18, 1971), collectively known as the Russo brothers (), are American directors, producers, and screenwriters. They direct most of their work together. They are best known for dir ...
,
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
Philip Lord (born 12 July 1975) and Christopher Miller (born 23 September 1975) are an American filmmaking duo. After a meeting at Dartmouth College, they are known for creating the adult animated sitcom ''Clone High'' (2002β2003), directing an ...
and the
Coen brothers
Joel Daniel Coen (born November 29, 1954) and Ethan Jesse Coen (born September 21, 1957),State of Minnesota. ''Minnesota Birth Index, 1935β2002''. Minnesota Department of Health. collectively known as the Coen brothers (), are American film ...
.
[ The Coens for years divided credit, with Ethan taking producing credit, Joel taking directing credit, and both of them sharing the writing credit (even though the two of them shared all three duties between themselves) until '' The Ladykillers'' in 2004.
An example of the DGA refusing to recognize a directorial team was ]Robert Rodriguez
Robert Anthony Rodriguez (; born June 20, 1968) is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 ac ...
and Frank Miller
Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book writer, penciller and inker, novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on ''Daredevil'' and subsequen ...
for ''Sin City
''Sin City'' is a series of neo-noir comics by American comic book writer-artist Frank Miller. The first story originally appeared in ''Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special'' (April 1991), and continued in ''Dark Horse Presents'' #51β ...
''; they were rejected because they had never worked together before; Rodriguez quit the DGA so that Miller would share director's credit.[
For the film '']Bohemian Rhapsody
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth album, '' A Night at the Opera'' (1975). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, the song is a six-minute suite, notable for its lack o ...
'', director Bryan Singer
Bryan Jay Singer (born September 17, 1965) is an American filmmaker. He is the founder of Bad Hat Harry Productions and has produced almost all of the films he has directed.
After graduating from the University of Southern California, Singer ...
was fired due to frequent absences and clashing on the set, with Dexter Fletcher
Dexter Fletcher (born 31 January 1966) is an English film director and actor. He has appeared in Guy Ritchie's ''Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'', as well as in television shows such as the comedy drama '' Hotel Babylon'' and the HBO serie ...
replacing him with two weeks left of filming. Singer still received director credit and Fletcher received executive producer credit.
In the past, the DGA has also engaged in disputes with the Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is the joint efforts of two different US labor unions representing TV and film writers:
* The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), headquartered in New York City and affiliated with the AFLβCIO
* The Writers Gu ...
(WGA) over possessory credit A possessory credit in filmmaking is the use of a film credit which gives primary artistic recognition to a single person, usually (but not always) the film's director. Examples include "A Stanley Kubrick film" ('' The Shining''), "A film by Quent ...
s, first used in the 1915 film ''The Birth of a Nation
''The Birth of a Nation'', originally called ''The Clansman'', is a 1915 American silent epic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 novel and play ''The Clan ...
''. The WGA tried to limit possessory credits to writers, but has always been successfully opposed by the DGA, leaving directors free to try to negotiate such credits if they wish.[''Directors Guild of America Magazine'']
Possessory Credit Timeline
, 28(6), February 2004
Non-member directors
Not all Hollywood directors are DGA members. Notable exceptions include George Lucas and Robert Rodriguez
Robert Anthony Rodriguez (; born June 20, 1968) is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 ac ...
. Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, dark humor, non-linear storylines, cameos, ensembl ...
directed six feature film
A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...
s before becoming a DGA member, in 2012. Those who are not members of the guild are unable to direct for the larger movie studios, which are signatories to the guild's agreements that all directors must be guild members.
Leadership
The following are the past Presidents of the Screen Directors Guild and the DGA:
* 1936β1938 King Vidor
King Wallis Vidor (; February 8, 1894 β November 1, 1982) was an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter whose 67-year film-making career successfully spanned the silent and sound eras. His works are distinguished by a vivid, ...
* 1938β1941 Frank Capra
* 1941β1943 George Stevens
George Cooper Stevens (December 18, 1904 β March 8, 1975) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer.Obituary '' Variety'', March 12, 1975, page 79. Films he produced were nominated for the Academy Award for ...
* 1943β1944 Mark Sandrich
Mark Sandrich (born Mark Rex Goldstein; October 26, 1900 β March 4, 1945) was an American film director, writer, and producer.
Early life
Sandrich was born in New York City on October 26, 1900 into a Jewish family. His sister was Ruth Harr ...
* 1944β1946 John Cromwell
* 1946β1948 George Stevens
George Cooper Stevens (December 18, 1904 β March 8, 1975) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer.Obituary '' Variety'', March 12, 1975, page 79. Films he produced were nominated for the Academy Award for ...
* 1948β1950 George Marshall
George Catlett Marshall Jr. (December 31, 1880 β October 16, 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Chief of Staff of the US Army under Pre ...
* 1950β1951 Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Joseph Leo Mankiewicz (; February 11, 1909 β February 5, 1993) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Mankiewicz had a long Hollywood career, and won both the Academy Award for Best Director and the Academy Award for Best A ...
* 1951β1959 George Sidney
George Sidney (October 4, 1916May 5, 2002) was an American film director and producer who worked primarily at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. His work includes cult classics '' Bye Bye Birdie'' (1963) and ''Viva Las Vegas'' (1964). With an extensive backgr ...
* 1959β1961 Frank Capra
* 1961β1967 George Sidney
George Sidney (October 4, 1916May 5, 2002) was an American film director and producer who worked primarily at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. His work includes cult classics '' Bye Bye Birdie'' (1963) and ''Viva Las Vegas'' (1964). With an extensive backgr ...
* 1967β1971 Delbert Mann
Delbert Martin Mann Jr. (January 30, 1920 – November 11, 2007) was an American television and film director. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film '' Marty'' (1955), adapted from a 1953 teleplay of the same name which he ...
* 1971β1975 Robert Wise
Robert Earl Wise (September 10, 1914 β September 14, 2005) was an American film director, producer, and editor. He won the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture for his musical films ''West Side Story'' (1961) and ''The Sound of ...
* 1975β1979 Robert Aldrich
* 1979β1981 George Schaefer
* 1981β1983 Jud Taylor
Judson Taylor (February 25, 1932August 6, 2008) was an American actor, television director, and television producer.
Early years
Born in New York City, Taylor graduated from the University of California, Berkeley.
Career
Taylor is perhaps best ...
* 1983β1987 Gilbert Cates
Gilbert Cates (nΓ© Katz; June 6, 1934 β October 31, 2011) was an American film director and television producer, director of the Geffen Playhouse, a member of Cates/Doty Productions, and founding dean of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Te ...
* 1987β1989 Franklin J. Schaffner
* 1989β1993 Arthur Hiller
* 1993β1997 Gene Reynolds
Eugene Reynolds Blumenthal (April 4, 1923 β February 3, 2020) was an American screenwriter, director, producer, and actor. He was one of the developers and producers of the TV series ''M*A*S*H''.
Early life
Reynolds was born on April 4, 1923, ...
* 1997β2002 Jack Shea
* 2002β2003 Martha Coolidge
Martha Coolidge (born August 17, 1946) is an American film director and former President of the Directors Guild of America. She has directed such films as ''Valley Girl'', ''Real Genius'' and '' Rambling Rose''.
Early life
Coolidge was born in N ...
β first female president
* 2003β2009 Michael Apted
Michael David Apted, (10 February 1941 β 7 January 2021) was a British television and film director and producer.
Apted began working in television and directed the '' Up'' documentary series (1964β2019). He later directed '' Coal Miner's ...
* 2009β2013 Taylor Hackford
Taylor Edwin Hackford (born December 31, 1944) is an American film director and former president of the Directors Guild of America. He won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for '' Teenage Father'' (1979). Hackford went on to direct ...
* 2013β2017 Paris Barclay
Paris K. C. Barclay (born June 30, 1956) is an American television director, producer, and writer. He is a two-time Emmy Award winner and is among the busiest single-camera television directors, having directed nearly 200 episodes of television ...
β first black and first openly gay president
* 2017β2021 Thomas Schlamme
Thomas David Schlamme (; born ) is an American television director, known particularly for his collaborations with Aaron Sorkin. He is known for his work as executive producer on ''The West Wing'' and ''Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,'' as well as ...
* 2021βpresent Lesli Linka Glatter
Lesli Linka Glatter (born July 26, 1953) is an American film and television director. She is best known for her work on the AMC drama series ''Mad Men'' and the Showtime series ''Homeland'', for which she's received eight Primetime Emmy Award no ...
DGA Director's Finder Series
The Director's Finder Series (or Director's Finder Screening Series), inaugurated in December 1998, provides for the screening of independent films with no U.S. distributor, and no previous TV or other distribution. Selected by a lottery, the films are screened in DGA theatres in Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Γngeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
and New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
to an audience of DGA members and invited potential distributors. Many films have been picked up by distributors via the series that may not otherwise have been spotted. The series was initiated by the DGA's Independent Directors' Committee, chaired by Steven Soderbergh, initially for U.S. films only, but later expanded to include Australian, Irish, British and New Zealand directors, via the International Association of English-Speaking Directors Organisation (IAESDO). By 2007, the series had screened more than 75 films.[ The DGA has collaborated with organisations such as the Screen Directors Guild of Ireland (SDGI) and the ]Australian Directors' Guild
The Australian Directors' Guild (ADG) is an industry guild representing the interests of film, television, commercials and digital media directors, including documentary makers and animators, throughout Australia. With its headquarters in Sydney ...
(ADG), which nominate one film to participate.
Australian entries, selected for the Finders Series Award by the ADG from a shortlist of four,[ include '' Boxing Day'' (2007), directed by ]Kriv Stenders
Kriv Stenders is an Australian writer, producer and director best known for the film '' Red Dog'' and the thriller film ''Kill Me Three Times''.
He started off directing music videos for many famous Australian bands, including Go Betweens, M ...
; and after a five-year lapse, Tony Krawitz's documentary '' The Tall Man'' (2012), and in 2014 Catriona McKenzie
Catriona McKenzie is an Australian filmmaker. She is known for her film ''Satellite Boy'' and television series '' Kiki and Kitty'' (written by Nakkiah Lui) and ''Wrong Kind of Black''. Her production company is called Dark Horse.
Early life a ...
's '' Satellite Boy'' was selected for the series.
Irish entries include Terry McMahon
Terry McMahon is an Irish director, producer, writer, actor and acting coach, best known for his roles in ''Batman Begins'' and '' Patrick's Day''.
McMahon was producer, director and writer for '' Patrick's Day'' for which he received many awa ...
's '' Patrick's Day'' (2014) and Ross Whitaker's ''Katie'' (2018).
Directors Guild Foundation
''Directors Guild Foundation'', founded in 1945, as ''Directors Guild of America Educational and Benevolent Foundation'' publishes the ''Directors Guild of America Oral History'' series, and provides an interest-free loan program, a ''Cognitive Wellness Program'', and flu shot clinics.
See also
* Alan Smithee
* Runaway production
Runaway production is a term used by the American Hollywood industry to describe filmmaking and television productions that are intended for initial release/exhibition or television broadcast in the U.S., but are actually filmed outside of the ...
* Stage Directors and Choreographers Society
References
External links
*
{{Coord, 34.097613, -118.362413, region:US_type:landmark, display=title
Entertainment industry unions
Trade unions established in 1936
Trade unions in California
1936 establishments in California