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{{Short description|Film and television trade union}}{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2021}}

factoids

WEBSITE=ABOUT ARCHIVE-DATE=AUGUST 3, 2023 URL-STATUS=LIVE, HTTPS://DEADLINE.COM/2021/09/LESLI-LINKA-GLATTER-ELECTED-DGA-PRESIDENT-SECOND-WOMAN-TO-HOLD-POST-1234839193/ >TITLE=LESLI LINKA GLATTER ELECTED DGA PRESIDENT; SECOND WOMAN TO HOLD POST DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD >DATE=SEPTEMBER 18, 2021 LAST=ROBB ARCHIVE-DATE=SEPTEMBER 19, 2021 URL-STATUS=LIVE, }}The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television 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.WEB, Amy, Dawes,www.dga.org/Craft/DGAQ/All-Articles/1101-Spring-2011/Feature-RTDG-SDG-Merger.aspx, A More Perfect Union, DGA Quarterly, 2011, May 5, 2016, August 14, 2017,web.archive.org/web/20170814020203/https://www.dga.org/Craft/DGAQ/All-Articles/1101-Spring-2011/Feature-RTDG-SDG-Merger.aspx, live,

Overview

{{thumb|content={{center|Total membership (US records)OLMS, 000-018, }}{hide}Graph:Chart {edih}

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{{center|Finances (US records; ×$1000)}}{hide}Graph:Chart







{edih}|caption={{legend0|red|Assets}} {{legend0|blue|Liabilities}} {{legend0|green|Receipts}} {{legend0|orange|Disbursements}}}}As a union that seeks to organize an individual profession, rather than multiple professions across an industry, the DGA is a craft union. It represents directors and members of the directorial team (assistant directors, unit production managers, stage managers, associate directors, production associates, and location managers (in New York and Chicago{{citation needed|date=February 2013}})); that representation includes all sorts of media, such as film, television, documentaries, news, sports, commercials and new media.{{citation needed|date=February 2013}}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.{{As of|2020}}, the guild had more than 18,000 members. The DGA headquarters are on Sunset Boulevard 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 payers. These non-members currently number 172, or about 1% of the size of the union’s membership.OLMS, 000-018, 547751, LM2Form, March 27, 2014,

Membership

The DGA site lists the following for membership:WEB,www.dga.org/The-Guild/Departments/Membership/Joining-the-DGA.aspx, The Guild / Departments, January 29, 2022, January 29, 2022,web.archive.org/web/20220129082050/https://www.dga.org/The-Guild/Departments/Membership/Joining-the-DGA.aspx, live, {{Blockquote| text = Upon the DGA’s receipt of a deal memo or commercial project listing form (“CPLF“) from a DGA signatory Employer which confirms your bona fide employment in a DGA-covered category, you will be sent an application for membership which will include your required initiation fee and other information. The DGA does not provide applications for membership upon request.Your membership in the DGA is subject to approval by your category Council. Applications for membership are submitted to the appropriate Council upon submission of a completed application form and payment of the requisite initiation fee. The DGA membership application form requires endorsements from three members within your application category, your resume and brief biography, your home address and other contact information. Your application must be notarized. | author =| title =| source = Joining the DGA| character =| multiline =| class =| style =}}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:WEB,www.dga.org/The-Guild/Departments/Dues.aspx, The Guild / Departments, January 29, 2022, January 29, 2022,web.archive.org/web/20220129082934/https://www.dga.org/The-Guild/Departments/Dues.aspx, live, {{Blockquote12}} %) of a member’s reported gross earnings from employment in all Guild categories, provided that such dues are payable only on gross annual income between $10,000 and $300,000. In addition to basic and percentage dues, members also pay an additional one percent (1%) of the total residuals they receive in connection with employment under a DGA collective bargaining agreement| author =| title =| source =DGA Dues| character =| multiline =| class =| style =}}

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.{{citation needed|date=December 2011}}The Guild enters into negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the organization that represents the studios, networks and production companies, approximately every three years to update and renew the Basic AgreementWEB, DGA Basic Agreement,www.dga.org/Contracts/~/link.aspx?_id=6B7DE45B1B574AB1899BA5389970BE10&_z=z, DGA Website, March 10, 2017, March 12, 2017,web.archive.org/web/20170312061341/https://www.dga.org/Contracts/~/link.aspx?_id=6B7DE45B1B574AB1899BA5389970BE10&_z=z, live, and the Freelance Live and Tape Television Agreement,WEB, DGA Freelance Live and Tape Television Agreement,www.dga.org/Contracts/~/link.aspx?_id=C27188594F7B45069C3855150BD7B7AE&_z=z, DGA Website, March 10, 2017, March 12, 2017,web.archive.org/web/20170312054548/https://www.dga.org/Contracts/~/link.aspx?_id=C27188594F7B45069C3855150BD7B7AE&_z=z, live, 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.{{citation needed|date=February 2013}} 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.WEB, King, Susan, January 9, 2012, Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese receive nominations for DGA Award,www.latimes.com/archives/blogs/24-frames/story/2012-01-09/woody-allen-martin-scorsese-receive-nominations-for-dga-award, June 4, 2023, Los Angeles Times, en-US, June 4, 2023,web.archive.org/web/20230604093448/https://www.latimes.com/archives/blogs/24-frames/story/2012-01-09/woody-allen-martin-scorsese-receive-nominations-for-dga-award, live, 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.WEB, Feinberg, Scott, January 29, 2012, With DGA Win, ‘The Artist’ and Its Artist Look Virtually Unstoppable at Oscars (Analysis),www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/dga-win-artist-artist-look-285474/, June 4, 2023, The Hollywood Reporter, en-US, June 4, 2023,web.archive.org/web/20230604093448/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/dga-win-artist-artist-look-285474/, live, Honorees are awarded with a statue manufactured by Society Awards.

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, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, Hughes brothers, Russo Brothers, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and the Coen brothers. 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 and Frank Miller for Sin City; 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, director Bryan Singer was fired due to frequent absences and clashing on the set, with Dexter Fletcher 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 (WGA) over possessory credits, first used in the 1915 film The Birth of a Nation. 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 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080808140045www.dga.org/news/v28_6/news_pc-timeline.php3 |date=August 8, 2008 }}, 28(6), February 2004

Non-member directors

Not all Hollywood directors are DGA members. Notable exceptions include George Lucas and Robert Rodriguez. Quentin Tarantino directed six feature films before becoming a DGA member, in 2012.“Membership Report - West Coast Additions” {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328143934www.dga.org/News/DGAMonthly.aspx |date=March 28, 2012 }} DGA Monthly Magazine, January 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.NEWS, Engber, Daniel, April 8, 2005, Why Not Quit the Directors Guild? What Robert Rodriguez can and can’t do, Slate (magazine), Slate,www.slate.com/id/2116501, December 9, 2011, August 5, 2011,www.slate.com/id/2116501/," title="web.archive.org/web/20110805122735www.slate.com/id/2116501/,">web.archive.org/web/20110805122735www.slate.com/id/2116501/, live,

Leadership

File:Directors Guild of America HQ.jpg|thumb|upright|Directors Guild of America building on Sunset BoulevardSunset Boulevard(File:DGA 110 W57 St jeh.jpg|thumb|DGA building, Midtown Manhattan)The following are the past Presidents of the Screen Directors Guild and the DGA:{{citation needed|date=February 2013}}{{div col|colwidth=20em}}

• 1936–1938 King Vidor
• 1938–1941 Frank Capra
• 1941–1943 George Stevens
• 1943–1944 Mark Sandrich
• 1944–1946 John Cromwell
• 1946–1948 George Stevens
• 1948–1950 George Marshall
• 1950–1951 Joseph L. Mankiewicz
• 1951–1959 George Sidney
• 1959–1961 Frank Capra
• 1961–1967 George Sidney
• 1967–1971 Delbert Mann
• 1971–1975 Robert Wise
• 1975–1979 Robert Aldrich
• 1979–1981 George Schaefer
• 1981–1983 Jud Taylor
• 1983–1987 Gilbert Cates
• 1987–1989 Franklin J. Schaffner
• 1989–1993 Arthur Hiller
• 1993–1997 Gene Reynolds
• 1997–2002 Jack Shea
• 2002–2003 Martha Coolidge – first female president
• 2003–2009 Michael Apted
• 2009–2013 Taylor Hackford
• 2013–2017 Paris Barclay – first black and first openly gay presidentNEWS, Directors Guild Of America Elects Paris Barclay First Black, Openly Gay President,www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/26/directors-guild-of-america-president_n_3504529.html, Huffington Post, Jacobs, Matthew, June 26, 2013, April 17, 2020, March 4, 2016,www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/26/directors-guild-of-america-president_n_3504529.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20160304064336www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/26/directors-guild-of-america-president_n_3504529.html,">web.archive.org/web/20160304064336www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/26/directors-guild-of-america-president_n_3504529.html, live,
• 2017–2021 Thomas SchlammeNEWS, Thomas Schlamme Elected Directors Guild President – Complete Election Results,deadline.com/2017/06/thomas-schlamme-president-directors-guild-dga-1202119586/, July 5, 2017, Deadline, June 24, 2017, July 6, 2017,deadline.com/2017/06/thomas-schlamme-president-directors-guild-dga-1202119586/," title="web.archive.org/web/20170706215142deadline.com/2017/06/thomas-schlamme-president-directors-guild-dga-1202119586/,">web.archive.org/web/20170706215142deadline.com/2017/06/thomas-schlamme-president-directors-guild-dga-1202119586/, live,
• 2021–present Lesli Linka GlatterNEWS,variety.com/2021/tv/news/lesli-linka-glatter-dga-president-1235067926/, Lesli Linka Glatter Elected President of Directors Guild of America, Littleton, Cynthia, Maddaus, Gene, September 18, 2021, September 19, 2021, Variety (magazine), Variety, September 20, 2021,web.archive.org/web/20210920091709/https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/lesli-linka-glatter-dga-president-1235067926/, live,

{{div col end}}

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 and New York City 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.WEB, DGA Independent Filmmakers Brochure, DGA,www.dga.org/The-Guild/Committees/Special/Independent/IDC-Brochure-main.aspx, June 7, 2021, June 7, 2021,web.archive.org/web/20210607065955/https://www.dga.org/The-Guild/Committees/Special/Independent/IDC-Brochure-main.aspx, live, PDF {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210607065956www.dga.org/-/media/Files/TheGuild/Committees/DGAIndieBrochure2018.ashx?la=en&hash=B0119FAC7EA4353B31F8D8EBE21A3521556AE682 |date=June 7, 2021 }} 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)WEB,www.sdgi.ie/finders-series-winner-2018, SDGI, SDGI Announces KATIE as Winner for Finders Series 2018, 2018, June 7, 2021, June 7, 2021,web.archive.org/web/20210607071458/https://www.sdgi.ie/finders-series-winner-2018, dead, and the Australian Directors’ Guild (ADG), which nominate one film to participate.WEB, Peter Garrett To Attend Directors Guild Awards, Australian Stage Online, October 11, 2007,www.australianstage.com.au/20071010749/news/sydney/peter-garrett-to-attend-directors-guild-awards.html, June 7, 2021, June 7, 2021,web.archive.org/web/20210607070005/https://www.australianstage.com.au/20071010749/news/sydney/peter-garrett-to-attend-directors-guild-awards.html, live, Australian entries, selected for the Finders Series Award by the ADG from a shortlist of four, include Boxing Day (2007), directed by Kriv Stenders; and after a five-year lapse,WEB, ADG announces the Directors’{{sic, yes, Guild of America Finders Award 2012 |website=IF Magazine |date=February 27, 2012 |url=https://www.if.com.au/adg-announces-the-directors-guild-of-america-finders-award-2012/ |access-date=June 7, 2021 |archive-date=June 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210607062924www.if.com.au/adg-announces-the-directors-guild-of-america-finders-award-2012/ |url-status=live }} Tony Krawitz’s documentary The Tall Man (2012),WEB,mumbrella.com.au/film-maker-tony-krawitz-heads-to-us-as-part-of-directors-guild-of-americas-finders-series-122106, Mumbrella, Film-maker Tony Krawitz heads to US as part of Directors’{{sic, yes, Guild of America’s Finders Series |date=October 17, 2012 |access-date=June 7, 2021 |archive-date=June 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210607065956mumbrella.com.au/film-maker-tony-krawitz-heads-to-us-as-part-of-directors-guild-of-americas-finders-series-122106 |url-status=live }} and in 2014 Catriona McKenzie’s Satellite Boy was selected for the series.WEB, Catriona McKenzie, Sydney, City of Film (Screen NSW), New South Wales Government, December 31, 2019,www.screen.nsw.gov.au/people/film-and-television-industry-advisory-committee/Catriona-McKenzie, June 7, 2021, September 27, 2022,web.archive.org/web/20220927235849/https://www.screen.nsw.gov.au/people/film-and-television-industry-advisory-committee/Catriona-McKenzie, dead, Irish entries include Terry McMahon’s Patrick’s Day (2014)WEB, Patrick’s Day wins Screen Directors Guild Finders Series Award, Cineuropa, August 26, 2014, Naman, Ramachandran,cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/262062/, June 7, 2021, June 7, 2021,web.archive.org/web/20210607065956/https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/262062/, live, and Ross Whitaker’s Katie (2018).WEB, Ross Whitaker’s Katie named Screen Directors Guild Finders Series Award-winner for 2018, Scannain, October 18, 2018,www.scannain.com/irish/industry/screen-directors-guild-finders-series-winner-18/, October 17, 2022, October 19, 2022,web.archive.org/web/20221019094512/https://www.scannain.com/irish/industry/screen-directors-guild-finders-series-winner-18/, live,

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,BOOK, Jacobson, Arthur, Atkins, Irene Kahn, Arthur Jacobson, Arthur Jacobson: Interviewed by Irene Kahn Atkin, 1991, Metuchen, New Jersey, Scarecrow Press and Directors Guild of America, 978-0-8108-2468-3,books.google.com/books?id=wx87WxmvCQkC, en, 925733552, Directors Guild of America Oral History, March 30, 2022, May 6, 2024,web.archive.org/web/20240506051849/https://books.google.com.bd/books?id=wx87WxmvCQkC&redir_esc=y, live, and provides an interest-free loan program, a Cognitive Wellness Program, and flu shot clinics.WEB, DGA Foundation,www.dga.org/Resources/Directors-Guild-Foundation.aspx, Directors Guild of America, March 30, 2022, April 14, 2022,web.archive.org/web/20220414133820/https://www.dga.org/Resources/Directors-Guild-Foundation.aspx, live, WEB, The Directors Guild Foundation Annual Campaign — Assisting Members in Need for Seven Decades -,www.dga.org/News/Guild-News/2019/December2019/DGF_Appeal2019.aspx, Directors Guild of America, March 30, 2022, en, July 6, 2022,web.archive.org/web/20220706220617/https://dga.org/News/Guild-News/2019/December2019/DGF_Appeal2019.aspx, live,

See also

• Alan Smithee
• Runaway production
• Stage Directors and Choreographers Society

References

{{reflist|30em}}

External links

• {{Official website}}

{{DGA Presidents}}{{Authority control}}{{Coord|34|5|52|N|118|21|45|W|region:US-CA_type:landmark|display=title}}