Directors Guild of America

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"Directors Guild" redirects here. For other uses, see Directors Guild (disambiguation).

Directors Guild of America
PredecessorRadio and Television Directors Guild
Founded1936; 89 years ago (1936)
Headquarters7920 Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, California
Location
  • United States
Members18,000
President
Christopher Nolan
National Vice President
Laura Belsey
Key people
Paris Barclay, secretary-treasurer
Websitewww.dga.org
Formerly called
Screen Directors Guild (1936–1960)
[1][2]

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.[3]

DGA Awards

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Main article: Directors Guild of America Awards

The DGA hosts the annual DGA Awards, an important precursor to the Academy Awards.[4] 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.[5] Honorees are awarded with a statue manufactured by Society Awards.

Student Spotlight Awards

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The inaugural DGA Student Film Awards were held in 1995. As of 2025 the DGA Student Spotlight Awards for Underrepresented Directors are awarded to a number of student filmmakers in an underrepresented group in the industry, such as African American, Asian American, Latino, women, and documentary film makers. Each winner receives a $2,500 cash prize.[6]

Credits

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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.[7] 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.[7]

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.[8]

Non-member directors

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Not all Hollywood directors are DGA members. Notable exceptions include George Lucas and Robert Rodriguez.[7] Quentin Tarantino directed six feature films before becoming a DGA member, in 2012.[9] 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.[7]

Leadership

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Directors Guild of America building on Sunset Boulevard.
DGA building, Midtown Manhattan

The following are the past Presidents of the Screen Directors Guild and the DGA:[citation needed]

Term President Notes Ref.
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 president [10]
2017–2021 Thomas Schlamme [11]
2021–2025 Lesli Linka Glatter [12]
2025–present Christopher Nolan [13]

DGA Director's Finder Series

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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.[14] 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.[15] The DGA has collaborated with organisations such as the Screen Directors Guild of Ireland (SDGI)[16] and the Australian Directors' Guild (ADG), which nominate one film to participate.[15]

Australian entries, selected for the Finders Series Award by the ADG from a shortlist of four,[15] include Boxing Day (2007), directed by Kriv Stenders; and after a five-year lapse,[17] Tony Krawitz's documentary The Tall Man (2012),[18] and in 2014 Catriona McKenzie's Satellite Boy was selected for the series.[19]

Irish entries include Terry McMahon's Patrick's Day (2014)[20] and Ross Whitaker's Katie (2018).[21]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Directors Guild of America". About. Archived from the original on August 3, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  2. ^ Robb, David (September 18, 2021). "Lesli Linka Glatter Elected DGA President; Second Woman To Hold Post". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on September 19, 2021. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  3. ^ Dawes, Amy (2011). "A More Perfect Union". DGA Quarterly. Archived from the original on August 14, 2017. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  4. ^ King, Susan (January 9, 2012). "Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese receive nominations for DGA Award". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 4, 2023. Retrieved June 4, 2023.
  5. ^ Feinberg, Scott (January 29, 2012). "With DGA Win, 'The Artist' and Its Artist Look Virtually Unstoppable at Oscars (Analysis)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on June 4, 2023. Retrieved June 4, 2023.
  6. ^ "DGA Student Spotlight Awards". DGA. Archived from the original on September 6, 2025. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  7. ^ a b c d Engber, Daniel (April 8, 2005). "Why Not Quit the Directors Guild? What Robert Rodriguez can and can't do". Slate. Archived from the original on August 5, 2011. Retrieved December 9, 2011.
  8. ^ Directors Guild of America Magazine, Possessory Credit Timeline Archived August 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, 28(6), February 2004
  9. ^ "Membership Report - West Coast Additions" Archived March 28, 2012, at the Wayback Machine DGA Monthly Magazine, January 2012
  10. ^ Matthew, Jacobs (June 26, 2013). "Directors Guild Of America Elects Paris Barclay First Black, Openly Gay President". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  11. ^ "Thomas Schlamme Elected Directors Guild President – Complete Election Results". Deadline. June 24, 2017. Archived from the original on July 6, 2017. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  12. ^ Littleton, Cynthia; Maddaus, Gene (September 18, 2021). "Lesli Linka Glatter Elected President of Directors Guild of America". Variety. Archived from the original on September 20, 2021. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  13. ^ Kilkenny, Katie (September 21, 2025). "Christopher Nolan Elected President of Directors Guild of America". The Hollywood Reporter.
  14. ^ "DGA Independent Filmmakers Brochure". DGA. Archived from the original on June 7, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2021. PDF Archived June 7, 2021, at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ a b c "Peter Garrett To Attend Directors Guild Awards". Australian Stage Online. October 11, 2007. Archived from the original on June 7, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
  16. ^ "SDGI Announces KATIE as Winner for Finders Series 2018". SDGI. 2018. Archived from the original on June 7, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
  17. ^ "ADG announces the Directors' [sic] Guild of America Finders Award 2012". IF Magazine. February 27, 2012. Archived from the original on June 7, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
  18. ^ "Film-maker Tony Krawitz heads to US as part of Directors' [sic] Guild of America's Finders Series". Mumbrella. October 17, 2012. Archived from the original on June 7, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
  19. ^ "Catriona McKenzie". Sydney, City of Film (Screen NSW). New South Wales Government. December 31, 2019. Archived from the original on September 27, 2022. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
  20. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (August 26, 2014). "Patrick's Day wins Screen Directors Guild Finders Series Award". Cineuropa. Archived from the original on June 7, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
  21. ^ "Ross Whitaker's Katie named Screen Directors Guild Finders Series Award-winner for 2018". Scannain. October 18, 2018. Archived from the original on October 19, 2022. Retrieved October 17, 2022.
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34°5′52″N 118°21′45″W / 34.09778°N 118.36250°W / 34.09778; -118.36250