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Directors Guild

The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is a union of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry. The DGA was established as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936 and renamed Directors Guild of America in 1960.  The DGA has around 13,000 members.  The headquarters of DGA is located at Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood with satellite offices in New York and Chicago.

 The DGA consists of directors, assistant directors, stage managers, and production associates in the television industry.  Moreover, this union also represents directors, assistant directors, unit production managers, technical coordinators, and location managers.

The DGA conducts various training programs and successful candidates are placed in various productions.  These candidates can gain working experience in film or television industry.

An agreement between the Guild and film production companies includes stipulations over pay and working conditions for DGA members.  It may also require the hiring and employment of DGA members on film projects. DGA members are generally prohibited from working for film production companies that have not signed an agreement with the DGA. 

The DGA has a protective role in fixing wages, basic working condition and creative rights of the film director.  The protection measures of DGA include defining the director’s role, guarding the key concept of “one director to a picture” and the right to prepare a director’s cut or edit.  Normally, these protections reduce the power of producers over a director during the filmmaking process. The  DGA also blocks attempts of non-DGA members from participating in directing various projects.  The DGA has adopted measures to stop the rule of one single director by introducing recognized directorial teams such as the Wachowski brothers, Hughes brothers, Brothers Strause, and the Coen brothers.

Not all Hollywood directors are not DGA members.  Some renowned directors such as George Lucas, Quentin Tarantino, and Robert Rodriguez are not membes of DGA due to personal differences with the organization.


Inside Directors Guild