September 22, 2015
New York – Directors Guild of America (DGA) President Paris Barclay today announced the host and presenters for the ninth Directors Guild of America Honors, to be held at the DGA Theater in New York City on Thursday, October 15, 2015 and followed by an after-party at Nobu 57. Actor Alan Cumming will serve as the event’s Master of Ceremonies. Cumming most recently co-hosted the 2015 Tony Awards and is returning for his seventh season as campaign strategist Eli Gold on CBS’s The Good Wife.
Confirmed presenters to date include:
Alec Baldwin (30 Rock, The Hunt for Red October);
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street, The Departed); and
Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World, The Help)
Renowned filmmaker Ron Howard is receiving the DGA Honor for his countless contributions to American film and television. Thomas J. O’Donnell, President of Theatrical Teamsters Local 817 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Union, is being recognized for his labor rights efforts and his contributions to production in New York. Director/Producer/Writer/Actor/Playwright/Author Tyler Perry is being recognized for his contributions to film and television including the creation of a thriving – and soon to be expanded – production center in Atlanta currently employing hundreds. Editor Thelma Schoonmaker is receiving a DGA Honor for her trailblazing film editing career. Senator Charles “Chuck” Ellis Schumer is being recognized with a DGA Honor for his longstanding role as a champion of job creation and other issues important to those who work in the New York film and television industry.
DGA Honors celebrates individuals and institutions that have made distinguished contributions to American culture through the world of film and television. The event recognizes the diversity of achievement—in business, government, and labor — that have made New York and the eastern U.S. an exciting and thriving home for the entertainment industry. The membership of the DGA, other top entertainment industry professionals, and union, government and business leadership from across the nation are expected to attend.
For more information about DGA Honors 2015, including honoree biographies, CLICK HERE.
About the DGA
In the 79 years since its founding in 1936, the DGA has fought for the economic and creative rights of its members; protected their ability to financially benefit from the reuse of their work; established strong pension and health plans; and established jurisdiction in new technologies and distribution platforms. Today the DGA represents more than 16,000 directors and members of the directorial team working in film, television, commercials, new media and other audiovisual media.
About Alan Cumming
Alan Cumming is an actor and activist beyond eclectic and according to the New York Times ‘a bawdy countercultural sprite’; Time Magazine named him one of the most fun people in show business; He plays political maverick Eli Gold on CBS’s The Good Wife, for which he received Golden Globe, Emmy, SAG and Satellite award nominations and earlier this year finished his Tony Award-winning role of the Emcee in the Broadway musical Cabaret. Alan’s diverse career has found him performing at venues around the globe including the Sydney Opera House; making back to back films with Stanley Kubrick and The Spice Girls; directing and starring in a musical condom commercial; creating voices of a Smurf, a goat and Hitler; entering upside down and suspended by his ankles in a Greek tragedy (in the National Theatre of Scotland's The Bacchae); and recording an award-winning album of songs (plus a dance remix). Alan is also Host of PBS’s Masterpiece Mystery and appears opposite Lisa Kudrow in Showtime's Web Therapy. Alan has written for The New York Times, Newsweek, Harper’s Bazaar, Out, has a bi-monthly column for Globe and Mail, and two books: Tommy’s Tale and his New York Times Best-Selling memoir, Not My Father's Son. A tireless champion for LGBT civil rights and HIV/AIDS, Alan serves on the Board of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and works closely with amfAR, The Trevor Project and the Ali Forney Center to name but a few. In 2009, Alan was made an OBE in the Queen's Honors List and by his homeland, Scotland, for which he was a vocal supporter of the YES for independence campaign, he has been awarded the Great Scot and Icon of Scotland awards, as well as recently having his portrait unveiled at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery as seen on the finale of Portrait Artist of the Year.