The Director's Chair

DGA members reflect on how they have stayed productive during the COVID-19 quarantine.

The director behind Chicago, Into the Woods and Mary Poppins Returns, knows a thing or two about musicals, thanks to his theatrical training and an ability to inspire by example.

The pioneering documentarian, with an uncanny ability to gain her subjects’ trust, has repeatedly put herself at risk while leaving no stone unturned.

Jean-Marc Vallée has mined raw, powerful performances and made the internal external as he's tracked the trials and tribulations of the lost and damaged.

Brothers Anthony and Joe Russo went from no-budget indie underdogs from Cleveland to Marvel tentpole overlords, without sacrificing their character-driven sensibility and storytelling vision.

The three-time DGA award winner discusses cosmic injustice, what drives him, the art of collaboration and what comes next.

Richard Linklater learned by doing, and over the course of his 30-year career, the Texas-based filmmaker has left his own unique stamp on the indie world and beyond.

Dan Attias, who has directed more than 80 series since he joined the Guild in 1980, brings arduous prep and probing insights to the table as a key contributor to Peak TV.

A trailblazer in movies and television, director Mimi Leder has learned that knowledge is power, and tenacity is the key to success.

Michael Apted's deep documentary experience informs his quest for authenticity, and as the issue of creative rights loomed after Thunderheart, that awareness sparked a decades-long involvement in DGA leadership.

Kathryn Bigelow's socially relevant cinema invites a more active engagement with the viewer.

Unwilling to back down from a challenge, Michelle MacLaren leaves no "rock left unturned" when it comes to achieving her vision on such shows as Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones.

A celebrated filmmaker right out of the gate, Sam Mendes juggles movies and theater with the virtuosity of a wunderkind, and the experience of a seasoned pro.

For Alexander Payne, reality is the spice of life, with films populated with ordinary people caught up in extraordinary circumstances, and a mordant humor that's grounded in the flaws and foibles of protagonists whose lives are spiraling out of control.

In her 50-year career as an actor, Jodie Foster has learned a few things about leadership. As the director of three features, episodic TV, and the upcoming Money Monster, she doesn’t tell cast and crew what they want to hear—she tells them the truth.

For the anniversary of the DGA, we present a timeline covering many of the high points and accomplishments of 80 years of Guild history. It’s the events and people that make the Guild what it is today.

Taylor Hackford’s great enthusiasm for music, dance, and life comes through in such far-ranging films as An Officer and a Gentleman, Hail! Hail! Rock ’n’ Roll, and Ray. And while practicing his craft, he has energetically served the Guild for 30 years--including two terms as president.

From the drug hallucinations of Trainspotting to the teeming streets of Mumbai in Slumdog Millionaire and the solitary mountain ordeal of 127 Hours, Danny Boyle has brought humanity and a unique visual flair to unexpected places. Who knows what he’ll find inside the head of Steve Jobs in his upcoming bio of the Apple co-founder?

Lesli Linka Glatter has brought a sense of urgency and psychological depth to such series as The West Wing, ER, Mad Men, and Homeland—and won two DGA Awards along the way. Yet she still finds time to serve the Guild and be an advocate for diversity.

Always a bit ahead of the curve in his 40-year career, Jonathan Demme pioneered the psychological thriller in The Silence of the Lambs, caught a band at its peak in Stop Making Sense, and tackled social issues in Philadelphia. For his next act? Meryl Streep as a rock star.

In a prolific career that has taken him from the indie landmark sex, lies, and videotape to mainstream hits like Erin Brockovich, the HBO movie Behind the Candelabra, and now the cable series The Knick, Steven Soderbergh has continually reinvented himself—all the while admirably serving the Guild.

In films like Enough Said, Friends With Money and Lovely & Amazing, Nicole Holofcener has demonstrated a fearless talent for creating stories so achingly personal they have universal resonance. The joke’s on everyone.

David O. Russell loves observing the quirky, unpredictable rhythms of human behavior. It's no wonder that in films like American Hustle, Silver Linings Playbook and The Fighter he captures the teeming intensity of real life.

Guillermo del Toro has combined his love of strange creatures, ghosts and Gothic horror stories with a deep literary sensibility to create genre films uniquely his own.

David Nutter has directed 19 pilots and an unprecedented 17 have been picked up for series. How does he do it? By following his instincts, respecting his collaborators, and sticking to stories that move him.

Peter Jackson started out making low-budget splatter movies in his native New Zealand and moved on to explore new cinematic worlds in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. But no matter how far he’s gone, he’s always made it seem real.

With films like Back to the Future, Forrest Gump and three performance-capture features, Robert Zemeckis has earned a reputation as a technology pioneer. But more than anything, he's just a director looking for new means to tell good stories.

Don Mischer has been capturing great moments in popular culture—the Oscars, Olympic opening ceremonies, Super Bowl halftime shows—on live TV for more than 35 years. For his pitch perfect work he has won more DGA Awards than any other director

Not only did director-producer Thomas Schlamme create the signature "walk and talk" style on The West Wing, he has also been a powerful advocate for the rights of episodic directors.

Mel Brooks spills the beans about directing some of the most outrageous and hilarious comedies ever made. He's not joking (well, just a little).

Thieves, assassins, mad men, whistle-blowers, and gamblers have all populated the extreme adventures of Michael Mann's films. For more than 30 years, with style and precision, he has examined the richness of human experience.

Christopher Nolan prefers film to digital, shoots with one camera, and doesn’t believe in 3-D. The director who resurrected Batman, made time go backward in Memento, and deconstructed dreams in Inception speaks his mind.

For the last six years, the Quarterly has interviewed some of the most prominent directors in the business. Here are excerpts from each of them.

Through changing times, for more than 50 years Gil Cates has been a steadying force and voice of reason in the Directors Guild.

John Rich is a legendary figure in TV comedy, but equally important are his contributions to the Guild in 50 years of tireless service.

King Vidor helped bring directors together to form the Guild and became its first president during the early, perilous years. His legacy as a great filmmaker and fighter for directors' rights continues today.

In over 20 films, including Blade Runner, Gladiator and Black Hawk Down, Ridley Scott has seen things you wouldn’t believe—and made them real.

Starting out in an Aussie industry that barely existed, Peter Weir has traveled the world looking for the revelatory moment and deeper truth. In films like Master and Commander and Dead Poets Society, he found people who—like himself—never play it safe.

Born in Taiwan, schooled at NYU, and trained in the trenches, Ang Lee broke new cultural ground with universal stories like Brokeback Mountain and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. But the one thing he won’t do is repeat himself.

For 40 years, Werner Herzog has been what he calls "a good soldier of cinema," traveling the globe in search of "ecstatic truth." The wandering director talk about the journey.

Ron Howard grew up working in the business but he may be the least jaded man in Hollywood. After directing 20 movies in almost every genre and winning two DGA Awards, he still hasn’t lost his youthful enthusiasm for telling stories.

After directing three Austin Powers films and two Meet the Parents pictures, Jay Roach still doesn’t think of himself as a funny guy. But he sure knows how to make people laugh.

Nancy Meyers has captured the rhythms of modern relationships in films like Something's Gotta Give and What Women Want. In her latest picture, she again finds food for thought.

Roman Polanski's life has had more drama than a Shakespearean tragedy. But in his nearly 50-year career as a director, he has created some of the most unsettling images and haunting films ever made.

Since coming to America after the Czech Spring in 1968, Milos Forman has been committed to making movies about individuals fighting for their rights in films like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Amadeus and The People vs. Larry Flynt.

Although he continues to be a master of special effects and new technology, James Cameron's focus is on storytelling, not flash. In the midst of shooting Avatar, his eagerly anticipated epic, he is exploring the potential of a digital 3-D feature.

Since breaking out with She's Gotta Have It in 1986, Spike Lee has tackled issues of race, class and sex in America perhaps more than any other director. But his films are not just challenging-they're also entertaining.

Nobody can talk about films like Martin Scorsese. From the movies of his youth and his mentors to his own films, he brings a lifetime of experience to the conversation.

Sidney Lumet has been exploring the moral contradictions of life, mostly in New York, for more than 50 years. At 83, he adds to his astonishing body of work with Before the Devil Knows You're Dead.

With series like Taxi, Cheers, Will & Grace and Frasier, James Burrows raised the sitcom to high art. His secret? Respecting the craft.

After a 10-year absence from directing, Francis Ford Coppola is back with Youth Without Youth, a return to the personal filmmaking of his younger days.

Steven Spielberg just seems to get better with age, yet he never loses the boyish enthusiasm that makes his films so special.

Hard to believe it's been almost 40 years since Mike Nichols' groundbreaking The Graduate. Since then, few directors have created a more literate and varied body of work.

From his early days in live TV, Sydney Pollack has been giving mainstream movies a good name. Now, after a low budget documentary about his friend Frank Gehry, he's thinking more indie.

At an age when most people are thinking about retirement, Clint Eastwood just keeps getting better. In his usual no-nonsense style, he talks about what he's accomplished-and what keeps him going.

At age 80, Robert Altman remains the iconoclast of American film. After directing more than 40 movies, he’s still worried about the next one.