• Advent of TV final hero
  • The Godfather
  • Advent of TV final hero
  • DGA Quarterly Spring 2011 Merger
  • George Stevens
  • DGA Quarterly Winter 2010-11 75 Years
History

A look and some of the major events and accomplishments in DGA history and the members who made them.

Advent of TV final hero
Summer 2019
Advent of TV

In TV’s Platinum Age, we look back on the nascent medium’s Golden Age, when live broadcasts ruled the roost and directors learned the ropes through trial and error.

The Godfather
Spring 2016

As the DGA celebrates its 80th anniversary this year, we decided to poll our members to see what they consider the 80 greatest directorial achievements in feature films since the Guild's founding in 1936.

Summer 2013
Jack Shea

The late Jack Shea served the Guild for nearly 50 years. Our national executive director fondly recalls his contributions—as a president and a person.

DGA Quarterly Fall 2011
Fall 2011
Feature Directors Panel

The feature directors panel on the morning of the annual awards has become one of the Guild's most popular events.

DGA Qaurterly Fall 2011 Past Presidents
Fall 2011
Guild Past Presidents

In the last two decades, Guild presidents have continued the fight for economic and creative rights.

DGA Quarterly Fall 2011
Fall 2011
Guild Diversity Committees

Over the past 30 years, Guild diversity committees have advanced the cause of women and minority members.

DGA 75th Anniversary Film Moments in Time
Fall 2011
Guild History

Two films commissioned for the 75th anniversary commemorate the history of the Guild and the creative accomplishments of its members.

DGA Quarterly Spring 2011 Creative Rights
Spring 2011
The Bill of Creative Rights

When Elliot Silverstein challenged the editing of a TV show, the DGA fought and won the battle for creative rights.

DGA Quarterly Spring 2011 Loyalty Oath
Spring 2011
The Effect of the Blacklist

Amidst the rumblings of the blacklist, the Guild's membership met on Oct. 22, 1950 and battled over whether to recall its president. It turned out to be a crucial moment in Guild history.

Advent of TV final hero
Spring 2011
Advent of TV

As television arrived in the late ’40s and ’50s, the job of directing TV was defined. For young directors, it was the time of their lives.

DGA Quarterly Spring 2011 Merger
Spring 2011
The RTDG-SDG Merger

The merger of East and West Coast directors in 1960 led to many of the benefits members enjoy today.

DGA Quarterly 2011 An Appreciation George Sidney
Spring 2011
An Appreciation

The Guild's youngest president was also a master craftsman and an unforgettable character, as a budding filmmaker recalls.

New York
Spring 2011
The SDIG-DGA Merger

The commercial and documentary directors in the SDIG were initially fearful of being swallowed by the West Coast directors, but a happy merger was finally reached in 1965.

DGA Quarterly Spring 2011 First Awards
Spring 2011
Honoring Our Own

In 1949, the Guild launched its annual awards. Then as now, the idea was for directors to honor their own.

George Stevens
Winter 2011
Directors in World War II

The Guild and many prominent directors volunteered their creative talents to help win World War II.

DGA Quarterly Winter 2010-11 75 Years
Winter 2011
Frank Capra's Fight

When President Frank Capra boldly threatened to boycott the Academy Awards in 1939, the Producers Association finally accepted the Guild.

DGA Quarterly Winter 2006 A Guild is Born
Winter 2011

Take a look back at how the labor struggles of early Hollywood led to the founding of the DGA.

Winter 2011
Mabel Walker Willebrandt

A key strategist in the final rounds of the battle to establish the Guild was its attorney, Mabel Walker Willebrandt, who arranged for the pivotal hearings before the National Labor Relations Board in Washington and also drafted the Basic Agreement of 1939, the Guild’s first contract with the studios.

Summer 2010
Setting Precedents

When Josef von Sternberg's 1931 film An American Tragedy departed from Theodore Dreiser's novel, the author sued to protect his work. Dreiser lost, and the precedent-setting case established the right of studios and filmmakers to pursue their own vision.

DGA Quarterly Winter 2007-08 Awards
Winter 2007/2008
The DGA Awards' 60th Anniversary

Since the DGA Awards started in 1948, the show has evolved with the times, but the familial nature and collegial spirit have remained unchanged. Here's how it all happened.

DGA Quarterly Winter 2006 Steady Growth
Winter 2006
The Evolution of the DGA

Over the years, the Guild and its professional staff have had to adjust to changing times, an industry in constant flux and the evolving needs of its members.

DGA Quarterly Winter 2006 70 Years of Milestones
Winter 2006

The Guild's history is a collection of accomplishments, big and small victories and extraordinary people who helped make it work. Here is a selective look at some of the highlights from the first 70 years.

DGA Quarterly Winter 2006 A Guild is Born
Winter 2006
Founding the Guild

The forward-thinking directors who came together to found the Guild in 1936 were seeking to protect the same creative rights the Guild fights for today.

DGA Quarterly Winter 2006 Visually Speaking
Winter 2006
The Visual History Program

The Visual History Program preserves a living record of the Guild with an ongoing series of in-depth interviews with members.