The Assistant Directors and Unit Production Managers of the projects nominated for the 69th Annual DGA Awards were celebrated during the AD/UPM Council West’s 14th Annual Meet the AD/UPMs event. Hosted by the Council’s Education Committee on January 28, DGA members gathered in the Guild’s Los Angeles Boardroom to hear firsthand what went into the making of these notable movies and television episodes.
The morning opened with a welcome from AD/UPM Council West Chair Victor Hsu, who spoke about the Council before turning the proceedings over to 2017 Frank Capra Achievement Award Recipient Marie Cantin who served as the event's moderator.
After a brief explanation of how the day would proceed, Cantin introduced the panelists: UPM Michael Beugg and 2nd AD Paula Case from Damien Chazelle’s feature La La Land, UPM Stan Wlodkowski and 1st AD Donald L. Sparks from Denis Villeneuve’s feature Arrival, UPM Robert J. Dohrmann from Dan Trachtenberg’s feature 10 Cloverfield Lane, UPM Mark Moran from Nate Parker’s feature The Birth of a Nation, UPM Robert Del Valle from Jonathan Nolan’s episode “The Original” of the series Westworld, UPM Alex Orr from Donald Glover’s episode “B.A.N.” of the series Atlanta, UPM Chip Vucelich and 2nd AD Janell M. Sammelman from Ryan Murphy’s episode “From the Ashes of Tragedy” and Vucelich from John Singleton’s episode “The Race Card” of the series The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, and 2nd AD Maria Battle Campbell from the Duffer Brothers’s episode “Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers” of the series Stranger Things.
After screening clips from the nominated works, Cantin and the panelists covered a number of subjects ranging from scheduling rehearsals and helping materialize the director’s vision to casting background actors for key scenes. After the discussion, members were able to mingle with and ask their own questions of the panelists.
DGA Members, click here for "10 Takeaways" - A list of information gleaned from this event.
You can listen to the entire panel by clicking the podcast episode embedded below. You can find all DGA podcast episodes here.
About the Panelists:
|
 2nd AD Maria Battle Campbell
After graduating from the DGA Assistant Director Training Program in 1996, Campbell joined the DGA and began her career as a 2nd AD on Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights. She has worked with esteemed directors including Mike Nichols, William Friedkin, Ang Lee, Shawn Levy, and James Cameron. She served as a 2nd AD on the Duffer Brothers’ Stranger Things episode “Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers,” which was nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series.
|
| |
|
 UPM Michael Beugg
Since joining the DGA in 1998, Beugg has served as UPM on the previous DGA Award-nominated features including Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air and Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris’s Little Miss Sunshine. As a dedicated member, he has served multiple times on the AD/UPM Council West’s DGA Proposals and Negotiations Committees, Education Committee, and as Co-Chair of the UPM Committee He served as UPM and Executive Producer on Damien Chazelle’s La La Land, which was nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film.
|
| |
 2nd AD Paula Case
After starting her career as a DGA Trainee, Case joined the Guild in 1996 and has worked with such distinguished directors as Frank Darabont, Martin McDonagh and Nancy Meyers. She was also a member of the DGA Award-nominated team for Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper. She also serves as a Trustee on the Assistant Director Training Plan Board. She served as a 2nd AD on Damien Chazelle’s La La Land, which was nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film.
|
| |
|
 UPM Robert del Valle
Del Valle joined the DGA as an assistant director in 1979 then shifted to production manager and producer. His credits include serving as UPM and producer such esteemed series as Glee, True Blood and Tales of the City. He has worked on eight DGA Award-nominated projects including Alan Ball’s DGA Award-winning pilot of Six Feet Under. He served as UPM on Jonathan Nolan’s Westworld episode “The Original,” which was nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series.
|
| |
 UPM Robert J. Dohrmann
Dohrmann began his career in the ’90s in live TV, reality TV, commercial, and documentary production before he joined the DGA in 2007. His other UPM credits include Etan Cohen’s Get Hard, Scott Hicks’s The Lucky One, and the Duplass Brothers’ Jeff, Who Lives At Home. He served as UPM on Dan Trachtenberg’s 10 Cloverfield Lane, which was nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a First-Time Feature Film.
|
| |
|
 UPM Mark Moran
A DGA member since 2009, Moran has helped create a wide range of studio and independent movies, with budgets from under $1M to over $70M. In addition to features, he has produced short films, web series, music videos, and commercials, as well as Jordan Mechner’s short documentary Chavez Ravine: A Los Angeles Story, which won the IDA Award and was short-listed for an Academy Award in 2005. He served as UPM on Nate Parker’s The Birth of a Nation, which was nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a First-Time Feature Film.
|
| |
|
 UPM Alex Orr
Orr, who joined the DGA in 2013, serves as UPM for the series Atlanta and as Executive Producer on Easy for Netflix and Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell for Adult Swim. His other credits include Jacob Gentry’s feature Synchronicity, Bille Woodruff’s movie for television, Drumline: A New Beat, and Charles Stone II’s movie for television CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story. He served as UPM on Donald Glover’s Atlanta episode “B.A.N.,” which was nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series.
|
| |
|
 2nd AD Janell M. Sammelman
Sammelman began her career in production while in college working part-time at MTV Networks. She has since worked with some of the industry’s most respected directors and producers. Her feature credits include Randall Wallace’s We Were Soldiers, Peter Berg’s The Rundown and Craig Gillespie’s Fright Night. Sammelman joined the DGA in 2004. She served as a 2nd AD on Ryan Murphy’s The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story episode “From the Ashes of Tragedy,” which was nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series.
|
| |
|
 1st AD Donald L. Sparks
A DGA member since 1992, Sparks is a frequent collaborator with Director Denis Villeneuve, having previously worked with him on the features Prisoners and Sicario as well as the recently wrapped Blade Runner 2049. Some of Sparks’s other credits include Ryan Coogler’s Creed, Rupert Wyatt’s The Gambler, and Tate Taylor’s “Best Picture” Academy Award-nominated feature, The Help. He served as 1st AD on Villeneuve’s Arrival, which was nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film.
|
| |
|
 UPM Chip Vucelich
A DGA member since 1988, Vucelich met Ryan Murphy and produced the first two seasons of Murphy’s series American Horror Story. He is currently Co-Executive Producer on the limited FX series Feud. He served as UPM on Ryan Murphy’s The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story episode “From the Ashes of Tragedy,” and on John Singleton’s The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story episode “The Race Card,” both of which were nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series.
|
| |
|
 UPM Stan Wlodkowski
Wlodkowski joined the DGA in 1998 and has worked as a UPM and line producer. His credits include Louis Leterrier’s Now You See Me, Ryan Murphy’s Eat Pray Love, Tamara Jenkins’s Slums of Beverly Hills, Paul Haggis’s and In the Valley of Elah. He also served as a UPM and Co-Executive Producer on Michael Apted’s DGA Award-winning episode “The Stolen Eagle” of the series Rome; and as Co-Producer on Sam Mendes’ DGA and Academy Award-winning feature American Beauty. He served as UPM on Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival, which was nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film.
|
| |
 Marie Cantin (moderator)
Cantin joined the DGA in 1988 and has served consecutive terms on the AD/UPM Council West in various elected positions. She recently completed her fourth term as Council Chair and has also been a member of the Negotiations Committee for the 2011, 2014, and 2017 negotiations cycles. As a UPM some of her credits include Michael Mann’s Collateral, Thomas Carter’s Save the Last Dance, Shawn Levy’s Big Fat Liar, Gary Fleder’s Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead, and Paul Bogart’s Torch Song Trilogy. She is the 2017 Frank Capra Achievement Award Recipient, the highest honor the Guild can bestow upon a member of her category.
|
About the Organizing Committee:
This event was organized by the AD/UPM Council West Education Committee and the Meet the AD/UPMs Organizing Committee Co-chairs Peter E. Jackson and Redelia Shaw. For more information on the AD/UPM Council, West, click here to visit their web pages.