The Directors Guild of America mourns the loss of veteran Stage Manager Tom McDermott, recipient of the 2016 Franklin J. Schaffner Achievement Award who passed away in March 2025.
A DGA member since 1984, McDermott was first elected to the Western AD/SM/PA Council in 1986. For more than 30 years, Tom served as a member or alternate on either the Western or Eastern AD/SM/PA Councils and was elected to the offices of Western Council 2nd Vice Chair, 1st Vice Chair culminating in serving as Council Chair from 2015-2017. He also served as an Associate member of the National Board from 2017-2019 and on three BA/FLTTA Negotiating Committees between 2002 and 2020.
McDermott’s professional career was marked with notable productions including NBC’s Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, The Today Show, Late Show with David Letterman, Super Bowls XXX and XXXII, the 1996 and 2000 Olympics, the 1997 World Series and five NBA Finals. In 2002, he became a full time Stage Manager for the long-running No. 1 daytime drama, The Young and the Restless. He was also part of the directing team that won 2011 and 2019 Daytime Emmy Awards in directing, and several Emmy and DGA nominations.
In recognition of his service to the industry and the Guild, McDermott was named the recipient of the Franklin J. Schaffner Achievement Award in 2016. During an interview for that award, he recalled how his parents were active council members of three unions, SAG, AFTRA and EQUITY and were always talking about what you could do as a union member. He was proud of continuing that tradition and said, “As a Guild member, I’ve always tried to use my position to push for the people who feel unrepresented. I believe in unions very strongly. I think they’re part of what’s right about America. I often tell (newer members) to treat every job as if it were your last and give the same respect to a local news show in New Jersey as you would if it were the Academy Awards and use your membership to get yourself ahead. You never know what’s around that corner.”
In honor of McDermott's memory, donations may
made in his name to the Directors Guild Foundation.
