June 7, 1997
Veteran television and motion picture director Jack Shea was elected president of the Directors Guild of America at the Guild's biennial national convention held today at DGA National Headquarters in Los Angeles. Shea becomes the 21st president of the DGA, succeeding Gene Reynolds, who served as DGA President for the past four years.
In addition to electing Shea, one hundred and six delegates representing approximately 11,000 members of the DGA also elected a new slate of officers and national board of directors at the convention. The new Guild leadership includes a blend of individuals with long histories of service to the Guild alongside newcomers to Guild office.
Among the new faces elected is New York-based director Ed Sherin, who was chosen as National Vice President. Guild veterans chosen include director Martha Coolidge, who was elected First Vice President, as well as past DGA President and longtime Board member Gil Cates, who was elevated to the post of Secretary-Treasurer, a position held for nearly a quarter century by the legendary Sheldon Leonard until his death earlier this year, when the office was filled by Shea.
Also elected were Second Vice President Max A. Schindler, Third Vice President John Frankenheimer, Fourth Vice President Larry Auerbach, Fifth Vice President Robert Butler, sixth Vice President Nancy Littlefield, and Assistant Secretary-Treasurer Marilyn Jacobs-Furey. (A complete list of the new officers and board members concludes this release.)
"It is a tremendous honor to be chosen by my peers to lead the Directors Guild of America to the brink of the new millenium," Shea said. "From its founding, our Guild has been and will continue to be the home of filmmakers for the protection of creative and economic rights. I am committed to representing the interests of all DGA members as we tackle the many challenges that face our Guild and our industry in the coming years.
"It is vitally important that the DGA focus our attention on the producers with whom we negotiate," Shea said. "We also need to increase the presence of women and minority filmmakers in the DGA and in our workforce. This is an area in which we've had steady growth, but it's time to pick up the pace."
Shea believes that the future of the Guild will be greatly enhanced through a continued and expanded effort to reach out to directors' groups internationally, in countries such as England, Australia and Canada. "Film knows no boundaries, and neither should the DGA. We can give these groups guidance and organizational advice that will help them grow stronger," Shea said. "By helping to improve working conditions throughout the world, we will be strengthening our position here in America."
Shea began his career as a stage manager at NBC in New York, working on shows such as "Philco Playhouse," directed by another eventual DGA president, Delbert Mann. While at NBC, he was instrumental in organizing for the Radio Television Directors Guild (RTDG). After serving as a motion picture officer during the Korean War, he moved to Los Angeles and began working his way through the production ranks at NBC in Burbank. Shea became president of the Hollywood local of the RTDG in 1958, and held that post in 1960 when the RTDG and the Screen Directors Guild (SDG) merged to form the DGA. He has served on the DGA Directors Council and the National Board in various capacities for 36 years, including three terms as vice president.
While at NBC in Burbank, Shea made the leap from stage manager to associate director on
"The Bob Hope Show." His first directing job came at the age of 27, when he was asked to fill in for an ailing director of the prime-time game show "Truth or Consequences." As a director at NBC, Shea helmed episodes of "Jerry Lewis Specials," "Death Valley Days" and "The Bob Hope Show." He directed ten of Hope's overseas Christmas specials, flying with Hope to locations
such as Viet Nam, Korea, Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, Japan, Turkey, Greece, Spain and Italy, receiving an Emmy nomination along the way.
After leaving NBC, Shea directed numerous episodes of shows such as "Hawaii 5-0," "The Waltons," "Paper Moon," "The Disney Sunday Night Movies," "Apple's Way" and "Kate McShane."
He produced and directed many episodes of "Sanford and Son" and the "Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour," was series director of "Silver Spoons," "We'll Get By" and "The Ropers," and directed over 100 episodes of "The Jeffersons." He has also directed "Sunday Dinner," "Growing Pains," "704 Hauser Street," "Royal Family" and "Designing Women," (for which he received a second Emmy nomination), and spent last year directing the sitcom "Goode Behavior" for UPN. He has also directed the motion picture features "Dayton's Devils" and "The Monitors."
Shea's wife, Patt, is a screen writer whose credits include story editor on "All in the Family," "Archie Bunker's Place," and "Lou Grant." They have five children, three of whom are DGA members. Shea is a member of both the United States Catholic Conference Committee for Communications and Catholics in Media, the latter of which he helped found.