Directors Guild of America Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Norman Jewison Will Get DGA Lifetime Achievement Award
Filed under: Awards »
Norman Jewison, the Oscar-nominated director of In the Heat of the Night, Fiddler on the Roof, and Moonstruck will add another line to his resume on Jan. 30, when the Directors Guild of America gives him its lifetime achievement award. It's a fairly exclusive honor, too -- the DGA has been around for 73 years but only gives lifetime achievement awards occasionally. Jewison is the 33rd recipient; the last one was Clint Eastwood, in 2006. Jewison, an 83-year-old Toronto native, is a somewhat unusual choice for the DGA in that he hasn't been active lately. The most recent recipients -- Eastwood, Mike Nichols, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola -- had all been working pretty regularly at the time of their awards, but Jewison has only made three theatrical features in the last 15 years: Bogus (1996), The Hurricane (1999), and The Statement (2003).
His past work is exemplary, though. In addition to the films I mentioned, he also made The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! (1966) and A Soldier's Story (1984), both nominated for Best Picture Oscars. (Moonstruck and Fiddler were, too.) Other notable films in his catalog include The Cincinnati Kid (1965), The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), Rollerball (1975), and Agnes of God (1985). All told, the 24 theatrical features he's made since 1962 have earned 12 Oscars and another 29 nominations. Jewison himself was given the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award at the 1999 Oscars, in recognition for his work as a producer, a title he has held on almost every film he's directed.
Directors Guild to Make Ebert an 'Honorary Life Member'
Filed under: Awards », Fandom »
Apart from the filmmakers themselves, I can't think of many people who have championed directors more than Roger Ebert, who for 40 years has been an outspoken supporter of filmmaking not just as entertainment but as an art form. And the Directors Guild of America agrees: The group announced today that on Jan. 31, Ebert will receive its Honorary Life Member Award.He will be the 43rd person (and the first film critic) in the DGA's 61-year history to be given the award, which is "for recognition of outstanding creative achievement, or contribution to the Guild, or the profession of directing." Michael Apted, current president of the DGA and a frequent recipient of Ebert's praise for his own films, said in a press release, "From the blockbuster to the tiny independent film, Roger Ebert has devoted his career to sharing his love of film with generations of moviegoers. In doing so, he's kept directors on their toes for more than 40 years. I am very pleased to welcome him as an Honorary Life Member of the DGA."
Ebert said, "It is a great honor to be chosen by those men and women who are the creators of the art form I love above all others," though I suspect we'll see a more detailed response in his blog.
BREAKING: DGA Reaches Tentative Deal with AMPTP
Filed under: Deals », RumorMonger »
Variety just announced that the Directors Guild of America has reached a tentative three-year deal with the AMPTP. The new deal has three major components: establishing DGA jurisdiction over programs produced for distribution on the Internet, boosting the residuals formula for paid Internet downloads by double the current rate, and establishing residual rates for ad-supported streaming and use of clips on the Internet. Gil Cates, chair of the DGA's negotiation committee, says: "Two words describe this agreement -- groundbreaking and substantial. The gains in this contract for directors and their teams are extraordinary -- and there are no rollbacks of any kind."This is great news for the DGA, and the pressure is definitely on now for the WGA to come to a resolution and end the strike. The writers, as you may have heard, have been on strike since November 5th, and representatives haven't been back to the negotiating table since December 7th, when talks last collapsed. The WGA has not issued an official reaction statement to today's DGA announcement, but many think the DGA deal is strong enough that the WGA will follow suit. Here's hoping that happens, and happens soon, so that everyone -- not just the writers are out of work here, remember -- can get back to work. The DGA deal is set to go into effect on July 1st.
Update: DGA Clarifies Screener Policy, Dreamgirls Out of Luck
Filed under: Music & Musicals », Awards », Paramount », Dreamworks »
The film industry websites were a-flutter yesterday when the news broke that Paramount/Dreamworks planned to send screeners of Dreamgirls to all members of the Directors Guild of America. The studio wanted to make sure the DGA members knew that Bill Condon, who directed the film, should be considered for the guild's 2006 award. Rival studios were in an uproar, because it was believed that the DGA prohibited the sending of screeners to its members -- but apparently the DGA had never formally adopted such a rule. As long as other studios were notified when a promotional DVD of a movie was to be sent, it was perfectly okay. As soon as this rule was clarified, you could bet that every studio possible was preparing to send screeners to the DGA's 13,400 members.But before the pre-Christmas mail could be swamped with stacks of prestigious movies on DVD to deliver, the DGA decided to reverse its ruling. Dreamgirls will not be arriving in directors' mailboxes this Christmas -- DGA members will just have to hit a theater like the rest of us (although at least they can attend special guild screenings). The Wednesday announcement acnowledged that the previous rule was vague and misunderstood. Therefore, it was unfair to allow screeners this late in the process, since voting closes Jan. 8, without sufficient notice to all distributors to prepare. Next year, however, screeners will be permitted. Various mailing services and studio mailroom clerks are probably overjoyed. No word on how the Dreamgirls folks might feel about it, but if nothing else, the uproar in the media may have helped bring the film into the public eye.
DGA picks Brokeback
Filed under: Drama », Romance », Awards », Newsstand », Trophy Hysteric »
Like virtually every other awards panel this
winter, the Directors Guild of America yesterday named Ang Lee best
director for Brokeback Mountain, his
obscure film about gay cowboys (who yes, we know, aren't technically cowboys). As Erik pointed out when he revealed the nominees for
the award, the Academy and the DGA almost always agree on this category: in the 57 years both awards have been handed
out, on only six occasions have their honorees differed. This announcement, then, is sad news for Lee's fellow
nominees, Bennett Miller, Paul
Haggis, George Clooney and Steven Spielberg, the one surprise in the bunch.Interestingly, one of the six exceptions to the DGA-Oscars rule involved Lee: in 2001, the DGA honored him for his direction of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon but the Academy preferred Traffic, and named Steven Soderbergh their best director.
Discuss: Should Gay Actors Stay in the Closet?
Sundance '10 Announces Non-Competing Film Premieres
'Up in the Air' Named Best Film of the Year by NBR
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The International 'Iron Man 2' Poster Subtracts a Suit
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