Directors Guild of America

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Directors Guild of America (DGA) is the labor union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry. Founded as the "Screen Directors Guild" in 1936, the group became the DGA in 1960.

As a union that seeks to organize an individual profession, rather than multiple professions across an industry, the DGA is a craft union. It represents directors, associate directors, unit production managers, stage managers, and production assistants in television, and directors, assistant directors, and stage managers in film.

The Guild has various training programs whereby successful applicants are placed in various productions and can gain experience working in the film or television industry.

As of 2003, the guild had about 12,700 members. The DGA headquarters are located on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.

Not all Hollywood directors are DGA members. Notable directors such as George Lucas, Quentin Tarantino, and Robert Rodriguez have refused membership or resigned from the guild over creative differences. Those who aren't members of the guild are unable to direct for the larger movie studios, which are signatories to the guild's agreements that all directors must be guild members. Despite this, they have produced critically-acclaimed and financially successful films, including Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Pulp Fiction, and Sin City, respectively.

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