Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/618780
SDG Represents 95 Percent of Film Directors and ADs in Hollywood The Screen Directors Guild Is Born >Articles of incorporation filed in Sacramento on Jan. 13, 1936. King Vidor is named first president. The first general member- ship meeting is held at the Hollywood Athletic Club. SDG's first offices open in the Crossroads of the World building in Holly- wood. DGA.org/Founding 1936 1937 1938 KING VIDOR " The Screen Directors Guild was organized solely by and for the motion picture director…. We are not anti- anything: the Guild being formed for the purpose of assisting and improving the director's work in the form of a collective body, rather than as an individual. " >"Women's dramatic sense is invaluable to the motion picture industry," said Dorothy Arzner, whose contributions include being the first female member of the Directors Guild. In early Hollywood, Arzner was a typist, screenwriter, editor, and ultimately, director. She is believed to have developed the boom mic, enabling actors to move and speak more easily in early talkies. At one time under contract to Paramount, Arzner is best known for directing such strong personalities as Clara Bow, Claudette Colbert, Katharine Hepburn, and Joan Crawford in films such as Honor Among Lovers (1931) and Christopher Strong (1933). "Maintain conscious control of your medium—nothing ran- dom," was her philoso- phy. She later taught at the Pasadena Playhouse and UCLA, where she inspired generations of filmmakers including Francis Ford Coppola. DGA.org/Arzner dga quarterly 37 1938 DOROTHY ARZNER First Female Member "I worked on my first project under her supervision. And after—I think it was the second day—she sat there looking at me, nodding her head, and said, 'You're going to be a very successful director.'" —FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA PHOTOS: (CLOCKWISE, TOP LEFT): AMPAS; EVERETT; BISON ARCHIVES; DGA ARCHIVES; AMPAS SDG Admits ADs Francisco "Chico" Day Becomes the First Mexican-American Member of the Directors Guild DGA.org/Day