Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/618780
1939 1941 ➨ " Some members were for calling an emergency meeting of all directors and asking for a strike vote. I suggested a more immediate power play: Disrupt the upcoming Academy Awards banquet. " FRANK CAPRA 1942 1943 1944 George Stevens Elected Third Guild President >Serves 1941-1943 Minimum Salaries Established >The 1939 AMPP agree- ment is appended to include minimum salaries for directors. Mark Sandrich Elected Guild President >Serves 1943-1944 John Cromwell Elected Guild President >Serves 1944-1946 Studios Recognize the Guild DGA.org/Recognition 38 dga quarterly >For three years—amid broken promises and bad faith—the Asso- ciation of Motion Picture Produc- ers (AMPP) had refused to recog- nize the Directors Guild as a bargain- ing unit. The case was still pending before the National Labor Relations Board. At the time, Frank Capra was serving as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Joseph M. Schenck, then president of 20th Century Fox, was lead- ing the producers. Capra threatened not only to resign as Academy president, but also to instigate an industry- wide boycott of the Academy Awards, which was just a week away. The moguls caved in and the Guild, representing 95 percent of directors and ADs in Hollywood, received blanket studio recognition on Feb. 18, 1939. Capra was elected president of the SDG. To top off the victory, Capra's film You Can't Take It With You won the Academy Award for best picture and best director. 1939 FIRST CONTRACT "The opposing sides of Hollywood's moviemaking family had reached a crucial accord and a crucial understanding. The directors had their Guild, their unity, and their victory. So did the movies." —MARTIN SCORSESE From DGA Moments in Time PHOTOS: DGA ARCHIVES; (TOP, RIGHT) EVERETT 80-YEAR ANNIVERSARY 80-YEAR ANNIVERSARY