Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/618780
>After years of back-and-forth negotiations, the New York-based Radio & Television Directors Guild, representing directors working live or on tape, and the Los Angeles-based Screen Directors Guild, representing directors working on film, agreed that one guild would be in the best interests of all of their members. The new Directors Guild of America was made up of 2,068 directors, assis- tant directors, associate directors, stage managers, and program assistants. Frank Capra was elected president of the DGA. The merger unified bargain- ing power under one roof and brought together in a single union all directors and the teams that support them. In addition, it made the DGA unique among entertainment craft unions for uniting East and West, thus covering all areas of technology and craft—fea- tures, television, news, and sports. 1960 THE MERGER OF THE GUILDS "What the merger achieved is that directors and members of the directorial team, regardless of the medium in which they worked, were now unified—and that unity has been key in furthering the rights for all members ever since." —SCOTT BERGER | Assistant Secretary- Treasurer 1961 1963 George Sidney Elected President for Second Term >Serves 1961-1967 Assistant Directors Local 161, IATSE, Merges With DGA JOHN RICH 1960 ➨ RTDG and SDG Merge to Form Directors Guild of America DGA.org/Merger First Residuals for Features Aired on TV "Wendell and Fred's DGA membership broke an important barrier, and the struggles each overcame in the decades to follow helped to pave the way for African- Americans in the industry. We continue to forge forward in honor of their memory." —MILLICENT SHELTON | Former Co-Chair African American Steering Committee "I had a hard time when I walked on some lots. I got the treatment now and then—from actors, from crew, from production men. They gave me a rough time, but hell, I didn't expect it was going to be easy." —WENDELL FRANKLIN First African- American Members, Wendell Franklin and Fred Lights, Inducted Into the Newly Merged DGA " My argument [for the merger] was always that we should be known as directors of people, not machinery. I said I didn't want to be categorized as an electronic [TV] director or a film director—I was a director of stories. That carried the day, I think. " Merger negotiators include (left to right) Ernest Ricca, Joseph Youngerman, unidentified man, and Jack Shea. 42 dga quarterly PHOTOS: (CLOCKWISE, TOP RIGHT) COURTESY JOHN RICH; BRIAN DAVIS; AMPAS; EVERETT; DGA ARCHIVES; AMPAS; COURTESY JACK SHEA; MARCIE REVENS 80-YEAR ANNIVERSARY 80-YEAR ANNIVERSARY Wendell Franklin Fred Lights