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he Meet the Nominees Sym- posium, which happens the morning of the DGA Awards, is one of the most popular Guild events of the year. The five nominees for outstanding achievement in feature film take part, sharing secrets of their craft. The event was found- ed in 1992 by then-President Arthur Hiller with Special Proj- ects Committee Chair Jeremy Kagan, who has moderated ever since. The candid forum cov- ers all stages of the filmmaking process—preproduction, pro- duction, and postproduction. Among the more than 70 direc- tors who have taken part over the years are Steven Spielberg, Kathryn Bigelow, Martin Scorse- se, Barbra Streisand, Christopher Nolan, and Peter Jackson. Their comments have been published in two volumes of Directors Close Up, edited by Kagan. The popularity of the symposium has led to four other nominee craft discussions for directors of documenta- ries, movies for TV, commercials, and reality. FEATURE NOMINEES FORUM 1994 DGA Reaches Out to Independent Filmmaking Community >The DGA meets with prospective members among the independent filmmaking community at the Sundance, Toronto, and Hampton film festivals and Independent Feature Film Market. 1995 Jay D. Roth Named National Executive Director >He begins the process of developing new staff departments leading to creation of the present-day Credits, Communications, Government Affairs, and Research departments. " Our charge from the president and the board is to maintain the highest professional level of representation and service. We constantly challenge ourselves and the organization to be second to none. " JAY D. ROTH Residuals Reach $109 Million Membership Exceeds 10,000 Launches First Website >www.DGA.org Student Film Awards Founded >Founded by Gene Reynolds in his second term as president, the Student Film Awards are presented to women and minority student directors from nearly 150 schools around the country. Among the past winners, selected by representatives from each of the Guild's four diversity committees, are directors Ryan Coogler (Creed), Patricia Riggen (The 33), John M. Chu (G.I. Joe: Retaliation), Nicole Kassell (The Killing), and Sylvain White (Stomp the Yard). (from left) DGA Student Film Awards Committee Chair Gil Cates Jr., directors Carl Weathers, James Wong, (2nd from right) Zetna Fuentes, and (right) Reginald D. Brown present the 21st annual awards in 2015. DGA President Gene Reynolds presents first Directors Guild Student Award to David Riker for his film La Ciudad. dga quarterly 51 "It's a chance to get together in an informal way. [At the symposium] when you're answering questions, you realize everybody in that room knows exactly what you're talking about." —DANNY BOYLE | Winner of DGA Award for Slumdog Millionaire in 2008 PHOTOS: (CLOCKWISE, TOP LEFT) DGA ARCHIVES (2); BYRON GAMARRO; DGA ARCHIVES; JAY BROOKS T