DGA Monthly

M A R C H 2 0 2 6 I 3 3 See more detailed descriptions and additional photos, where available, online at www.dga.org. DGA Events Roundup As part of its ongoing outreach to emerging and independent directors, the Guild partnered with Deadline at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival to spotlight the creative leadership of Directors navigating a rapidly changing industry. The event builds on a longer collaboration between the DGA and Deadline to elevate the role of the director at key festivals, reinforcing the Guild's commitment to supporting filmmakers at pivotal moments in their careers. On January 30, DGA members with films at the festival gathered for the Sundance Breakout Moment: The Director's Cut panel, which was opened by DGA Special Assignments Executive Jennifer Peat and moderated by Deadline Editorial Director Anthony D'Alessandro. The panel featured Directors Gregg Araki (I Want Your Sex), Tamra Davis (The Best Summer), Jay Duplass (See You When I See You), and Alexandria Stapleton (The Brittney Griner Story), who spoke candidly about the perseverance required to make independent films at a time when the motion picture industry is being squeezed by studio consolidation and shifting business models. Panelists discussed the challenges of getting projects off the ground while highlighting the advantages of Guild membership during periods of uncertainty. Speaking about the current trend of consolidation, Araki said, "Everyone doesn't know what's going to happen." Noting that the DGA remains a stable constant for indie filmmakers amid industry disruption, Davis added, "They watch out for you and get you paid. The union has your back. If anything is weird on set, there's somebody who is there for you." Stapleton praised the DGA for fostering a sense of connection among Directors, saying, "What the Guild has done for me, it has forged community with other filmmakers." Duplass emphasized the importance of Guild protections, training, and minimums, noting the pressures directors face on set. "Directing is by far the hardest job a million times over. Everything is on your shoulders—you're the fulcrum that everything, financial and emotional, comes through on a film," he said. "That whole mechanism [the DGA] determines whether you hate your life on set. If you hate your life on set, that determines whether you make a good movie." Founded by DGA member Robert Redford in 1981, the Sundance Institute is a not-for-profit organization that fosters the development of original storytelling in film and theatre and presents the annual Sundance Film Festival. The 2026 festival marks Sundance's final year in Park City, Utah, before relocating to Boulder, Colorado, in 2027. photo: DGA Director-Members Alexandria Stapleton, Gregg Araki, Tamra Davis and Jay Duplass. DGA AT SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL An Independent Directors Outreach photo by Everett Fitch courtesy of Deadline Recent Visual History Addition View more excerpts and interviews in the Visual History Collection via the link on the homepage of www.dga.org. J. Rupert Thompson interviewed by Rich Kim Director J. Rupert Thompson discusses his experiences in directing reality television, how feature films have influenced his shooting styles, and his Guild service representing his category. Thompson on the POV cameras in Fear Factor: "As the show went through its growth, season over season, POV technology started to develop as well. [Our vendor] found this medical imaging camera — it looked like an ice cube — and a lens manufacturer to make a series of lenses specifically for this camera. I said, 'Ideally, I would love four different kinds of lenses. I want super-wide angle so I can see kind of everything like a fisheye type of a lens, then one that's a little bit tighter and then one that's like a really kind of a long lens that I can use for specific shots.' What we came up with was a 2.8, a 4, an 8, and a 15. The reason for that was I needed to get all these shots at the same time because it's only happening once. So, I wanted to have every one of those shots at any given time so the Editor had all these different choices. A big part of Fear Factor was not just seeing the challenge, but gloriously seeing the challenge again and again in repeat. Just that John Woo ballet of action, right? You know, where you would see something from this angle, and then from this angle and the music would be playing. It was like a ballet. A crazy, fucked up ballet." The DGA's Visual History Program website contains hundreds of hours of videotaped interviews with Directors and Director's team members discussing their careers and reflections on all aspects of the creative process in film, television and other media. These interviews are indexed for quick retrieval of segments pertaining to specific topics of interest within a particular interview or across the entire collection.

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