Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/836388
2 I D G A M O N T H L Y Dear Members: "Ain't no stoppin' us now — we're on the move!" Back in 1979, as I graduated college, that was my song. But everything didn't go as planned. Many of you know, before the DGA found me, I was on the edge of nowhere. Directing non-union music videos in New York, no residuals, no pension, no real future. Paying (a lot) for my own health insurance, wondering if this could ever be a career. Replaced on my fi rst feature (non-DGA) by two producers. And I had no recourse. But getting a shot at directing an episode of television changed all that. I got that card — that card we all hold — and it changed. Suddenly I was part of a community. A community of directors and their teams that changed the trajectory of my life. Suddenly, I had a pension plan (in the days when retirement seemed far, far away.) I now had health insurance — and it was great. But best of all, I had others who shared a desire to help each other, to inspire each other, to protect each other. I could tell my story, and they understood. Often, it was also theirs. "I know we've got a long, long way to go. And where we'll end up? I don't know." But I knew I had to start. So, I said, in return, let me begin to help. Let me be a part of continuing this amazing thing called the Directors Guild of America. And for some reason they let me in, fi rst as co-chair of the African American Steering Committee and then on the Western Directors Council, then three terms as 3rd VP, four as 1st VP — and for the last four years as your President. The engine that's propelled our Guild to ever-higher heights has been the active and selfl ess service of our members. We never would've had the kind of remarkable achievements — like excellent compensation, residuals, and health and pension plans — without the participation and drive of so many members for more than 80 years. From Vidor, Ford, Capra and Stevens in our earlier years to Wise, Cates, Apted and Hackford and now my fi ne fellow offi cers on the National Board today. Specifi cally, National VP Vince Misiano, Secretary-Treasurer Michael Apted, and VP's Betty Thomas, Brooke Kennedy, Thomas Schlamme, Mary Rae Thewlis, Jon Favreau, John LiBretto and Asst. Secretary-Treasurer, Scott Berger. I thank each of you for your wisdom, guidance and great humor. "We're gonna get ourselves together, we're gonna polish up our act." And get together we did – with literally hundreds of active members involved in leadership on the National Board, our six Category Councils and our many Committees representing all categories, genres and geographic regions — volunteering their time and energy to be part of the Guild's leadership. They work hand-in-hand with the Guild's top-notch professionals — a group of committed executives and their support staff who dedicate their working lives to protecting and advancing our rights. Farewell Letter from President Paris Barclay DGA President Paris Barclay 2013 trades announcement of Barclay's election as DGA President visiting members on the set of the CBS Evening News in NY in 2013 with fellow offi cers and Guild leadership and Board Members at the DGA National Board meeting in February 2017 with members in London at the 2013 LCC Annual meeting