Dear Members:

It’s been just two weeks since the beginning of my term as president of the DGA. The past days have been a whirlwind of meetings, greetings and getting organized. It’s an incredible privilege to serve as your president, and I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself and let you know how I became involved in service to our Guild.

I’ve been a proud DGA member since 1974. My path to filmmaking and to Guild leadership, like that of so many fellow members, was not a direct one. In college at USC, I was a pre-law major, focusing on international relations and economics and was pretty sure my goal was to address social change through law. But as a senior I started hanging out with some of the film students and became interested in the power of film as political tool. After graduation, I entered the Peace Corps, landing in Bolivia where I worked at a vocational school. In my spare time, I started to experiment with Super 8 film. After my assignment ended, I managed to go to law school for two weeks, but I realized that filmmaking was my true passion and just got up and left to pursue it.

With no clear prospects and no film training, I applied for a job at the public television station in LA, KCET. Luckily, they gave me a job in the mail room from which I was able to begin my career. KCET became my film school – allowing me to begin by shooting news reports and creating music shows. Before long I was pioneering presentations of uninterrupted rock n’ roll performances on U.S. television and was fortunate to have the opportunity to create several award-winning documentaries (Bukowski) for the station’s cultural department and serve as an investigative reporter in the news division, winning two Emmy Awards for journalism.

In 1979, my short film, Teenage Father, won the Academy Award for best live-action short film. This led to the opportunity to direct features, beginning with The Idolmaker, followed by An Officer and a Gentleman, for which I received a DGA Award nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement. That nomination opened a window for me to see first-hand the importance the Guild places on the celebration of our craft and our creative rights.

Soon after, former DGA President Robert Wise asked me to sit on the Special Projects Committee and help with the Guilds educational programs. In 1996, I was elected to the Western Directors Council, where I realized that I had a voice and an opportunity to help make decisions for the Guild that could affect our members. At first I kept my mouth shut and listened (not an easy thing for a director to do). There were many smart people in the Guild leadership with years of experience so there was much to learn. When I began to express my opinion people were respectful and listened. They didn’t throw me out. It was a real participatory democracy and I loved it.

In 2002, a seat on the Board opened up and I was appointed to fill that position. By then, I was well-acquainted with the seriousness and thoughtfulness with which board members conducted themselves. I became even more committed to the Guild and eventually was elected Third Vice President in 2005, a position I held for four years. I have also served on the Creative Rights Committee, co-chaired the DGA Task Force on Social Responsibility and chaired our Political Action Committee, which maintains an engaged and effective presence with lawmakers on the state and federal level on the important political issues that affect directors and their teams.

I step into this new position both aware and in awe of the outstanding legacy of leadership we’ve been so privileged to enjoy at the DGA. We’ve been led by active working members who never forgot that their first obligation was to protect and advance the economic and creative rights of our members. That’s our birthright, and I believe that each member of this Guild has inherited a bit of that responsibility. With a firm and steady hand, the Guild’s leadership has always steered us straight no matter how rocky the waters.

I’d like to particularly acknowledge Michael Apted, who, in his six years as president, taught me that the best thing a president can do is to listen. And that is what I see as my first and foremost duty in these initial months – listening to each of you and your ideas as we prepare for the challenges ahead.

Best,
Taylor Hackford