Directors Guild of America (DGA)

Overview

The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is the labor union representing 19,500 directors, unit production managers, assistant directors, associate directors, and stage managers working in film, television, commercials, documentaries, news, sports, and new media in the United States. Founded in 1936 as the Screen Directors Guild, the DGA merged with the Radio and Television Directors Guild in 1960. The current president is Christopher Nolan, with Laura Belsey as National Vice President and Paris Barclay as Secretary-Treasurer.

The DGA negotiates its Basic Agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), setting minimum compensation, residuals, creative rights, and working conditions for all covered members on union productions. The 2023 Basic Agreement runs through June 30, 2026, with wage increases of 5% (July 2023), 4% (July 2024), and 3.5% (July 2025). In June 2026, DGA members ratified a new four-year contract with the studios and streamers.

If you are a director or directorial team member working on a union production in the United States, the DGA governs your minimum pay, your residuals, your creative rights, and your on-set working conditions. Producers who sign a DGA agreement commit to hiring DGA-covered personnel and paying DGA minimums and benefit contributions for the duration of the production.

Notable Members and Leadership

The DGA's membership includes most working directors in American film and television. The current president is Christopher Nolan, elected in 2025 after serving on the negotiating committee. The National Vice President is Laura Belsey and the Secretary-Treasurer is Paris Barclay. National Executive Director Russell Hollander leads the Guild's professional staff and served as chief negotiator for the 2026 contract.

Past presidents reflect the Guild's history and the stature of its leadership:

Recent DGA Award nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Features illustrate the caliber of active members. The 2025 nominees were Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another), Ryan Coogler (Sinners), Guillermo del Toro (Frankenstein), Josh Safdie (Marty Supreme), and Chloé Zhao (Hamnet). The 2023 nominees included Greta Gerwig (Barbie), Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things), Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer), Alexander Payne (The Holdovers), and Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon). Other prominent members include Steven Spielberg, Denis Villeneuve, Jane Campion, Ava DuVernay, and Spike Lee.

Membership Costs and Requirements

Initiation Fees

The DGA's initiation fees vary by category and budget level. The regular (high-budget) initiation fee for directors is $15,320, updated annually on July 1. Directors joining through the Low Budget Agreement (productions under $11 million) pay a reduced initiation of $5,000, with 40% payable upfront and the remainder spread over one year. When a low-budget director later works on a high-budget production, they pay the difference.

Other categories have separate initiation fees:

• Unit Production Manager: approximately $12,062
• First Assistant Director: approximately $11,470
• Second Assistant Director: approximately $7,686
• Associate Director: approximately $6,912
• Stage Manager: approximately $6,376

Dues

DGA membership dues have three components:

1. Basic dues: $62.50 per quarter ($250 annually)
2. Income dues: 1.6% of gross earnings from DGA-covered employment, payable on annual income between $10,000 and $825,000
3. Residual dues: 1% of all residuals received under DGA collective bargaining agreements

Gross earnings include base salary, overtime, residuals, deferments, percentage compensation, vacation and holiday pay, profit participation, and fees of all kinds. Members report earnings quarterly:

How to Join

Directors cannot simply apply for DGA membership. You must either:

1. Be hired by a DGA-signatory company to direct a project, or
2. Develop a feature-length project and make your production company signatory to the DGA

In rare cases, a director who has directed feature films with bona fide US theatrical releases and significant critical acclaim or commercial success may be invited to join, subject to review by the appropriate Director's Council.

For assistant directors and UPMs, the path typically involves working on DGA-signatory productions and accumulating enough days to qualify for membership in your specific category.

How Eligibility Actually Works in Practice

The DGA's entry system confuses many filmmakers because it is not an open-application union. You do not "apply" the way you would for a credit card. The Guild only admits people who are already working, or about to work, on a signatory production. Here is how each path actually plays out:

The "get hired" path. A studio, network, streamer, or independent production company that has signed a DGA collective bargaining agreement hires you to direct. When you accept the job, the company is obligated to notify the DGA, and you must join before or shortly after starting work. The initiation fee is deducted or paid upfront. This is how most television and studio feature directors join.

The "make your own company signatory" path. This is the indie route and the one most independent directors use. You develop a feature-length project, form a production company, and approach the DGA to make your company signatory before production begins. The DGA reviews your project, confirms it meets the agreement requirements, and your company signs on. You then become eligible for membership through your own production. The Low Budget Agreement (under $11 million) makes this viable for independent features, with a reduced $5,000 initiation fee. When you later direct a high-budget production, you pay the difference between the low-budget and regular initiation fees.

The invitation path. A director with an established body of work, theatrical releases, and significant critical or commercial recognition can sometimes be invited to join without a pending signatory job. This is rare and requires review by the appropriate Director's Council. The Guild uses this path selectively for directors whose careers predate or exist outside the signatory system.

The AD and UPM path. Assistant directors and unit production managers qualify by accumulating work days on DGA-signatory productions. The specific day requirements vary by category and region. In Los Angeles, days must be verified through Contract Services (CSATF) before placement on the Industry Experience Roster. This path is more structured than the director path because AD and UPM roles are filled through the DGA system on union productions.

Financial Core. Under federal labor law, you can elect Financial Core status, which allows you to work on DGA productions without full membership. Financial Core non-members pay a reduced fee but cannot vote in Guild elections, run for office, or hold Guild office. Most working directors do not choose this path because it forfeits the political and community benefits of membership.

Minimum Compensation (2025-2026 Rate Cards)

The DGA Basic Agreement sets minimum weekly salaries for directors based on budget level. For the period July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026:

The Low Budget Agreement covers films up to $11 million across four levels:

At each level, director and team minimums are calculated as a percentage of full scale rates, with additional waivers applying at lower levels. For example, vacation and unworked holiday pay does not apply until Level 4c ($8.5M to $11M).

Full rate cards for all categories are available at dga.org/contracts/rates-2025-to-2026.

Creative Rights and Protections

The DGA Basic Agreement includes creative rights provisions that go beyond compensation. The most significant is the director's right to the first cut of a theatrical feature, with a minimum cutting period of ten weeks for features over 90 minutes. The agreement also protects director credit, governs the right to have a name removed from a film under certain circumstances, and establishes on-set safety standards for directorial team members.

The DGA negotiates minimum rest periods (turnaround), travel provisions, and meal penalties. Violations trigger contractual penalties payable to the affected crew member.

Benefits Breakdown

The DGA-Producer Pension and Health Plans are the most valuable financial benefit of membership. They are separate legal entities from the Guild itself, administered by a Board of Trustees with equal representation from the DGA and the producers. The Plans are funded entirely by employer contributions, not by member dues.

Pension Plan (created 1960). Two components: the Basic Pension Plan, a defined benefit plan that pays a monthly retirement benefit based on credited earnings and years of service, and the Supplemental Pension Plan, a defined contribution plan. To qualify for a normal pension, you must be at least age 60 with 20 years of credited service. The 2026 contract increased employer pension and health contributions significantly.

Health Plan (created 1969). Provides medical, dental, vision, and prescription drug coverage for participants and their families. As of January 1, 2026, the minimum earnings threshold to qualify for the DGA Choice Plan is $41,215 per year. A higher threshold applies to the DGA Premier Choice Plan. The 2026 Basic Agreement raised employer health contributions from 11.25% to 14% of compensation, the largest increase in the Health Plan's history, addressing projections that the Plan's reserves would otherwise be exhausted by 2030.

Residuals. The DGA collects and distributes residuals for reuse of covered work, including streaming, syndication, home video, and international reuse. The 2026 contract included meaningful residual improvements across all areas. Members receive residual payments directly, tracked through the Guild's residuals system.

Creative rights. Beyond financial benefits, the Basic Agreement protects the director's right to the first cut of a theatrical feature (minimum 10-week cutting period for features over 90 minutes), director credit, and the right to have a name removed from a film under defined circumstances.

Professional and educational benefits. Members access the DGA Theater in Los Angeles and New York for screenings, the DGA Video Portal archive of craft interviews and symposia, the Director's Finder Screening Series for unreleased independent films, and the Independent Directors Committees (IDC East and IDC West) for community and career support. The Guild also provides contract enforcement, legal support for credit disputes, and safety advocacy on set.

What Filmmakers Should Know

For Producers

Signing a DGA agreement commits your production to using DGA-covered directors and directorial team members, paying DGA minimums, and making pension and health plan contributions. For independent productions, the Low Budget Agreement makes signatory status viable below the studio budget tier, with reduced minimums scaled to your budget level. Download the full Low Budget Agreement brochure from the DGA website for rate cards at each level.

For Directors

Working non-union does not automatically disqualify you from future DGA membership, but the DGA tracks work on non-signatory productions. Joining requires demonstrating eligibility through covered work on a signatory production. Directors who build careers on non-union projects should understand that transitioning to union work requires either being hired onto a signatory production or making their own company signatory.

For Assistant Directors and UPMs

The DGA represents the entire directorial team, not just directors. First ADs, second ADs, UPMs, associate directors, and stage managers all fall under DGA jurisdiction on union productions. Career advancement in these roles on union sets requires DGA membership, which in turn requires qualifying through work on signatory productions.

See Also

For context on how the DGA Basic Agreement interacts with below-the-line union agreements, see IATSE in this directory. For how directorial compensation structures appear in film budgets, see Above the Line vs Below the Line. Use the Indie Film Budget Calculator to estimate how DGA minimums and benefit contributions affect your production budget. For current DGA rate cards and the full Basic Agreement, visit dga.org/contracts.