The Assistant Directors and Unit Production Managers of the winning and nominated projects honored during the 68th Annual DGA Awards were celebrated during the AD/UPM Council West’s 13th Annual Meet the AD/UPMs event. Hosted by the Council’s Education Committee on February 20, DGA members gathered in the Guild’s Los Angeles Boardroom to hear firsthand what went into the making of these notable movies, television episodes and commercials.
The morning opened with a welcome from AD/UPM Council West Chair Marie Cantin, who spoke about the Council before turning the proceedings over to 2000 Frank Capra Achievement Award Recipient Cheryl Downey who served as the event's moderator.
After a brief explanation of how the day would proceed, Downey introduced the panelists: 1st ADs Scott Robertson from Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu DGA Award-winning feature film The Revenant and Matt Rebenkoff from Director Adam McKay’s DGA Award-nominated feature film The Big Short; UPMs Richard G. King from Director Sasie Sealy’s Children’s Programs Award-nominated episode of Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street, “Gortimer and the Vengeful Violinist” and Dara Weintraub from Director Matthew Weiner’s Dramatic Series Award-nominated episode of Mad Men, “Person to Person;” 2nd ADs Matthew Haggerty from Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu DGA Award-winning feature film The Revenant and Director Joel Edgerton’s First-Time Feature Award-nominated film The Gift and Michelle Gritzer from Director Chris Addison’s Comedy Series Award-winning episode of Veep, “Election Night;” 1st AD/2nd AD Eric Topp from Director Andreas Nilsson’s Commercial Award-winning Comcast spot Emily’s Oz and Director Steve Rogers’ Commercial Award-nominated Nike ad Snow Day; and UPM M. Blair Breard from Director Louis C.K.’s Comedy Award-nominated Louie episode “Sleepover” who participated via SKYPE.
Following a screening of clips from the nominated and award-winning works, Downey and the panelists covered a number of subjects including how to plan and budget a day, how to get what’s needed from background actors on an important scene, and how to balance the creative desires of a director with what’s feasible on a given day. After the discussion, members were able to mingle with and ask their own questions of the panelists.
About the Panelists:
- UPM M. Blair Breard
Based in New York, Breard has served as UPM and executive producer on all five seasons of Louie. Her resume includes the films Passion Fish, I Shot Andy Warhol and Margot at the Wedding. She joined the DGA in 1998.
- 2nd AD Michelle Gritzer
A DGA member since 2006, Gritzer began her career as a DGA Trainee. She joined the award-winning show Veep in season four as the Key 2nd AD and is currently finishing up season five. Her resume includes the series House M.D. and Banshee and the feature Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse.
- 2nd AD Matthew Haggerty
In addition to his work on Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant and Joel Edgerton’s The Gift, Haggerty’s other credits include the feature films Straight Outta Compton, Jurassic World and Tomorrowland and the series Arrested Development and Project Runway. He joined the DGA in 2010.
- UPM Richard G. King
A DGA member since 1997, King has worked on both single camera and multi-camera productions including Down Dog, Wendell and Vinnie, The League, and Hannah Montana.
- 1st AD Matt Rebenkoff
With his work on The Big Short, Rebenkoff continues his collaboration with Director Adam McKay having served as McKay’s 1st AD on the features Step Brothers, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and both Anchorman movies. His other 1st AD credits include Trainwreck, Bridesmaids, Semi-Pro and Knocked Up. He joined the DGA in 1995.
- 1st AD Scott Robertson
In addition to his work on Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant, Robertson’s other 1st AD credits include the feature films Foxcatcher, Zero Dark Thirty, Moneyball, Eat Pray Love and Superbad. He has been a DGA member since 1994.
- 1st AD/2nd AD Eric Topp
Since breaking into the business as a production assistant on feature films, music videos, and commercials, Topp has worked on several DGA Award-nominated commercials with directors including Noam Murro, Andreas Nilsson, and Steve Rogers. He joined the DGA in 2003.
- UPM Dara Weintraub
A DGA member since 1999, Weintraub’s UPM credits include the feature films Faster, Pineapple Express, Southland Tales, I Heart Huckabees, Planet of the Apes, and X-Men.
- Cheryl Downey (moderator)
After graduating from the Directors Guild-Producer Training Plan, Downey joined the Guild in 1975 and served on to the DGA’s Western AD/UPM Council for 27 years and the DGA National Board for 20 years. Her assistant director credits include films with directors Arthur Penn, Gil Cates, Jerry Paris, E.W. Swackhamer, and Ted Post. In 2000, she became the first female West Coast recipient of the Frank Capra Achievement Award.
About the Organizing Committee:
The Meet the AD/UPMs Organizing Committee was co-chaired by Peter E. Jackson and Redelia Shaw. The participating members were D. Scott Easton, Mark Hansson, Lucille OuYang, and Kelly Stevens. For more information on the AD/UPM Council, West, click here to visit their web pages.