What is the Director's Finder
Screening Series?
Since December 1998, the DGA has been screening independent films made under DGA agreements that do not currently have a U.S. distributor or previous TV or videocassette distribution. Designated the "Director's Finder Screening Series," the project is the brainchild of the Independent Directors Committee West and has been broadened to include feature films directed by DGA members before they joined the Guild. These screenings take place on designated Friday afternoons in the DGA theaters in Los Angeles and New York City.
This series showcases low-budget and independent films directed by DGA members in order to assist in their efforts to get distribution. It also demonstrates the Guild's ongoing support of independent filmmakers.
The films are chosen by lottery and are screened in the DGA's theaters at no cost to the filmmaker. The DGA announces each screening to our membership via our monthly calendar of events. It is up to the individual filmmakers to send out their own invitations to nonmembers and potential distributors. However, since the series' inception, many distributors have called the DGA, and started attending the screenings on their own.
Since the Director's Finder Screening Series was initiated, the Guild has screened more than 75 independent films. Of those films, approximately 29% have gone on to secure distribution. Several participating filmmakers have directly acknowledged the Director's Finder Screening Series as providing the key screening which eventually led to their films being picked up.
