DGA President Michael Apted opens the show and welcomes host Hank Azaria. - photos by Peter Kramer/Getty Images - click images for larger views

Azaria opens with a hilarious monologue.

Actor Don Cheadle presents the DGA Honor trophy to Danny Glover.

Sopranos star Lorraine Bracco speaks about NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg accepts the 2006 DGA Honors award.

Anthology Film Archives' founder Jonas Mekas accepts the DGA Honors trophy from editor Thelma Schoonmaker.

Director Jonathan Demme with 2006 DGA Honoree, Director Arthur Penn.

Presenter/Director Peter Bogdanovich speaks about his friend David Chase.

Presenter/Sopranos star Steven Van Zandt, honoree David Chase and Presenter/Sopranos star James Gandolfini.

DGA President Michael Apted opened the show by emphasizing that each of the honorees, despite their different backgrounds; share a deep commitment to New York City. “Tonight we recognize the outstanding achievements of four visionary individuals and one institution that in their won way have made this city and the world a better place to live,” Apted said. He noted that film and television production was booming in the city – a topic Mayor Bloomberg would revisit – and singled out special guests including IATSE President Tom Short, SAG President Alan Rosenberg and former MPAA Chairman Jack Valenti. Hank Azaria, a four-time Emmy winner and the voice of many characters of The Simpsons, hosted the event, welcoming each of the presenters and providing his unique brand of wit and humor.

Don Cheadle introduced Glover and paid tribute to his “body of work and selfless devotion to others.” Glover thanked the many directors he has worked with over the years “for allowing me to believe that I can make a contribution to their vision and that our imaginations meet in so many ways.”

Thelma Schoonmaker, the Academy Award-winning editor and frequent collaborator with Martin Scorsese, introduced Jonas Mekas, founder of the Anthology Film Archives. Since the late 1960s, the New York City-based organization has been a leading force in preserving and promoting independent and avant-garde filmmaking. “From the time (Scorsese) and I were film students until now, Jonas has remained a beacon for us,” she said. Mekas said film must be appreciated as a tree with many branches, all of which are deserving of respect. “We love cinema and want it to be available for those who will see it and need it after us,” Mekas said. “But we also respect all those we preceded (so) know that we are not going to let you down.”

Peter Bogdanovich paid tribute to Chase, saying, “HBO’s The Sopranos has raised the bar very high for series TV and surely the greatest boon to a marked general improvement in any culture is the popular success of something with real quality because it encourages more of the same.” The Sopranos stars James Gandolfini and Steven Van Zandt presented the DGA Honor. Chase said he had hoped “to write a TV pilot to break all the mainstream TV rules that I’ve been dealing with over the years.” In accepting the DGA Honor, Chase thanked all of the series’ directors, including Tim Van Patten, Allen Coulter, Alan Taylor, Steve Buscemi, Bogdanovich, Henry Bronchtein and the late John Patterson. He also thanked the assistant directors, UPMs and other crew.

Acclaimed director Arthur Penn, lauded for Bonnie and Clyde and The Miracle Worker, among other films, was introduced by Jonathan Demme, who said Penn was being honored “for his daring and innovative contributions to film, theater and television.” Penn, like the other recipients, said he was honored to be in such esteemed company and thanked the DGA for selecting him. “You are a tough group and to be singled out for the influence my films have exerted on American Cinema is a source of considerable pleasure to me and I am profoundly grateful. In reminiscing about his career, Penn said he had one unfulfilled ambition: “I wish I had been bolder. Too often I censored myself. That’s a terrible thing. It’s the very obverse of creating. To you on the edge of your careers as filmmakers ‘don’t hold back.’ Let us see your human secret. It’s your gold: share it.”

Mayor Bloomberg was introduced by Lorraine Bracco, another of the many stars of The Sopranos who attended DGA Honors. Bloomberg was a “magnificent man with an unwavering commitment to the film and television industry in New York City,” she said. “Under the mayor’s leadership, a once-neglected aspect of this city’s economy has been revitalized.” As evidence, she said the industry employs 100,000 New Yorkers, contributes $5 billion to the economy and supports about 4,000 local businesses. Bloomberg thanked the contributions of the city’s film commissioner, Katherine Oliver, who helped create the “Made in New York” incentive program. Bloomberg also said the city has natural attributes that make it an ideal production hub, from its diverse population and workforce to its expanding soundstage industry and world-famous sites. “That makes it attractive from an economic and from an (matter of) ease point of view. But what you really want to do is have the best people and every time I talk to a director, they say the union people here are the best, the actors are the best, and we have 8.2 million people who want to be I your movie – and they’re the best.” The Mayor also said that, for all his achievements, there was something else he wished to accomplish. “What I always really wanted to do was direct. It’s true. Actually, if you think about it, being a mayor is very much like being a director. We both have to deal with budgets, critics, unions, and everyone in the case of our city thinks they’re stars.”

“DGA Honors was a tremendous success in bringing together the extraordinary film and television community of New York City, and to showcase the Guild’s central role in it,” said DGA National Executive Director Jay D. Roth. The 2006 DGA Honors Committee was chaired by National Vice President Steven Soderbergh, and included Ed Sherin, Jace Alexander, Dan Algrant, Larry Auerbach, Scott Berger, William M. Brady, Barbara DeFina, Jeff Hayes, David Jones, Dana Kuznetzkoff and Vince Misiano.