by Darrell L. Hope

Over the last 20 years, the Directors Guild has singled out 16 members to receive the Frank Capra Achievement Award. Awarded to an assistant director or unit production manager, the Capra Award is given in recognition of both career achievement in the industry and service to the DGA. Past recipients have included such legendary figures as Abby Singer, Wallace Worsley and Bob Jeffords, whose ‘Jeffords Rules' are renowned throughout the profession. This year the first West Coast woman adds her name to that honor roll, DGA member Cheryl Downey.

A member of the Guild since 1975, Downey began her career after graduating from UCLA. She worked as a theatre and film professor at L.A. Harbor College before trying her hand at film production. "I got a job as a production coordinator on a feature in Florida where I worked with outstanding Guild members Tim Zinnemann and Fred Brost. They told me about the AD Training Program. I took the test and was accepted."

Barely a year after joining the Guild, Downey became an active member of the AD/UPM Council. She says her early entry into Guild service is due to her mentor, Wallace Worsley. "Wally had been particularly hard on me in the trainee interview. He leaned down this long table of men and asked how I thought a ‘girl' could run a crew of men? After I became a trainee, my first assignment was at Universal where he was the production manager on a picture called Death Race about a WWII tank chasing a plane through the desert. He went to the head of production and asked that I be assigned to this movie. I was the only woman on the crew. He later told me that he wanted to see if I would sink or swim. He figured I would swim, but he was going to make sure. From that time on he became a friend and Wally encouraged me to put my name in the running to be elected to the Council. He was already on the Council as were the greats in our category like Abby Singer, who also turned out to be a wonderful mentor for me. Seeing the dedication of these men, I really felt like I was sitting at the feet of giants and learning a great deal about the Guild. It was a gratifying growth experience so I continued to run."

Downey feels that her history of volunteering has not only been a catalyst to others but has also allowed her to be an active participant in historically important times in the progress of the DGA. She was a strong presence in the earliest days of the DGA's Women's Steering Committee. Originally called the Women's Committee, the group was founded in 1979 to expose the deplorable hiring statistics for women directors. Downey became the first AD member of the Committee when she pointed out that the statistics were just as bad for the below-the-line female members of the Guild.

Another accomplishment Downey is proud of is helping to make the DGA Board aware of the severity of the problem of compressed end credits on the TV screen. "When the producers took away full-screen credits, we formed a committee of directors, AD/SMs and AD/UPMs and negotiated with the producers and got some really amazing footholds in exchange for the right for them to do this. Although full-screen credits are obviously what we deserve, at least in the process we won a number of things that protect it and now our Council constantly monitors that."

Downey was also a participant in the Guild's early attempts at combating unfair Canadian labor practices. "I did a television movie with Gil Cates directing in 1984 called Consenting Adult. Because Gil took a stand for me to be brought into Canada as his AD, the Canadian Guild allowed it. The AD/UPM/TC Council came up with a plan to alert directors that if they really made an effort, they could be successful in bringing their AD along. We went to the Director's Council, made a presentation and kept publicizing successful examples. That was 16 years ago at the tip of the Canadian iceberg. Thank goodness we're now dealing with it on a state and national level."

However, perhaps her proudest achievement is her work with the very program that started her career. "Of all the Guild boards and committees I'm involved with, the one that is nearest and dearest to my heart is the Training Program. Without the Training Program I think the diversity in this industry would be sorely lacking. More than half of all women and minorities listed on the Southern California Qualifications List came in through the Training Program. It's made an outstanding contribution to this industry and given an entry to talented people who might not otherwise have had a chance."

And just as she was mentored, Downey has enjoyed the opportunity to do the same for others. "It's the teacher in me," she laughed. "I like to pass the torch and I get a lot of satisfaction out of that. I've mentored many trainees and helped a couple of people get into the Guild who had accumulated their days. Claire Durand, the 2nd 2nd AD on Becker, came up to me the other day and said, ‘I wanted to tell you, you are one of the people who repeatedly recommended and encouraged me and was always available to give advice.'"

Presently, Downey is the UPM on the CBS sitcom Becker. She speaks glowingly of the DGA members she works with on a daily basis. "We really have a dream team. Randy Carter, the 1st AD, and I worked together years ago on Dear John and Brian Fong, our 2nd AD, is just terrific. Chris Broughm, our TC, only technically has to work three days a week but he comes in daily. Andy Ackerman directs most of our shows. When I say dream team, the dream all starts with him. He knows his work and he's low key and great with cast and crew alike. Our whole team wouldn't be nearly so brilliant were it not for the irreverent creative material given to us by executive producer Dave Hackel. Add diplomatic leadership from fellow DGA member and producer Tim Berry and the wonderful talent and professionalism of star Ted Danson, and you see why I love coming to work."

Although she has moved back and forth between feature films and television with ease over the span of her career, Downey admits that while she still loves feature work, television has worked best for her family life. "As a single mom with kids of 8 and 13, I find that the multi-camera format works best for me now. I had gone out of my way to keep contacts in both worlds so I could keep my options open in movies for television and feature films, but I decided that I really needed the hours afforded by multi-camera work to be a good mom."

And how does this good mom feel about being awarded one of her Guild's highest honors? "I'm thrilled," she says. "I feel it's so important that this Award for an assistant director or production manager is named for a Director because that is who we serve. We are there to help realize the director's dream. And the director this Award is named for happens to be a hero of mine. I have loved not only Frank Capra's films but also his personal integrity. After all, Frank Capra was DGA President when the producers demanded the directors throw Assistant Directors out of the Guild. Capra went to the mat for us, so I'm deeply honored by my peers' selection. I had hoped to be considered for this Award some day but it's a tough group who nominates. It's a committee of the former winners. They're incredible people, like Abby Singer and Howard Koch. It did seem for awhile that you needed to be in the Guild for 40 years before you could be considered for the Award, so it was really a total surprise. I'm deeply grateful to be in the company of such giants."

Table of Contents     Top of Page