On May 10, nearly 100 Production Managers, Assistant Directors, Associate Directors, Stage Managers and Production Associates were invited to an evening of networking and conversation at Guild Headquarters in Los Angeles during the annual Building a Bridge for the Future mixer. The event which provided these director’s team members with an opportunity to make connections and establish relationships for the future, was hosted by the DGA Diversity Committees and included participation from the African American Steering Committee, Asian American Committee, Latino Committee, and the Women’s Steering Committee. While open to all DGA members, this event was specifically designed for the Guild’s women and ethnic minority members in keeping with the Guild’s mission of increasing the level of diversity behind the camera.
The event kicked off with a welcome from event producer Pamela Monroe during the brief prep workshop in the boardroom. The workshop, conducted by DGA Assistant Executive Director/Director of Diversity Frank Bennett Gonzalez, covered tools and tips to interviewing that might prove helpful during the mixer that followed.
After the workshop, the action moved downstairs to the DGA Atrium where a reception allowed the participants to engage in meet and greet sessions with a group of forty invited Producers, Unit Production Managers and Production Executives with hiring authority which included:
- UPM Larry Albucher (Loving Leah)
- Partner/Chief Creative Officer Dan Angel (EveryWhere Studios)
- Producer/UPM Franny Baldwin (Children’s Hospital)
- UPM Philipp A. Barnett (Love)
- Producer/UPM Nan Bernstein Freed (Aquarius)
- Producer Pieter Jan Brugge (Bosch)
- Producer/UPM Bruce Carter (Grimm)
- Stage Manager David A. Charles (American Grit)
- UPM Hillary Ann Cohen(NCIS: Los Angeles)
- Staff UPM Bill Draper (Warner Bros. Television Production)
- UPM Melanie Joy Elin (Children’s Hospital)
- Producer Tim Gibbons (Real Husbands of Hollywood)
- Co-Executive Producer Allison M Gibson (Awkward)
- UPM Michael Gray (The Muppets)
- UPM/Producer Michele Greco (Kevin from Work)
- UPM Basil Grillo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows)
- Producer/UPM Duncan Henderson (Ben-Hur)
- UPM Bill Johnson (Fear the Walking Dead)
- Producer/UPM Avram Butch Kaplan (Fear the Walking Dead)
- Producer Dan Katzman (The Dome)
- UPM Richard King (The Kicks)
- UPM Jules Kovisars (The Fosters)
- UPM Cleve Landsberg (Training Day)
- Director of Production Stewart Lyons (Netflix)
- Producer/UPM Mark Moran (Amityville: The Awakening)
- Producer/UPM Carrie Morrow (Unaccompanied Minors)
- UPM Bob Nellans (Frankenstein)
- UPM Jon J.P. Paré (24: Legacy)
- Producer/UPM George Parra (Silver Linings Playbook)
- Executive Producer Alan Poul (The Newsroom)
- UPM Richard Prince (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)
- UPM/Producer Jeanine Rohn (Men of Granite)
- UPM Liz Ryan (Rosewood)
- UPM Jason Saville (The Catch)
- VP of Scripted Production Julie Schwachenwald (MTV)
- Producer Bonnie Spence (The Fastest Man Alive)
- Producer/UPM Rick Tunell (NCIS: Los Angeles)
- Producer/UPM Chrisann Verges (Untitled Silverman Project)
- UPM Dwight Williams (Peeples)
- Producer/UPM Craig Wyrick-Solari (Austin & Ally)
- Producer/UPM Sally Young (Modern Family)
After getting acquainted with our members, each of the participating VIP guests also received a resume booklet of all the attending Assistant Directors, Associate Directors, Stage Managers and Production Associates.
In addition to event producer Pamela Monroe, this year’s mixer hosts and hostesses were: Luann Barry, Stephenie Galvan, Bruce Humphrey, Luc OuYang, and Diana Valentine.
For more information about the DGA Diversity Committees click the links below: