DGA Stage Manager Anita Cooper-Avrick will be the recipient of the Directors Guild of America's Franklin J. Schaffner Achievement Award, DGA President Jack Shea and Awards Committee Chairperson Howard Storm announced today. The Schaffner Award, given to an Associate Director or Stage Manager in recognition of service to the industry and to the DGA, will be presented to Cooper-Avrick at the 54th Annual DGA Awards on March 9, 2002, at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.
Cooper-Avrick has been actively involved in the Guild since she was elected to serve as an alternate to the DGA's Associate Director/Stage Manager/Production Associate Council in 1980, the year she joined the DGA. Her service to the Guild has continued, uninterrupted, for more than 20 years.
Cooper-Avrick began serving as a full member of the AD/SM/PA Council in 1983 and has remained involved in the Council in various capacities, including Chair of the Council (1991-1993), Chair of its Membership Committee (1990-present), and Co-Chair of the AD/SM Negotiation Committee for five consecutive DGA/AMPTP contract negotiations (1987-1999). She served on the National Negotiation Committee from 1984 to 2001. During the Guild's 2001 negotiations, Cooper-Avrick served on the Contract Restructuring Committee, which was instrumental in the creation of the Guild's historic Interim Settlement Agreement.
Cooper-Avrick has also dedicated herself to many other DGA Committees. She has served as a member of the National Board of Directors (1993-2001), on which she currently serves as an alternate; the Bi-Council Committee (1991-1993 and 1999-2001); the Women's Steering Committee (1981-1983), to which she was elected Co-Chair in 1983; the Internal Complaints Committee (1982, 1993-1998); the National Board Residency & Organization Committee (1999-2001); the Mentor Committee (1991-1993); Trustee of the Pension & Health Fund (1994-present); and member of the Benefits Committee at the DGA Pension & Health Fund (1996-present).
Cooper-Avrick has worked on multi-camera television shows including Soap, Mr. Belvedere, The People's Court, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, This is Your Life, Kid's Incorporated, Minor Adjustments, America's Funniest Home Videos and Los Beltran. Her work on single camera encompasses Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree, Mad TV (location), Step By Step (location), and Mr. Belvedere (location).
