Los Angeles – Directors Guild of America President Taylor Hackford and DGA Awards Chair Howard Storm today announced the recipients of three special DGA Awards recognizing lifetime career achievement and extraordinary contribution to the Guild.
- Roger Goodman will receive the DGA’s 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award in News Direction for distinguished achievement in News Direction.
- Cleve Landsberg will receive the 2010 Frank Capra Achievement Award, which is given to an Assistant Director or Unit Production Manager in recognition of career achievement in the industry and service to the Directors Guild of America.
- Maria Jimenez Henley will receive the 2010 Franklin J. Schaffner Achievement Award, which is given to an Associate Director or Stage Manager in recognition of career achievement in the industry and service to the Directors Guild of America.
"We are privileged to recognize Roger Goodman with the Lifetime Achievement Award for news direction, a man whose singular influence on modern news broadcasts has shaped the coverage of every significant event over the past 40 years," said Hackford.
"Cleve Landsberg and Maria Jimenez Henley embody the qualities that strengthen and sustain the Guild every day," Hackford continued. "They are leaders in their fields, dedicated to their fellow members and devoted to promoting the economic and creative rights of DGA members through their active engagement in service to the Guild."
All three awards will be presented at the 62nd Annual DGA Awards Dinner on Saturday, January 30, 2010 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. Bios are below:
Roger Goodman
Roger Goodman’s career spans four decades in news, sports and entertainment – directing, creating and producing live events on and off the air as vice president of special projects for ABC.
Goodman developed and executed the creative design and direction of ABC's political coverage of all presidential conventions, debates, elections and inaugurations since 1981. His projects included directing the Peabody Award-winning coverage of the September 11th attacks, which broadcasted live for more than 91 hours, making it the longest consecutive news report in ABC history, as well as the one-year anniversary of 9/11. Goodman was also the co-executive producer and director of ABC’s coverage of the Millennium, directing for more than 24 consecutive hours using more than 400 cameras, 32 satellites, four control rooms and a staff of 1,000 technicians to put on a broadcast viewed by 175 million people. Goodman also designed and directed 20/20, Primetime Live, Nightline, This Week, Good Morning America and World News as well as coverage of the war in Iraq, funeral coverage of Pope John Paul II, President Reagan and President Ford; and many other special broadcasts.
In February 2009, Goodman directed the 81st Annual Academy Awards telecast. He also directed the Daytime Emmy Awards, the Primetime Emmys and Oscar countdown shows and many other entertainment specials throughout the years. For ABC Sports, Goodman was the director and/or coordinating director for 10 Olympic Games, four Super Bowl halftime shows, college football, Wide World of Sports, NCAA college football, the Preakness Stakes, the New York Marathon and the Indianapolis 500, for which he won a DGA Award in 1998.
Goodman was instrumental in a number of technological advances and industry firsts ranging from the invention of the over-the-shoulder Quantel box to the first successful transmissions of live programming from a nuclear submarine. He was also responsible for directing the development of ABC's efforts in interactive, enhanced television, virtual-reality production sets and other integrated new media projects.
In addition to his DGA Award, Goodman has received 28 Emmy Awards and another 61 nominations, three Christopher Awards, three Peabody Awards and two Edward R. Murrow Awards among many other honors.
Goodman began his career at WKRB-TV in Chicago in 1964. He joined ABC Sports in 1965 as a production assistant, was named associate director for ABC Sports in 1968, and in 1976 was promoted to director of production development, ABC News and Sports. In 1988, he became director of production and design, ABC News, and in 1996 was named executive director, special projects, ABC Television. Earlier this year, Goodman stepped down from day-to-day directing at ABC to expand his production company, RG Productions, to work with media clients in all fields on program production and development.
Cleve Landsberg
A DGA member since 1985, Landsberg first became active in service to the Guild when he was appointed to the 1996 Negotiations Committee, a position he has held for every negotiations cycle since then. Landsberg is also a longtime member of the AD/UPM Council West, where he is currently serving his fifth term as Council Chair. Landsberg has served two terms on the National Board, one as an Associate Member and one as an Alternate Member. His additional Guild service includes the DGA Website Advisory Committee, the Information Committee, the Residency Committee, the Low Budget Committee, the Administrative Committee, chairing the Navigating the DGA Committee, the UPM Committee and the Multi-Camera UPM Committee, and co-chairing the Director/UPM Committee.
A Los Angeles native, Landsberg began his career in live television on the crew at KTLA while still a student at UCLA. Landsberg eventually joined the DGA as a UPM in 1985 and has worked as a UPM and producer on many feature films and television productions since then, including Bruce Almighty, Weekend at Bernie’s, Mr. Destiny, William Faulkner’s Old Man, Crazy Horse, On Promised Land, The Broken Chain, An Inconvenient Woman, Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson, The Ultimate Gift and Baseketball. Landsberg is currently UPM and co-producer of FlashForward on ABC.
Maria Jimenez Henley
Currently serving her sixth term on the AD/SM/PA West Council, Maria Jimenez Henley spent two years serving as Council Chair. Elected to three terms as Co-Chair of the DGA Latino Committee, Jimenez Henley also co-chaired the sub-committees for the DGA Student Film Awards and Mentor Outreach. Additionally, Jimenez Henley served at the national level when she was elected by her peers to serve as a second alternate on the National Board from 2005-2007.
Jimenez Henley began her career in entertainment when she was chosen to play the role of Shark dancer Teresita in the Robert Wise/Jerome Robbins film West Side Story. She spent the next 25 years working as a dancer and choreographer, working with everyone from the Beatles to Elvis Presley to the Rolling Stones. After a stint working on the television series Punky Brewster, the show’s stage manager encouraged Jimenez Henley to join the DGA, which she did as a stage manager on a series called Boys Will Be Boys in 1987. Jimenez Henley has worked as a stage manager and assistant director on numerous multi-camera sitcoms including Saved By The Bell, Night Court, One World, USA High, Growing Pains, California Dreams and Wings.
The five Feature Film nominees for the 62nd Annual DGA Awards will be announced on Thursday, January 7, 2010. All Television, Commercials and Documentary nominees will be announced on Friday, January 8, 2010.
