As part of the Guild’s outreach efforts aimed at Independent filmmakers, the DGA served as both a venue for and sponsor of Outfest 2008.

On Saturday, July 14, Outfest participants gathered in the Los Angeles theatre complex for the Guild-sponsored panel discussion Directing the Sex Scene, where directors Gregg Araki (Nowhere, Mysterious Skin), Donna Deitch (Desert Hearts, The Devil’s Arithmetic), Andrew Fleming (Threesome, Hamlet 2), and Don Roos (The Opposite of Sex, Happy Endings) discussed the somewhat tricky art of capturing steamy scenes on camera, with DGA First Vice President Paris Barclay (The Cherokee Kid, NYPD Blue, Cold Case) serving as the moderator.

Then on Thursday, July 17, the Guild hosted a lunch reception for the filmmakers participating in this year’s Outfest at the Mondrian Hotel in Los Angeles. DGA Director-member Charles Herman-Wurmfeld (Kissing Jessica Stein, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde) offered hope to the indie filmmakers in the form of a talk about the power of perseverance in an atmosphere where failure is always a possibility and often a probability. “You must train yourself not to react no matter if it goes well, or not so well,” said Herman-Wurmfeld. “Your artistic survival is not at stake. Your movie might or might not find a wider audience, or win you success. You must attempt to sever yourself from this binary type of expectation. Preserve your creative impulse – perceive yourself daily as a filmmaker – and do not seek your validation here. Seek it within.”