On February 26, 2011, the AD/UPM Council West’s Mentor Committee honored the ADs and UPMs of this year’s DGA award-winning and nominated projects with a special event held in the DGA’s Los Angeles Boardroom. This 8th annual event played to a packed audience of who gathered to learn what goes into the making of a DGA Award-winning or nominated project.

The participating panelists were: UPM JoAnn Perritano of David Fincher’s DGA Award-nominated feature The Social Network; 1st AD Nilo Otero and 2nd AD Brandon Lambdin of Christopher Nolan’s DGA Award-nominated feature Inception; 2nd AD Shawn Pipkin of Mick Jackson’s DGA Award-winning Movie for Television Temple Grandin; and UPM Sally Young of Michael Spiller’s DGA Award-winning episode “Halloween” from the comedy series Modern Family, along with 1st AD Jim Hensz.

Following a welcome from AD/UPM Council West Chair Liz Ryan and introductions by Mentor Committee Chair Randy Turrow, the DGA teams from these celebrated productions discussed their strategies and techniques for achieving the best in film and television. The event was moderated by 2002 Frank Capra Award recipient Burt Bluestein.