Director Paris Barclay was re-elected president of the Directors Guild of America by acclamation at the Guild’s National Biennial Convention held today at DGA National Headquarters in Los Angeles.
Additionally, 138 delegates representing more than 16,000 members of the DGA elected a new slate of officers and members of the National Board of Directors.
“I’m honored to be re-elected president of the Directors Guild of America,” said Barclay. “We continue to advance a vision first conceived by masters of our craft nearly 80 years ago, and while our mission remains the same, we’re part of an industry and world changing at the speed of light. I’m proud to serve alongside the Guild’s newly elected leadership to protect the creative and economic rights of our members. It’s the most challenging, most complex, and ultimately the most rewarding thing I have ever been asked to do.”
Elected to his first presidential term in 2013, Barclay served four terms on the National Board as first VP, beginning in 2005, and served an additional three terms as third VP from 1999 to 2005. He was honored with the DGA Robert B. Aldrich Achievement Award in 2007 for his history of service to the Guild, which began soon after he became a member in 1992. The following year, Barclay became a member of the African American Steering Committee. He has served on the Western Directors Council for 18 years, where he first joined as an alternate in 1997, and was elected a full Council member in 1999.
“This is a demanding job and Paris navigates it all with knowledge and skill – as a negotiator, a policy advocate and a master of the craft,” said newly re-elected third VP Thomas Schlamme, who placed Barclay’s name in nomination.
“We’ve all benefited from Paris’s service to the DGA, which is immeasurable,” said newly re-elected secretary-treasurer Michael Apted. “I am immensely proud of the work this Guild has achieved, and look forward to working with Paris and the newly elected board for the coming term.”
Barclay’s service to the Guild has included the chairmanship or participation in numerous committees. He co-chaired the African American Steering Committee from 2000-2002, and co-chaired the Guild’s Diversity Task Force from 2004-2013. Barclay has served on the Single-Camera Creative Rights Negotiating Committee since 1996, and created and coordinated the Single Camera Directors Prep Program in 2001. As former chair of the DGA Political Action Committee, Barclay has helped the DGA maintain an engaged and effective presence in Washington, D.C. He is also a trustee of the DGA Foundation.
Barclay has balanced his Guild service with a robust directing career. He has directed more than 150 episodes of television, including: The Bastard Executioner, Manhattan, Sons of Anarchy, Glee, Smash, House, Cold Case, NCIS: Los Angeles, In Treatment, The Good Wife, CSI, Lost, The Shield, The West Wing, ER and NYPD Blue. In addition to episodic directing, Barclay has been an active director-producer, currently serving in that role for The Bastard Executioner and previously for Sons of Anarchy, In Treatment, Cold Case, City of Angels and NYPD Blue.
Barclay has received 10 DGA Award nominations for Outstanding Direction in Comedy and Drama Television. He became the first director in the history of the Guild to receive a comedy and a drama nomination in the same year, two years in a row (In Treatment and Weeds in 2008; In Treatment and Glee in 2009). He won the 1998 DGA Dramatic Series Award for his NYPD Blue episode “Heart and Souls” featuring the death of Jimmy Smits’s character Bobby Simone.
He also won two Emmy Awards for his direction of NYPD Blue and received six additional Emmy nominations for producing and directing. Additionally, Barclay received multiple NAACP Image Awards, four Peabody Awards, two Humanitas Prizes and countless other recognitions. He began his career in advertising working as a creative executive, and then segued into directing commercials and music videos for artists including: Janet Jackson, Bob Dylan and LL Cool J. Barclay is handled by production house Bob Industries for commercials.
Barclay, a graduate of Harvard College, is married to his husband, Christopher Barclay, and has two sons.
The following officers were elected to serve alongside Barclay: Vincent Misiano was re-elected to serve a second term as national vice-president; and Apted, a past-DGA president, was re-elected to serve a third term as secretary-treasurer.
Also elected were first VP Betty Thomas; second VP Jace Alexander; third VP Thomas Schlamme; fourth VP Rosemary Rodriguez; fifth VP Jon Favreau; sixth VP John LiBretto; and assistant secretary-treasurer Scott Berger.
