Joining a Film Union · Directors Guild of America
AD / UPM: how to join the DGA
Assistant directors and unit production managers run the set's logistics and schedule: the call sheets, the tempo of the shooting day, safety, and the crew's marching orders. It's DGA territory, reached through the Qualification List's documented days or the DGA Training Programs.
Good to know
Two real doors: the DGA Assistant Directors Training Program, a competitive, exam-based route that places you as a paid trainee, or the Qualification List, where you document a large block of days as a non-union AD or coordinator and then join. Either way, meticulous day-by-day paperwork is what actually gets you qualified.
Roles in this craft
The jobs that make up this craft, each with its own page on pay, the day-to-day, and how to break in.
How to join, step by step
Know your union
- Assistant directors and UPMs are DGA.
- Two doors in: the Training Program, or the Qualification List's documented days.
Get days or get into the program
- The DGA Assistant Directors Training Program is a competitive, exam-based route that places you as a paid trainee.
- Or work as a non-union AD or coordinator and document a large block of days for the Qualification List.
Log covered days
- Non-union and right-to-work productions are where those AD days come from.
- Precise, day-by-day paperwork is what the DGA verifies.
Join when you qualify
- Completing the program, or hitting the day count, puts you on the list to join.
- Keep every deal memo and call sheet.
What you’ll need
- Directors: a deal memo or signatory paperwork for the project hiring you
- ADs/UPMs: a qualifying day log (e.g. about 400 days for the SC 2nd AD list, 300+ with the shooting company), call sheets + pay stubs
- Initiation funds for your category (director initiation about $5,000–$15,320)
- Application to the right category Council
Find your local
Directors Guild of America membership runs through a local for your market. Look up the one that covers where you work on the union’s site.