Paris Barclay to be honored with Life Member Award at DGA Awards
Barclay served as DGA president from 2014-2017
The Director’s Guild of America will host the 73rd Annual DGA Awards on April 10. This year, they announced that Paris Barclay will receive the Honorary Life Member Award.
DGA president Thomas Schlamme revealed in an official statement, “Paris is one of the statesmen of our industry, and his leadership has been transformative – whether on set creating iconic television, at the negotiating table fighting for our members or as a champion for a fair and equitable world.”
“Behind the camera, he is an innovator whose award-winning work is part of the zeitgeist of our culture. And no matter how busy his schedule, he always makes room for mentorship, leading the way for so many diverse voices,” Schlamme concluded.
Check out a few things to know about the legendary director below:
Read More: Paris Barclay becomes 1st black president of the Director’s Guild of America
Paris Barclay was DGA president himself
Barclay served as DGA president from 2014-2017 and was the Guild’s first African American president. According to Deadline, Barclay was “the driving force behind new inclusion programs including the Director Development Initiative and TV Director mentorship program.”
Barclay is openly gay
Not only did Barclay serve as the first African American president, but he also was the first openly gay one. Barclay told GLAAD that he has been out since his first feature film in 1994 and that, “best of all, if there are people who are homophobic, or don’t want to deal with gay people, they don’t call me up!”
This is not his first honorary achievement award
Barclay received the Robert B. Aldrich Achievement Award in 2007 for his history with the Guild. Barclay became a member in 1992, and soon after he began serving on the national board of directors, “including several terms as both 1st and 3rd vice president.”
Barclay has also been honored with three NAACP Image Awards, three Peabody Awards, and two Humanitas Prizes. In 2014, he was inducted into the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame.
He has directed many of your favorite dramas
Barclay has an impressively long list of directing credits, including the classic drama series, NYPD Blue for which he won two Emmys.
He also directed episodes of Glee, House, Lost, The Shield, The West Wing, ER and is currently the director-producer of Station-19, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy spin-off.
73rd Annual DGA Awards will be held on April 10, 2021.
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