Paris Barclay, president of the Directors Guild of America (DGA), has announced the recipients of two special DGA Awards recognizing extraordinary contribution to the Guild: Phillip Goldfarb and Julie Gelfand will be honored at the 67th Annual DGA Awards on Saturday, February 7, 2015.
Goldfarb will receive the DGA’s 2015 Frank Capra Achievement Award, which is given to an assistant director or unit production manager in recognition of career achievement in the industry and service to the Directors Guild of America.
Gelfand will receive the DGA’s 2015 Franklin J. Schaffner Achievement Award, which is given to an associate director or stage manager in recognition of service to the industry and to the Directors Guild of America.
“Phil Goldfarb and Julie Gelfand embody the leadership, dedication and commitment that these Special Awards celebrate,” said Barclay. “They are active working members with successful careers who have nonetheless devoted themselves to representing their fellow members and advocating on their behalf. The Guild is extraordinarily fortunate to benefit from members like Phil and Julie who dedicate countless hours in service to the DGA, strengthening our Guild and reinforcing our mission to protect and promote the economic and creative rights of our members.”
Phillip Goldfarb
A DGA member since 1967, Goldfarb’s career in the entertainment industry began nearly 50 years ago. Goldfarb has worked as a unit production manager, assistant director and producer on a wide variety of feature films and television series, including Taxi Driver, All the Right Moves, Diary of a Mad Housewife, Southland, Leverage, Monk and L.A. Law, where he served as coordinating producer and received three Emmy nominations and two shared Emmy awards. He also worked for seven years as the VP of production for Steven Bochco Productions before returning to freelance production. Goldfarb has taught as a member of the adjunct faculty at UCLA and in graduate studies for film production at the California Institute of the Arts, and has lectured in numerous other venues on the subject of film and television production.
Goldfarb’s service to the Guild began more than 25 years ago, when he was appointed trustee to the DGA-Producer Pension and Health Plans in 1988, a position he continues to hold today. As his involvement with the plans has grown, so has his service: Goldfarb has served on the Benefits Committee since 1992 (including as chair or co-chair since 2003), on the Legal and Delinquency Committee since 2002, and on the Finance Committee since 2005. He has held assistant secretary, secretary, and vice-chairman offices on the Board of the Plans multiple times since 1992, and currently holds the position of Board secretary.
Goldfarb also served four times on the DGA Negotiations Committee for the 2005, 2008, 2011, and 2014 negotiations cycles and served on the DGA Strike Committee in 1987. In addition to his work with the Plans, Goldfarb currently serves as an alternate on the Western AD/UPM Council.
Julie Gelfand
Gelfand got her start in television as the assistant to the pageant director of The Most Beautiful Girl in the World Pageant, live from Sydney, Australia. She discovered that she loved the excitement and energy surrounding live variety shows and quickly developed a specialization in the genre, working as a script coordinator and production supervisor on some of the highest profile variety programs on television including The American Music Awards, Academy Awards, Star Search, Motown 30, New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, and AFI Salutes to Jack Nicholson and Steven Spielberg.
Gelfand joined the DGA as an associate director in 1992 on the MDA Jerry Lewis Telethon, a program with which she continues to be involved every year, and has since worked on numerous live, variety and reality shows including Dennis Miller Live, Big Brother, Oscars Red Carpet, A Home for the Holidays, Daytime Emmy Awards, Miss USA/Universe/Teen USA Pageants, American Idol, and Rising Star, among many others. The 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, for which she served as associate director, was nominated for a DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Specials (directed by Joel Gallen).
Gelfand quickly became involved in Guild service when she was elected alternate to the Western AD/SM/PA Council in 1993. She has served on the Council nearly continuously since then in various elected positions including secretary/treasurer, 2nd vice chair, 1st vice chair, and currently, chair of the Western AD/SM/PA Council. Gelfand is in the middle of her fourth consecutive term as a second alternate to the DGA National Board and has served three times on the DGA Negotiations Committee for the 2008, 2011, and 2014 negotiations cycles as well as serving as a delegate to the DGA Biennial Conventions.
