Joining as a Director
Membership to the Directors Guild of Canada is at the sole discretion of the DGC.
- You have a signed Director’s contract from a DGC Signatory production.
OR
- You have a Director credit for at least 75 minutes of commercially exhibited content.
For the production(s) to qualify, the following criteria must be met:
- initial commercial exhibition of the production(s) took place within the five years immediately prior to the date of application for DGC membership; and
- the production(s) must be in a genre and format defined within the DGC collective agreements.
OR
- You are an Independent Feature Filmmaker with at least one Feature Film programed in at least two film festivals on the Academy of Canadian Cinema Recognized Festival list within the last 5 years.
AND
- You are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.
*Click here for a list of recognized film festivals.
Dues
There is a one-time initiation fee of $1,500 and annual dues of $750. Annual dues can be paid all at once or quarterly ($187.50). At the time of joining you must pay the full initiation fee plus one quarter annual dues. The remaining balance will be subject to the deadlines of the quarterly dues payment schedule.
New Member Fee: $1,500
Annual Dues: $750 (can be paid $187.50 a quarter)
Payment when joining: $1,500 + $187.50 (one quarter) = $1,687.50
Application
1. DGC Director Application Form
2a. You will be sent a link to fill out the Individual RRSP & NRSP forms online once you start your application. More information will be sent to you at that time. In the event you are required to print out the forms please find them here: Individual RRSP form & Individual NRSP form. Membership includes becoming part of a group retirement savings plan.
OR
2b. If you are Incorporated and wish to have your payroll routed to your corporation you need to fill out an NRSP Corporation form. You must also fill out the Individual RRSP Form. Additionally, all Corporation NRSP Applications must include a copy of the official corporate record that contains the provision relating to the power to bind. Please find this and attach it to your Director Application PDF. Normally this document will be a Board resolution of sign authority or something similar - your "Corp Docs". Smaller corporations that do not have a board resolution can complete the certificate of Incumbency form. Here is the Certificate of Incumbency Form. These forms must have the original pen and paper signature and must either be mailed or dropped off to your local DGC office.
3. Beneficiary Form: To be filled out by Individual and Corporate Director Member Applications. This form must have the original pen and paper signature and must either be mailed or dropped off to your local DGC office.
Please send the completed forms to your local DGC District Council office.
Payment
Once your application is approved by the District Council, your payment options are:
- Online through your personal online banking system and choose the Directors Guild of Canada as a payee. It will ask you for a membership # for which the default is “9999”
Once you are accepted into membership you will receive a membership package that will include: Membership number, RRSPs contact information, Health and Welfare benefits enrolment package. You will also receive a welcome email connecting you to the director representatives nationally and in your region.
With any questions and for more information on joining the DGC as a Director please contact:
Hans EngelDirectors Guild of CanadaNational Directors Division416-482-38251-888-972-0098hengel@dgc.ca