Introduction

50 years ago, a small group of Canadian filmmakers got together at the production offices of Don Haldane's company, Westminster Films, to establish a minimum daily rate for directors in the Canadian film industry. The simple principle driving the meeting was that artists are stronger united than they are divided.  That seminal meeting resulted in the creation of a remarkable organization that has over the last 50+ years come to represent 3,800 artists working in the Canadian screen-based industries.

From its inception, the Directors Guild of Canada, recognizes the best way to advance the interests of its members is to build an industry. DGC pioneers were instrumental in conceiving, advocating and realizing the framework that resulted in the industry we enjoy today; their drive, talent, vision seized on those opportunities to create this country's screen-based legacy.

In this spirit, we decided to capture this history, this legacy, on film so as to never forget our early beginnings. The interviews featured here are historical markers along the parth of this great collective of the DGC.