Christopher Nolan to lead Directors Guild of America
[September 22, 2025]
By LINDSEY BAHR
Christopher Nolan has been elected to lead the Directors Guild of
America, the organization said late Saturday. The Oscar-winning
“Oppenheimer” filmmaker said in a statement that it is, “one of the
greatest honors of my career.”
The guild represents the interests of some 19,500 film and television
directors in the United States and abroad, in addition to hosting the
DGA awards annually.
“Our industry is experiencing tremendous change, and I thank the Guild’s
membership for entrusting me with this responsibility,” said Nolan, a
well-known champion of the theatrical experience and film stock.
The box office success of “Oppenheimer,” which was shot entirely on
large-format film ( a combination of 70mm and IMAX ), and made over $976
million worldwide made many in the industry reconsider the mass audience
appeal of a format that not too long ago was in danger of extinction.
Just over a decade ago, facing bankruptcy and an industry that seemed to
be migrating to digital, Kodak nearly stopped film production.
Filmmakers like Nolan, Martin Scorsese and others rallied to keep it
going. Earlier this year, Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” helped prove the
point again.
Nolan will take over for outgoing president Lesli Linka Glatter, who led
the group for four years through the Hollywood strikes of 2023. He said
he looks forward to collaborating with Glatter and the board “to achieve
important creative and economic protections for our members.”
The DGA’s current three-year basic agreement with the Alliance of Motion
Picture and Television Producers, which bargains on behalf of studios
and streamers about rates and benefits, expires next year. The AMPTP
congratulated Nolan in a statement and wrote that they “look forward to
partnering with President Nolan to address the issues most important to
DGA members while ensuring our member companies remain competitive in a
rapidly changing industry.”
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Christopher Nolan arrives at the Oscars on Sunday, March 10,
2024, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP,
File)
Officers elected to serve alongside Nolan include Ron Howard, Gina
Prince-Bythewood, Laura Belsey and former president Paris Barclay. Among
the board members are Steven Spielberg and Phil Lord.
Since its founding in 1936 when it was then known as the Screen
Directors Guild, presidents have included the likes of Frank Capra,
George Stevens, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Robert Wise, Michael Apted and
Martha Coolidge.
Nolan has been a member since 2001 and has served on the DGA’s National
Board and Western Directors Council since 2015, in addition to chairing
the guild’s theatrical creative right and artificial intelligence
committees. He won the guild’s top prize in 2024 for “Oppenheimer,” and
was previously nominated for “Dunkirk,” “Inception,” “The Dark Knight”
and “Memento.”
Nolan’s next film, a starry adaptation of Homer’s “The Odyssey,” opens
in theaters July 17.
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