Paris Barclay, the Emmy-winning TV director and former president of the Directors Guild of America, will receive the guild’s Honorary Life Member Award at the 73rd Annual DGA Awards on April 10.
Barclay served as guild president from 2014 to 2017 and won two Emmys and a DGA Award for his work on the TV series “NYPD Blue.” He has also directed episodes of hit series including “Sons of Anarchy,” “Cold Case,” “Glee,” “House,” “The Shield,” and “ER,” among many others in a career that has seen him direct more than 200 episodes.
Barclay’s other honors include three NAACP Image Awards, three Peabody Awards, two Humanitas Prizes, and one WGA nomination for the MTV telefilm “Pedro” along with six additional Emmy nominations and nine additional DGA Award nominations. He has been induced into the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame and the DGA’s Robert B. Aldrich Achievement Award in 2007 for his service to the guild, which includes more than two decades on the guild’s national board and terms as 1st and 3rd Vice President prior to becoming guild president.
“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,” wrote DGA president Thomas Schlamme.
“As a past president and longtime leader, his innovation has kept us progressing into the 21st century and beyond. His accomplishments are too many to mention here, but just in the last year alone as Co-Chair of our Covid-19 Safety Negotiations Committee, Paris stepped up into such an important role that literally, lives depended on,” Schlamme continued. “Thanks to the cutting-edge protocols he and the committee fought for, our members and so many creative workers were able to safely return to work. And right before the Covid-19 crisis, he chaired the most significant TV Creative Rights Negotiations we’ve ever achieved. These are just a few of the many reasons I am so very proud to announce this high Guild honor to my friend and colleague Paris Barclay.”