Background
Cornerstone Circle
We invite you to join us as a Cornerstone Circle member, contributing in one of the donation tiers created in honor of these trailblazing directors. Click through to learn more about the four trailblazing directors.
John Rich, directed and produced some of the best-loved comedies in TV history. A member of the Screen Directors Guild since 1953, Rich was instrumental in the 1960 merger that led to the creation of the Directors Guild of America. He was was a longtime Trustee of the Directors Guild Foundation, serving as chair from 2005-12.
Dorothy Arzner's directing career spanned from the silent films of the 1920s into the early 1940s. She was the first woman to direct a sound film and launched the careers of a number of actresses like Lucille Ball, Rosalind Russell, and Katherine Hepburn. Arzner was the first woman to join the Directors Guild of America.
John Singleton's debut film made him the youngest person and the first African American to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director. Amid his continued achievement over the next three decades, he prioritized service at the Directors Guild of America, serving as co-chair of the African American Steering Committee and a member of the Western Directors Council.
Orson Welles is considered to be among the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time. He is best remembered for his first film, Citizen Kane, and his influences on filmmaking can be noticed in works, even today. In 1983, two years prior to his death, Welles received the Directors Guild of America Lifetime Achievement Award.

Cornerstone Circles

We invite you to join us as a Cornerstone Circle member, contributing in one of the donation tiers created in honor of these trailblazing directors.

John Rich Circle

$1,200 per year

Dorothy Arzner Circle

$2,500 per year

John Singleton Circle

$5,000 per year

Orson Welles Circle

$10,000 per year

See the Cornerstone Circle Members
Cornerstone Circle Members
John Rich Circle
Laura Belsey
Linda Mendoza in Memory of Bruce Gowers
Scott Berger in Memory of Robert Butler
Wellfleet Foundation
Zetna Fuentes - In Memory of Carl Weathers
Taylor Hackford
Paris Barclay
Jim Hoskins
James Parriott and Diane Cary
Julie Shelton
Austin Community Foundation
Anthony Rich
Carl Weathers
Dana Scott
George Huang
Kathleen McGill
Kevin Koster
Leonard Garner Jr. – In Memory of Robert Butler
Michael Simon
Otto Michael Penzato
Paul Casey
Robert Markowitz - In Memory of Robert Butler
Michael Zinberg - In Memory of Robert Butler, Rod Holcomb,& Carl Weathers
The Danny Strong Charitable Fund
Dorothy Arzner Circle
Mark Cendrowski
Todd Holland
Andrew Stanton
Christina Barber
Jay Roth - In Memory of Carl Weathers, Rod Holcomb, & Norman Jewison
Lesli Linka Glatter
Lisa Read
The Strauss Foundation
Jessica Lowrey
Joe Nussbaum
360 Group International
Mimi Leder
John Singleton Circle
Ben Falcone
Donald Heitzer Estate
Russell Hollander
Dan Attias
Assaf Family Trust
Susan Weber-Gold - in Memory of Don Gold
Orson Welles Circle
Ron Howard
Steven Spielberg in memory of Carl Weathers
The Morf Foundation
Mary Hardwick
David Chase
James Burrows