DGA unveils Honors program recipients

The Directors Guild of America has tapped a quartet of recipients for its DGA Honors program -- Director/Writer/Producer Nora Ephron, U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT), IATSE International President Matthew Loeb and HBO Documentary Films President Sheila Nevins. The DGA made the announcement Friday. The four will be feted at the DGA Honors ceremonies at the DGA Theater in New York City on Oct. 13. The DGA Honors will also feature a special posthumous tribute to pioneering female filmmaker Alice Guy Blach . ''2011 marks the 75th anniversary of the Directors Guild of America,'' said DGA President Taylor Hackford in a statement. ''In this anniversary year of celebrating our history and the people who have made an indelible mark on our community, DGA Honors provides a special moment to recognize a handful of people who have uniquely contributed to the betterment of our community by providing opportunity, safeguarding our livelihoods or using entertainment to open a window onto the human experience.'' Past DGA Honors recipients have included Robert Altman, Jonathan Demme, Milos Forman, Curtis Hanson, Spike Lee, Mike Nichols, Arthur Penn, Sydney Pollack, Martin Scorsese, Dick Wolf; Robert De Niro, Lorne Michaels, David Chase; Congressman John Conyers, Jr.; Jane Alexander; Mayor Michael Bloomberg; Senator Ted Kennedy; AFL-CIO president John Sweeney; and former IATSE President Tom Short. Ephron's directing credits include ''This Is My Life,'' ''Sleepless in Seattle,'' ''You've Got Mail,'' and ''Julie and Julia.'' She has received three Oscar nominations for screenwriting. The DGA noted Leahy is the lead sponsor of the PROTECT IP Act, legislation to help protect American intellectual property , including the films and television shows created by DGA members , by cracking down on ''rogue'' websites that profit from the illegal distribution of copyrighted content. The DGA noted that Loeb is credited with devising and implementing an aggressive organizing and bargaining strategy that laid the foundation for obtaining more than 1,000 term agreements, the chartering of numerous new locals and the addition of thousands of new members. It also said that under Looeb -- who's been in his current slot for three years -- IATSE has been ''a steadfast partner'' in the fight against digital theft. The DGA noted that Nevins has supervised the production of more than 1,000 documentary programs for HBO and that during her tenure, HBO's documentaries have gone on to win 23 Academy Awards. Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com