Los Angeles â€“ The Directors Guild of America (DGA) today announced that Director/Producer Ron Howard, Teamsters Local 817 President Thomas J. O’Donnell, Director/Writer/Producer Tyler Perry, U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Film Editor Thelma Schoonmaker will be honored at the 2015 DGA Honors, to be held at the DGA Theater in New York City on Thursday, October 15, 2015.

DGA Honors celebrates individuals and institutions that have made distinguished contributions to American culture through the world of film and television and recognizes the diversity of achievement—in business, government, and labor —required to produce the best entertainment in the world.

“As we approach the 80th anniversary of the Directors Guild of America, it is with great pride that we pause to express our appreciation of five incredible leaders who have shaped the direction of the entertainment community,” said DGA President Paris Barclay. “From an influential DGA and Academy Award-winning master filmmaker like Ron Howard, to a multi-hyphenate entertainment powerhouse and Atlanta business leader like Tyler Perry, to a renowned legislator and advocate for production incentives and job creation like Senator Chuck Schumer, DGA Honors recognizes both the visionary artists who create media as well as leaders in government and beyond. Our creative work is enriched by invaluable contributions of such craft masters as Thelma Schoonmaker, a trailblazing light in film editing, and labor leaders like Thomas J. O’Donnell, the President of Teamsters Local 817, who represents the fine professional crews that make up the beating heart of each production.”

“The best film and television are born of collaboration, vital, often intense and always creative collaboration,” said DGA National Vice President and Honors Chair Vincent Misiano. “And that spirit is at the heart of DGA Honors in New York, where we gather to celebrate both artists and the leaders from business and government who make their work possible. Together they’ve built an industry that enriches our common culture and supports the livelihoods of thousands of working men and women.”

Past DGA Honors recipients have included influential filmmakers Nora Ephron, Robert Altman, Jonathan Demme, Milos Forman, Curtis Hanson, Spike Lee, Mike Nichols, Arthur Penn, Sydney Pollack, and Martin Scorsese; as well as leaders in entertainment, labor, and politics such as Law & Order creator/producer Dick Wolf, Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels, Sopranos creator David Chase, HBO Documentary Films President Sheila Nevins, Robert De Niro, Danny Glover, Jane Alexander, former Paramount Pictures CEO Sherry Lansing, IATSE International President Matthew Loeb, former AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, Senator Ted Kennedy, Senator Patrick Leahy, Senator Olympia Snowe, Congressman John Conyers, Jr., and Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Past presenters and hosts have included Meryl Streep, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Cruise, Halle Berry, Helen Mirren, Julianne Moore, Jude Law, Richard Belzer, Dave Chapelle, Sam Waterston, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ellen DeGeneres, Matt Dillon, Hank Azaria, and Francis Ford Coppola.

Thelma Schoonmaker's Biography:

Editor Thelma Schoonmaker is receiving a DGA Honor for her trailblazing film editing career.

Her film editing credits include such iconic features as Raging Bull, Goodfellas,Age of Innocence, Casino, Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed,Shutter Island, Hugo, and Wolf of Wall Street. She has received three Academy Awards, two BAFTAs, and three American Cinema Editors awards. Schoonmaker earned her first Academy Award nomination for her role as editing supervisor of the groundbreaking documentary Woodstock.

A New York mainstay, her long working partnership with Director Martin Scorsese has helped to define generations of filmmaking. The duo, who met at New York University’s film school, are working on their 19th feature together, Silence. 

In addition to editing, Schoonmaker is dedicated to preserving, restoring and promoting the films of her late husband, Michael Powell, who directed many classics including The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Black Narcissus, and The Red Shoes.