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Step 1
Shoot on film and digital video until you are fully comfortable with using both. Get experience whenever and wherever you can. If you can't afford film school, or time simply doesn't permit it, then put the word out at a film school that you are a director looking for experience. Make a flier, present yourself as a student of film in general (as you are when you are learning), and offer to direct for cinematography and acting majors. You'd be surprised at how much experience you can gain by word of mouth, and willing to loan your creativity out in exchange for experience.
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Step 2
Keep a directing journal. Record all your projects, your visions for them, and the result. Study how you achieved, or failed to achieve, the vision you had of the script to the final project. This will enable you to learn your process, and speak as a director in a way that studying alone could never provide.
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Step 3
Use the experience and journal to put together a competitive resume and reel. The key to joining the guild is being employed by a company that has signed a collective bargaining agreement with the DGA.
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Step 4
Find out the local companies that have the agreement with the DGA (You can find the closest companies to you by contacting the Director's Guild personally). Apply for one of the following jobs with the company: film or television director, tape associate director, stage manager, production coordinate, technical coordinator, second assistant director, or first assistant director. When you're starting out, you should generally start smaller. Apply for the stage manager or production coordinate. You can move up in a company by proving your talent and work ethic. The guild covers all of the above-listed jobs. So, by obtaining any one of them, you can soon join the union!
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Step 5
Work hard in your job in film or television. You want to work steadily and consistently with the company. Build relationships, and work hard to earn your union membership and future career in entertainment.
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Step 6
Pay the initiation fees (a link to all current fees is listed under the resources section), and enroll in the union! This is a major accomplishment, and it should be celebrated.
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Step 7
Make a website that lists your DGA membership status, alongside a reel of your best work as a director. Put your own creativity and pesonal style onto the site. The website should be in a style as though you "directed" it. Be sure to include an easy link to a page with your full contact information. Some producers are favorable to email, phone calls, or formal letters. You want to give them lots of options!
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Step 8
Get your website listed on the DGA website. This truly completes your union membership.
