Film and TV director Paris Barclay has directed over 130 episodes of television, including some huge hit shows: NYPD Blue, ER, The West Wing, Lost, House, Law & Order, Monk, Sons of Anarchy, The Mentalist, Weeds, The Good Wife, In Treatment, Glee, and Smash.
He ran unopposed and was elected DGA president at their national biennial convention in Los Angeles.
"It's a great time for the DGA," Barclay told The Hollywood Reporter. "This is very humbling."
The man has earned his TV cred. Ready for the awards? Two Emmys (plus six nominations, including one for Glee); a DGA Award (plus 10 nominations), and the DGA Robert B. Aldrich Award for Distinguished Service to the Directors Guild; three NAACP Image Awards (and nominations for an Image award each year from 2006-2012); Writers Guild of America nomination for co-writing Pedro with screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (and they were nominated for a GLAAD Media Award and Humanitas Prize). His episodes of Glee and In Treatment each got the Peabody Award for excellence in Broadcasting.
And there a bunch more including the Voice Award from the US Department of Health and Human Services on behalf of In Treatment, for "incorporating dignified, respectful, and accurate portrayals of people with mental illnesses." Barclay was named by POWER UP as one of the Top Ten Gay Men in Entertainment, and in 2001 received the GLAAD Stephen F. Kolzak Award for outstanding representation of the LGBT community.
He and his husband Christopher Barclay are parents to two adopted children. In 2012, they were given the Family Values Award from In the Life Media, for "individuals whose representation of LGBT families serve as an inspiration for all Americans.
Upon the election he said, "The DGA has worked for more than three-quarters of a century to advance the creative and economic rights of directors and their teams, and I look forward to continuing this strong tradition of service. As the son of a glass blower and a tile maker from Chicago, I am extremely humbled to have the honor to serve in the footsteps of the legendary leaders of the DGA like Frank Capra, Robert Wise and Gil Cates."
