Entertainment Directing Law & Legal Definition

A film director orchestrates the artistic and dramatic elements of a film, rather than the non-artistic elements of the film, such as financing, contract negotiation and marketing. The director's duties, among others, typically include:

•  Defining the overall artistic vision of the film.
• Controlling the content and flow of the film's plot.
• Directing the performances of actors.
• Organizing and selecting the locations in which the film will be shot.
• Managing technical details such as the positioning of cameras, the use of lighting, and the timing and content of the film's soundtrack.

Although the director bears the responsibility for these aspects of filming,  the director often delegates many of these responsibilities to other members of his film crew A film crew is a group of people hired by a film company for the purpose of producing a film or motion picture. The film crew works behind the scenes and don't appear in the film.

A director's control over a film varies greatly depending on the film. Many directors are subject to the control of the film studio. Other directors control every aspect of filming, and insist that the actors and crew follow instructions precisely. With the demise of Hollywood's studio system in the 1950s, control began to shift into the hands of the director. Further changes in movie distribution and marketing in the 1970s and 80s gave rise to the modern-day phenomenon of the Hollywood blockbuster, giving even more power to individual directors. 

The official American film directors' trade union is the Directors Guild of America Directors Guild of America (DGA). DGA is the union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry. As of 2003, the union rolls had about 12,700 members. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group became the DGA in 1960. The DGA headquarters are located on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.