Statement on the Passing of DGA National Board Member and UPM Duncan Henderson
Directors
Guild of America
By
Lesli Linka Glatter
June
23, 2022
LOS ANGELES – Directors Guild of America President Lesli Linka
Glatter made the following statement upon learning of the passing of National
Board member and Unit Production Manager Duncan Henderson:
“The Directors Guild of America mourns the passing of National
Board member and UPM Duncan Henderson. A DGA member for over 40 years, Duncan’s
level of passion, service and commitment was beyond exemplary – and for that we
honored him with the Frank Capra Achievement Award in 2020 as a mark of his
extraordinary dedication. No matter how massive the film, whether The
Perfect Storm, Home Alone 2 or DGA and Academy Award-nominated
features Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World and Dead
Poet’s Society, Duncan was always available as a leader, a mentor and
a friend. He gave the same wise counsel and thoughtful consideration to
award-winning directors and the production assistant on her first industry job.
It is difficult to overstate how much Duncan meant to the DGA and his fellow
members. His love for his Guild and its members shone brightly through his
outstanding leadership and 16 years of service as a Board member, as a
longstanding member of the Western AD/UPM Council (including a term as Council
Chair), and five-time member of the DGA Negotiations Committee.
Additionally, Duncan was proud to give back to the organization that helped
usher him into the industry and the Guild serving as a Trustee on the
DGA-Producer Assistant Directors Training Program since 2004. Our thoughts are
with Duncan’s wife Michele, his children Jessica, Ian, Fiona and Ivy, and his
many colleagues and friends. He will be deeply missed.”
DGA
Service and Awards
A DGA member for over 40 years, Duncan S. Henderson first joined
the Guild in 1980 after graduating from the DGA-Producer Assistant Directors
Training Program. He served ten terms on the Western AD/UPM Council since 2002,
including being elected as Council Chair. He was also a sitting DGA National
Board Member, having been first elected in 2005, and served eight consecutive
terms. Henderson was awarded with the DGA’s 2020 Frank Capra Achievement Award,
an honor that is given to an Assistant Director or Unit Production Manager in
recognition of career achievement in the industry and service to the Guild.
Henderson had a prolific career as a Unit Production Manager,
Assistant Director or Producer of such hit features as Peter Weir’s DGA
Award-nominated Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World and Dead
Poets Society; Wolfgang Petersen’s The Perfect Storm and Outbreak;
Chris Columbus’ Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Home
Alone 2; and Joseph Kosinski’s Oblivion – as well as
Malcolm D. Lee’s Space Jam: A New Legacy. Prior to becoming a UPM,
Henderson worked as an Assistant Director on features ranging from John
Cassavetes’ Big Trouble to Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky
IV. As a DGA Trainee, Henderson worked on projects including Paul
Schrader’s American Gigolo and Michael Cimino’s Heaven’s
Gate.
Henderson also served on the DGA Negotiations Committee for the
2005, 2008, 2014, 2017 and 2020 negotiations cycles, and as a delegate to the
DGA Biennial Conventions. He had been a Trustee of the DGA-Producer Assistant
Directors Training Program since 2004.
When asked about his choice to get so deeply involved in the
operations of the Guild, Henderson said upon receiving the Capra Award, “I was
like all of my compatriots in the DGA—busy. At some point I realized that other
members who were just as busy as me were making time to contribute to the Guild
with their service. I decided to follow their lead and join the AD/UPM Council.
It was one of the best decisions I have ever made. It expanded the entire scope
of my motion picture career.”
HENDERSON, Duncan
Born: 1950, Culver City, California, U.S.A.
Died: 6/21/2022, Valencia, California, U.S.A.
Duncan Henderson’s western – assistant director:
Heaven’s Gate - 1980
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