The Origins Of 6 Features Common In Films
5. Directors’ Names Are Shown At The Beginning Of A Movie Because Of A DGA Rule
According to the Directors Guild of America, if anybody else is credited at the beginning of a movie the director must be credited too. George Lucas was not a big fan of this rule. He wanted Star Wars movies to go straight to the story instead of wasting the first five minutes on opening credits. He ignored the rule on the first Star Wars movie in 1977. The DGA let him get away with it, probably because he was directing.
He ignored the rule again when he released The Empire Strikes Back in 1980. The DGA got mad at Lucas for putting Irvin Kershner’s directing credit at the end instead of at the beginning of the the movie. Kershner was fine with the whole thing but the DGA wouldn’t have any of it. Lucas chose to pay a fine instead of editing the whole movie to comply with DGA guidelines as it would have been too expensive. He then promptly quit the Directors Guild and the Writers Guild.