Los Angeles – Directors Guild of America President Taylor Hackford made the following statement upon learning of the passing of Tom Donovan: “We are saddened to learn today of the passing of Tom Donovan, a key player in the merger between the Screen Directors Guild and the Radio and Television Directors Guild in 1960 that led to the formation of the modern Directors Guild of America. “Tom’s mark upon the new DGA was indelible. He was president of the New York Local of the RTDG when discussions first began in the late 1950s about forming a new, unified organization to represent film and television directors and the teams that support them under one roof, and then in 1962, he chaired the committee that organized a restructuring of the new Guild that eased regional friction and consolidated power in a National Board in which both the East Coast and the West Coast were fully represented – an organizational structure that continues today.”