The DGA has promoted longtime executive Marcel Giacusa to the position of associate executive director, the guild announced Tuesday. His previous title was assistant executive director.
In both his new and old capacities, Giacusa is/was head of the Operations Department, responsible for all building and theater operations, management and leasing activities in Los Angeles and New York. He also serves as the national executive awards administrator, responsible for producing the annual DGA Awards ceremony in Los Angeles and the biennial DGA Honors event in New York.
“Marcel is one of the most dedicated, capable employees the guild has ever had,” DGA national executive director Jay Roth said in a statement.
Giacusa has had an unusual career path: He began working at the DGA part-time while in high school, while his peers were presumably working in retail or lifeguarding at local swimming pools. He continued to work part-time for the guild while at UCLA and took a full-time position after graduating. He’ll report to Roth in his new job.
He was a key member of the team that oversaw the planning and construction of the new Los Angeles headquarters building in the late 1980s. In the early 1990s, he began producing the DGA Awards, managing the shift from the dinner dance it was at the time to the awards show format it is today. Giacusa also supervised the recent renovation of the New York building and theater.
Recently, Giacusa oversaw the upgrade to the L.A. headquarters building operations that helped the DGA achieve a Silver LEED Certification for environmentally conscious practices.
Giacusa’s promotion is not related to the retirement last month of longtime executive Warren Adler.
