The Directors Guild of Canada has named this year’s recipients of the special honours to be given out at the group’s annual awards gala, to be held in Toronto in the fall.

Director-producer-writer John N. Smith (pictured) is to receiving DGC’s lifetime achievement award, while producer and a guild founding member Lee Gordon is to receive the Don Haldane distinguished service award and producer Peter O’Brian is to receive the honourary life member award, the guild announced Wednesday.

Smith, who has made both documentaries and scripted dramas for five decades, started his career at the NFB. His credits include Academy Award-nominated short film First Winter, TV mini-series The Boys of St. Vincent, Tommy Douglas: Prairie Giant, The Englishman’s Boy and Dieppe, as well as theatrical films A Cool Dry Place and Sugartime.

Gordon is a founding member of the guild in 1962 and was among Canada’s first female filmmakers. Her credits include films Nikki: Wild Dog of the North, A Way Out and Along the Way.

O’Brian has played key roles at the Canadian Film Centre, the Toronto International Film Festival and TVO, where he has been the chairman of the board since 2005. His credits include films The Grey Fox, My American Cousin and Far from Home.

The DGC Awards Gala is set for Oct. 26 in Toronto.