Trivia Time: Alan Smithee, the World's Worst Director

Here's a fun bit of trivia I learned via Nikki Finke today: the name Alan Smithee is an official pseudonym taken on by directors when they want to dissociate themselves from a film. Until 2000 it was the DGA's official moniker taken on by directors who didn't want their name in the credits of an unsatisfactory film. Guild rules even specified that once a director uses the Alan Smithee credit, they are required not to disclose the circumstances leading to detaching themselves from the project.

Films with direction credited to Mr. Smithee include Woman Wanted (actually directed by Keifer Sutherland), and Twilight Zone: The Movie, in which the 2nd AD credit for one segment is given to Smithee (actor Vic Morrow was killed during production on the film). There are also several films that credit Smithee as the director of the edited for television version, including Heat, Rudy, and Scent of a Woman.

[Alan Smithee - Wikipedia]