Awards Insights

Tag: DGA

  • DGA Awards 2023: The Daniels Win Another Major Prize on Their Way to Oscar

    DGA Awards 2023: The Daniels Win Another Major Prize on Their Way to Oscar

    The Daniels’ winning at DGA, means another major prize for Everything Everywhere All at Once on its way to presumed triumph at the Oscars on March 12th. This gives them two of the four major directing precursors (they also won for directing at Critics Choice) and are definitively in the pole position in the category.

    On the documentary side, Fire of Love’s Sara Dosa won for her work. In the last five years, every Best Documentary winner has won at least one genre documentary award at the Critics Choice Awards, and this year Fire of Love and Navalny are the only nominees with a genre documentary prize. My chips are on Navalny to win as the Academy has shown a bias against archival documentaries unless they were undeniable winners (like last year’s Summer of Soul). Navalny’s win at BAFTA further cements it in my mind as the likely winner.

    Here are the rest of the winners at DGA:

    OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN THEATRICAL FEATURE FILM

    Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
    Everything Everywhere All at Once

    DRAMA SERIES

    Sam Levinson
    Euphoria, “Stand Still Like the Hummingbird” (HBO)
    Mr. Levinson’s Directorial Team:
    Unit Production Manager: Will Greenfield
    First Assistant Directors: Valerie Johnson, Sally Brunski
    Second Assistant Directors: Cindy King, Colin Duffy
    Second Second Assistant Directors: James Chestnut
    Additional Second Assistant Director: Aaron Rose Leone

    COMEDY SERIES

    Bill Hader
    Barry, “710N” (HBO)
    Mr. Hader’s Directorial Team:
    Unit Production Manager: Aida Rodgers
    First Assistant Director: Gavin Kleintop
    Second Assistant Director: Erin Stern Linares
    Second Second Assistant Directors: Yarden Levo, Chalis Romero

    COMMERCIALS

    Kim Gehrig
    Somesuch, Inc.

    Accessibility, Apple ‑ Apple (Direct)
    First Assistant Directors: Michael Estrella
    Second Assistant Director: Brian Steffen
    Second Second Assistant Director: Shauna Frontera

    Run Baby Run, iPhone ‑ Apple (Direct)
    First Assistant Director: Matias Nilsson
    Second Assistant Director: Carl Jackson
    Second Second Assistant Director: Michael Paulson

    OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT OF A FIRST-TIME THEATRICAL FEATURE FILM DIRECTOR

    Charlotte Wells
    Aftersun
    (A24)

    MOVIES FOR TELEVISION AND LIMITED SERIES

    Helen Shaver
    Station Eleven, “Who’s There?” (HBO Max)
    Ms. Shaver’s Directorial Team:

    Unit Production Manager: David Nicksay
    First Assistant Director: Jennifer Wilkinson
    Second Assistant Director: Anna Vogt

    REALITY PROGRAMS

    Ben Simms
    Running Wild with Bear Grylls, “Florence Pugh in the Volcanic Rainforests of Costa Rica” (National Geographic Channel)
    Mr. Simms’ Directorial Team:
    Associate Director: Sara Brown

    CHILDREN’S PROGRAMS

    Anne Renton
    Best Foot Forward, “Halloween” (Apple TV+)
    Ms. Renton’s Directorial Team:
    Unit Production Manager: Lance W. Lanfear
    First Assistant Director: Nandi Bowe
    Second Assistant Director: Susie Balaban
    Second Second Assistant Director: Tim Neven

    DOCUMENTARY

    Sara Dosa
    Fire of Love (National Geographic)

    VARIETY/TALK/NEWS/SPORTS – SPECIALS

    Glenn Weiss
    The 75th Annual Tony Awards (CBS)
    Mr. Weiss’s Directorial Team:
    Associate Directors: Ken Diego, Robin Abrams, Susan Kopensky, Ricky Kirshner
    Stage Managers: Garry Hood, Bennymar Almonte, Phyllis Digilio, Peter Epstein, Andrew Feigin, Doug Fogel, Jeffry Gitter, Tyler Goldman, Arthur Lewis, Kevin Lishawa, Julie LoRusso, Seth Mellman, Jason Pacella, Jeffrey Pearl, Annette Powlis, Lauren Class Schneider, Eddie Valk

    VARIETY/TALK/NEWS/SPORTS – REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING

    Liz Patrick
    Saturday Night Live, “Host and Musical Guest Jack Harlow” (NBC)
    Ms. Patrick’s Directorial Team:
    Associate Directors: Michael Mancini, Michael Poole, Laura Ouziel‑Mack
    Stage Managers: Gena Rositano, Chris Kelly, Eddie Valk

    Source: Deadline

  • DGA Awards: Campion Wins Another Major Precursor En Route to Oscar

    DGA Awards: Campion Wins Another Major Precursor En Route to Oscar

    Of all the above-the-line categories, Best Director is the closest to being locked as Campion will likely sweep the precursors on her way to Oscar glory.

    This precursor is also an important one for the Doc race. Stanley Nelson won for Attica and though I’m not saying that Summer of Soul missing here will move it from frontrunner status, I do think it’s vulnerable for a film like Flee to take the prize at the last second.

    Here are the DGA results:

    Theatrical Feature Film
    Paul Thomas Anderson, “Licorice Pizza”
    Kenneth Branagh, “Belfast”
    **WINNER Jane Campion, “The Power of the Dog”
    Steven Spielberg, “West Side Story”
    Denis Villeneuve, “Dune”

    First-Time Feature Film Director
    **WINNER Maggie Gyllenhaal, “The Lost Daughter”
    Rebecca Hall, “Passing”
    Tatiana Huezo, “Prayers for the Stolen”
    Lin-Manuel Miranda, “tick, tick…BOOM!”
    Michael Sarnoski, “Pig”
    Emma Seligman, “Shiva Baby”

    Documentary
    Jessica Kingdon, “Ascension”
    **WINNER Stanley Nelson, “Attica”
    Raoul Peck, “Exterminate All the Brutes”
    Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, “Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)”
    Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin, “The Rescue”

    Drama Series
    Kevin Bray, “Succession”: “Retired Janitors of Idaho”
    **WINNER Mark Mylod, “Succession”: “All the Bells Say”
    Andrij Parekh, “Succession”: “What It Takes”
    Robert Pulcini & Shari Springer Berman, “Succession”: “Lion in the Meadow”
    Lorene Scafaria, “Succession”: “Too Much Birthday”

    Comedy Series
    **WINNER Lucia Aniello, “Hacks”: “There Is No Line”
    MJ Delaney, “Ted Lasso”: “No Weddings and a Funeral”
    Erica Dunton, “Ted Lasso”: “Rainbow”
    Sam Jones, “Ted Lasso”: “Beard After Hours”
    Mike White, “The White Lotus”: “Mysterious Monkeys”

    Movies for Television and Limited Series
    **WINNER Barry Jenkins, “The Underground Railroad”
    Barry Levinson, “Dopesick”: “First Bottle”
    Hiro Murai, “Station Eleven”: “Wheel of Fire”
    Danny Strong: “Dopesick”: “The People vs. Purdue Pharma”
    Craig Zobel, “Mare of Easttown”

    Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Regularly Scheduled Programming
    Paul G. Casey, “Real Time With Bill Maher”: “Episode 1935: Fareed Zakaria, Chris Christie, Eric Adams”
    Jim Hoskinson, “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”: “Episode 1105”
    **WINNER Don Roy King, “Saturday Night Live”: “Keegan-Michael Key; Olivia Rodrigo”
    David Paul Meyer, “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah”: “Episode 26112”
    Paul Pennolino & Christopher Werner, “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”: “Episode 830 – Season Finale”

    Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Specials
    Ian Berger, “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Presents Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse – Into the Magaverse”
    Bo Burnham, “Bo Burnham: Inside”
    **WINNER Paul Dugdale, “Adele: One Night Only”
    Stan Lathan, “Dave Chappelle: The Closer”
    Glenn P. Weiss, “The 43rd Annual Kennedy Center Honors”

    Reality Programs
    Joseph Guidry, “Full Bloom”: “Final Floral Face Off”
    Patrick McManus, “American Ninja Warrior”: “1304: Qualifiers 4”
    Ramy Romany, “Making the Cut”: “Brand Statement”
    Ben Simms, “Running Wild with Bear Grylls”: “Gina Carano In The Dolomites”
    **WINNER Adam Vetri, “Getaway Driver”: “Electric Shock”

    Children’s Programs
    James Bobin, “The Mysterious Benedict Society”: “A Bunch of Smart Orphans”
    Michael Lembeck, “The J Team”
    Phill Lewis, “Head of the Class”: “Three More Years”
    **WINNER Smriti Mundhra, “Through Our Eyes”: “Shelter”
    Jeff Wadlow, “Are You Afraid of the Dark?”: “The Tale of the Darkhouse”

    Commercials
    Steve Ayson (MJZ), Anthem, Mattress Firm – Droga5
    Kathryn Bigelow (Smuggler), Hollywood In Your Pocket, iPhone 13 – Media Arts Lab
    Ian Pons Jewell (Reset), ECG, Apple Watch – Apple; Sleep, Apple Watch – Apple; Time, Squarespace – Squarespace; Your Mom’s Short Ribs, Instacart – Goodby Silverstein
    Henry-Alex Rubin (Smuggler), Teenage Dream, Sandy Hook Promise – BBDO – New York
    **WINNER Bradford Young (Serial Pictures x Somesuch), Super. Human., Channel 4 Paralympics – 4Creative

    Source: The Wrap

  • DGA Nominees Released: PTA, Branagh, Campion, Spielberg, and Villeneuve All Make It In

    DGA Nominees Released: PTA, Branagh, Campion, Spielberg, and Villeneuve All Make It In

    The last time the eventual Best Picture winner missed DGA was in 1990 when Driving Miss Daisy’s Bruce Beresford missed directing nods at both the DGA and the Oscars yet his film still ended up winning the top prize. So it seems highly unlikely that any film outside of this group will triumph in the end. Of course, ‘The Power of the Dog’, with ‘Belfast’ following closely behind, are still the two frontrunners.

    With these five getting nominations, someone like Adam McKay’s chances of getting nominated for Best Director are now essentially non-existent. Usually, four out of the five DGA nominees translate to Oscar nominations and that usually happens when they see a DGA-nominated film as more of a screenwriting achievement than a directorial achievement. I think Branagh is the best bet to fall, as a result of this trend, and someone like Ryusuke Hamaguchi or Joel Coen could take his or PTA’s place.

    Feature

    Paul Thomas Anderson, “Licorice Pizza”

    Kenneth Branagh, “Belfast”

    Jane Campion, “The Power of the Dog”

    Steven Spielberg, “West Side Story”

    Denis Villeneuve, “Dune”

    First-Time Feature

    Maggie Gyllenhaal, “The Lost Daughter”

    Rebecca Hall, “Passing”

    Tatiana Huezo, “Prayers for the Stolen”

    Lin-Manuel Miranda, “Tick, Tick … Boom!”

    Michael Sarnoski, “Pig”

    Emma Seligman, “Shiva Baby”

    Documentary

    “Ascension,” Jessica Kingdon

    “Attica,” Stanley Nelson

    “Exterminate All the Brutes,” Raoul Peck

    “Summer of Soul,” Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson

    “The Rescue,” Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin

    Source: New York Times

  • DGA Essentially Confirms That Zhao Will Win Best Director

    DGA Essentially Confirms That Zhao Will Win Best Director

    Chloe Zhao continued her sweep of all the major directing precursors with a win at DGA. If anybody somehow thought she could lose Best Director before DGA, they shouldn’t now.

    It was more interesting that My Octopus Teacher lost in the Documentary category to The Truffle Hunters as the latter film is not even nominated at the Oscars.

    Anyway, here’s the full list of winners:

    Outstanding Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film for 2020:

    CHLOÉ ZHAO | Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures) (WINNER)

    LEE ISAAC CHUNG | Minari (A24)

    EMERALD FENNELL | Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)

    DAVID FINCHER | Mank (Netflix)

    AARON SORKIN | The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix; DreamWorks Pictures)

    Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Feature Film Director:

    DARIUS MARDER | Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios) (WINNER)

    RADHA BLANK | The Forty-Year-Old Version (Netflix)

    FERNANDO FRÍAS DE LA PARRA | I’m No Longer Here (Netflix)

    REGINA KING | One Night in Miami (Amazon Studios)

    FLORIAN ZELLER | The Father (Sony Pictures Classics)

    Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series

    LESLI LINKA GLATTER | Homeland, “Prisoners of War” (Showtime) (WINNER)

    JASON BATEMAN | Ozark, “Wartime” (Netflix)

    JON FAVREAU | The Mandalorian, “Chapter 9: The Marshal” (Disney+)

    VINCE GILLIGAN | Better Call Saul, “Bagman” (AMC)

    JULIE ANNE ROBINSON | Bridgerton, “Diamond of the First Water” (Netflix)

    Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series

    SUSANNA FOGEL | The Flight Attendant, “In Case of Emergency” (HBO Max) (WINNER)

    ZACH BRAFF | Ted Lasso, “Biscuits” (Apple TV+)

    MJ DELANEY | Ted Lasso, “The Hope that Kills You” (Apple TV+)

    ERIN O’MALLEY | Curb Your Enthusiasm, “The Surprise Party” (HBO)

    JEFF SCHAFFER | Curb Your Enthusiasm, “The Spite Store” (HBO)

    Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Limited Series

    SCOTT FRANK | The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix) (WINNER)

    SUSANNE BIER | The Undoing (HBO)

    THOMAS KAIL | Hamilton (Disney+)

    MATT SHAKMAN | WandaVision (Disney +)

    LYNN SHELTON | Little Fires Everywhere, “Find a Way” (Hulu)

    Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Regularly Scheduled Programming

    DON ROY KING | Saturday Night Live, “Dave Chappelle; Foo Fighters” (NBC) (WINNER)

    PAUL G. CASEY | Real Time With Bill Maher, “Episode 1835” (HBO)

    JIM HOSKINSON | The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, “#1025 Live Show Following Capitol Insurrection” (CBS)

    DAVID PAUL MEYER | The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, “President Obama: Inspiring Future Leaders” & “A Promised Land” (Comedy Central)

    CHRISTOPHER WERNER | Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, “Trump & Election Results” (HBO)

    Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Specials

    THOMAS SCHLAMME | A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote (HBO Max) (WINNER)

    STACEY ANGELES | The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Presents “Remembering RBG: A Nation Ugly Cried with Desi Lydic (Comedy Central)

    MARIELLE HELLER | What the Constitution Means to Me (Amazon)

    JIM HOSKINSON | The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, “Stephen Colbert’s Election Night 2020: Democracy’s Last Stand: Building Back America Great Again Better 2020” (Showtime)

    SPIKE LEE | American Utopia (HBO)

    Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Reality Programs

    JOSEPH GUIDRY | Full Bloom, “Petal to the Metal” (HBO Max) (WINNER)

    DAVID CHARLES | Eco Challenge, “3,2,1…Go!” (Amazon)

    JON FAVREAU | The Chef Show, “Tartine” (Netflix)

    KEN FUCHS | Shark Tank, “1211” (ABC)

    RICH KIM | Lego Masters, “Mega City Block” (FOX)

    Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children’s Programs

    AMY SCHATZ | We Are the Dream: The Kids of the Oakland MLK Oratorical Fest (HBO) (WINNER)

    KABIR AKHTAR | High School Musical: The Musical ‑ The Series, “Opening Night” (Disney+)

    LARISSA BILLS | On Pointe, “Showtime!” (Disney+)

    DEAN ISRAELITE | The Astronauts, “Countdown” (Nickelodeon)

    RICHIE KEEN | The Healing Powers of Dude, “Second Step: Homeroom” (Netflix)

    Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials

    MELINA MATSOUKAS (Prettybird) | You Love Me, Beats by Dr. Dre ‑ Translation (WINNER)

    STEVE AYSON (MJZ) | The Great Chase, Nike ‑ Wieden + Kennedy Shanghai

    NISHA GANATRA (Chelsea Pictures) | #wombstories, Bodyform/Libresse – AMVBBDO

    NICLAS LARSSON (MJZ) | See the Unseen, VW Touareg ‑ adam&eveDDB; The Parents, Volvo XC60 ‑ Forsman & Bodenfors

    TAIKA WAITITI (Hungry Man) | The Letter, Coca‑Cola ‑ Wieden & Kennedy London

    Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary

    MICHAEL DWECK & GREGORY KERSHAW | The Truffle Hunters (Sony Pictures Classics) (WINNER)

    PIPPA EHRLICH & JAMES REED | My Octopus Teacher (Netflix)

    DAVID FRANCE | Welcome to Chechnya (HBO Max)

    AMANDA McBAINE & JESSE MOSS | Boys State (Apple/A24)

    BENJAMIN REE | The Painter and the Thief (Elevation Pictures)

  • DGA Nominations Hold Four Expected Picks And One Surprise

    DGA Nominations Hold Four Expected Picks And One Surprise

    The Directors Guild nominations gave nods to Bong Joon-Ho, Sam Mendes, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, and Taika Waititi. Waititi’s, the director of Jojo Rabbit, nomination shows that there is a lot of love in the industry for Jojo Rabbit and that could help it get more nominations than what was initially expected of it. (Maybe nods in Supporting Actress, Production Design, Costume Design, Score, Editing, or even Director)

    Here are the DGA’s nominations:

    The nominees for OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN THEATRICAL FEATURE FILM FOR 2019 are (in alphabetical order):

    BONG JOON HO

    Parasite

    (Neon)

    Mr. Bong’s Directorial Team:

    Unit Production Manager: Park Min Chul

    First Assistant Director: Kim Seong Sik

    SAM MENDES

    1917

    (Universal Pictures)

    Mr. Mendes’s Directorial Team:

    Unit Production Managers: Callum McDougall, Hannah Godwin

    First Assistant Director: Michael Lerman

    Second Assistant Director: Joey Coughlin

    MARTIN SCORSESE

    The Irishman

    (Netflix)

    Mr. Scorsese’s Directorial Team:

    Unit Production Managers: John A. Machione, Carla Raij

    First Assistant Director: David Webb

    Second Assistant Director: Jeremy Marks

    Second Second Assistant Director: Trevor Tavares

    Additional Second Assistant Director: Ryan Robert Howard

    Location Manager: Kip Myers

    QUENTIN TARANTINO

    Once Upon A Time In… Hollywood

    (Columbia Pictures)

    Mr. Tarantino’s Directorial Team:

    Unit Production Managers: Georgia Kacandes, Nathan Kelly

    First Assistant Director: William Paul Clark

    Second Assistant Director: Christopher T. Sadler

    Second Second Assistant Director: Brendan “Bear” Lee

    Additional Second Assistant Directors: Debbie Chung, Katie Pruitt

    TAIKA WAITITI

    Jojo Rabbit

    (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

    Mr. Waititi’s Directorial Team:

    Unit Production Managers: Václav Mottl, Pavel Voráček

    First Assistant Director: Mark Taylor

    Second Assistant Director: Martina Götthansová

    Second Second Assistant Director: Martina Frimelová

    The nominees for OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT OF A FIRST-TIME FEATURE FILM DIRECTOR FOR 2019 are (in alphabetical order):

    MATI DIOP

    Atlantics

    (Netflix)

    Ms. Diop’s Directorial Team:

    First Assistant Director: Vincent Prades

    ALMA HAR’EL

    Honey Boy

    (Amazon Studios)

    Ms. Har’el’s Directorial Team:

    Unit Production Manager: David Grace

    First Assistant Director: Sean Vawter

    Second Assistant Director: Colin Flaherty

    Second Second Assistant Director: Sarah Balboa

    MELINA MATSOUKAS

    Queen & Slim

    (Universal Pictures)

    Ms. Matsoukas’s Directorial Team:

    Unit Production Managers: Pamela Hirsch, Max Berryhill (Los Angeles Unit)

    First Assistant Directors: HH Cooper, Joe Suarez (Los Angeles Unit)

    Second Assistant Directors: James Roque, Johnny Recher (Los Angeles Unit)

    Second Second Assistant Directors: Sumner Boissiere, Tami Kumin (Ohio Unit)

    TYLER NILSON &MICHAEL SCHWARTZ

    The Peanut Butter Falcon

    (Roadside Attractions)

    Directorial Team:

    Unit Production Manager: Manu Gargi

    First Assistant Director: James Grayford

    Second Assistant Director: Dee Jones

    Second Second Assistant Director: Michael McKay

    JOE TALBOT

    The Last Black Man in San Francisco

    (A24 Films)

    Mr. Talbot’s Directorial Team:

    Unit Production Manager: Natalie Teter

    First Assistant Director: Hilton J. Day

    Second Assistant Director: Dominic Martin

    Second Second Assistant Director: Jeremiah Kelleher

    Additional Second Second Assistant Director: Alex Gilbert