Will the DGA make history tonight? Should Nomadland director Chloé Zhao or Promising Young Woman filmmaker Emerald Fennell win in the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film category, it will rep the second time that the DGA has awarded its top prize to a female director after Kathryn Bigelow for 2008’s The Hurt Locker.
The DGA has largely been a perfect bellwether in regards to who wins Best Director at the Oscars, veering only eight times in its 73-year history. In fact, last year was a miss for the DGA in regards to correlating to the Oscars: While Sam Mendes won the DGA’s top award for 1917 last year, it was Bong Joon Ho who won Best Director at the Academy Awards for Parasite. Previous years when the DGA didn’t line up with the Oscars include 1968 (DGA chose Anthony Harvey for Lion in Winter, Oscars chose Carol Reed for Oliver!), 1972 (DGA – Francis Ford Coppola for The Godfather, Oscars – Bob Fosse for Cabaret), 1985 (DGAs – Steven Spielberg for The Color Purple, Oscars – Sydney Pollack for Out of Africa), 1995 (DGAs- Ron Howard, Apollo 13: Oscars – Mel Gibson, Braveheart), 2000 (DGAs – Ang Lee for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Oscars- Steven Soderbergh for Traffic), 2002 (DGAs- Rob Marshall, Chicago, Oscars – Roman Polanski, The Pianist) and 2012 (DGAs- Ben Affleck, Argo, Oscars – Ang Lee, Life of Pi). As far as Affleck for Argo, Spielberg for The Color Purple and Howard for Apollo 13; AMPAS failed to nominate those filmmakers during their respective years of competition for those movies.
We’ll be updating the winners list live, so refresh for updates.
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials
MELINA MATSOUKAS
(Prettybird)
You Love Me, Beats by Dr. Dre – Translation
First Assistant Director: Paul Norman
Second Assistant Director: Don Johnson
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Reality Programs
JOSEPH GUIDRY
Full Bloom, “Petal to the Metal”
(HBO Max)
Associate Director: Sean Galvin
Lead Stage Manager: Jimmy Chriss
Stage Managers: Rachel Shimko, Kristianna Laroda, Richard Melendez
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Regularly Scheduled Programming
DON ROY KING
Saturday Night Live, “Dave Chappelle; Foo Fighters”
(NBC)
Associate Directors: Michael Mancini, Michael Poole, Laura Ouziel-Mack
Stage Managers: Gena Rositano, Chris Kelly, Eddie Valk
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Specials
THOMAS SCHLAMME
A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote
(HBO Max)
Unit Production Manager: Debra James
First Assistant Director: Shawn Pipkin-West
Second Assistant Director: Courtney Franklin
Second Second Assistant Directors: Ni’cole Pettis, Cathy Bond
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children’s Programs
AMY SCHATZ
We Are the Dream: The Kids of the Oakland MLK Oratorical Fest
(HBO)
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series
SUSANNA FOGEL
The Flight Attendant, “In Case of Emergency”
(HBO Max)
Unit Production Manager: Bonnie Muñoz
First Assistant Director: Derek Peterson
Second Assistant Director: Jacquie Dore
Second Second Assistant Director: Zach Citarella
Location Manager: Chris Banks
OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN THEATRICAL FEATURE FILM
Lee Isaac Chung
Minari
(A24)
Unit Production Manager: Dylan Brodie
First Assistant Director: Jeff Dubray
Second Assistant Director: Ann Laudick
Second Second Assistant Director: Stephen J. Hanan
Emerald Fennell
Promising Young Woman
(Focus Features)
Unit Production Manager: Reena Magsarili Raasch
First Assistant Director: Michael T. Meador
Second Assistant Director: Alexander Armero
Second Second Assistant Director: Anthony Manzo
David Fincher
Mank
(Netflix)
Unit Production Manager: Allen Kupetsky
First Assistant Director: Richard Goodwin
Second Assistant Director: Samantha McGrady
Second Second Assistant Director: Matt McKinnon
Additional Second Assistant Directors: Jeff Goodell, John Stern, George Williams III
Aaron Sorkin
The Trial of the Chicago 7
(Netflix; DreamWorks Pictures)
Unit Production Managers: Charles Miller, Stuart M. Besser, Jonathan Shoemaker
First Assistant Director: Joseph P. Reidy
Second Assistant Director: Rachel Jaros
Second Second Assistant Director: Justin Bischoff
Location Managers: Dennis Voskov, Nick Rafferty (Chicago Unit)
Chloé Zhao
Nomadland
(Searchlight Pictures)
Unit Production Manager: Mary Kerrigan
First Assistant Director: Mary Kerrigan
OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT OF A FIRST-TIME FEATURE FILM DIRECTOR
Radha Blank
The Forty-Year-Old Version
(Netflix)
Unit Production Manager: James Price
First Assistant Director: Michael L. Walker
Second Assistant Director: Kenyon Noble
Second Second Assistant Director: Jonathan Santos
Location Managers: Katarina Dedicova, Tim Stacker
Fernando Frías de la Parra
I’m No Longer Here
(Netflix)
Production Managers: Martín Pérez Valle, Assia Fratz (New York Unit)
First Assistant Director: Carlos Suazo
Second Assistant Directors: Alí Santiago, Alex Burstein (New York Unit)
Second Second Assistant Directors: Karen Alcázar, Anthony James Faure (New York Unit)
Regina King
One Night in Miami
(Amazon Studios)
Unit Production Manager: Paul O. Davis
First Assistant Director: Mark Anthony Little
Second Assistant Director: Kevin O’Neil
Darius Marder
Sound of Metal
(Amazon Studios)
Unit Production Manager: Amy Greene
First Assistant Director: Matthew Vose Campbell
Florian Zeller
The Father
(Sony Pictures Classics)
First Assistant Director: George Every
Second Assistant Director: Jamie D. Allen
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series
JASON BATEMAN
Ozark, “Wartime”
(Netflix)
Unit Production Manager: Matthew Spiegel
First Assistant Director: Peter Thorell
Second Assistant Director: Townson Wells
Second Second Assistant Director: Sarah Gorczyk
JON FAVREAU
The Mandalorian, “Chapter 9: The Marshal”
(Disney+)
Unit Production Manager: Colin Wilson
First Assistant Director: Kim Richards
Second Assistant Director: Heather Wagner-Wang
Second Second Assistant Director: Heather Kehayas
Additional Second Assistant Director: David Buchwald
VINCE GILLIGAN
Better Call Saul, “Bagman”
(AMC)
Unit Production Manager: James Paul Hapsas
First Assistant Director: Efrain Cortes
Second Assistant Director: Louis Lanni
Second Second Assistant Director: KiKi Levine
LESLI LINKA GLATTER
Homeland, “Prisoners of War”
(Showtime)
Unit Production Managers: Michael Klick, Philippa Naughten
First Assistant Director: Sunday Stevens
Second Assistant Director: Wendy Bledsoe
JULIE ANNE ROBINSON
Bridgerton, “Diamond of the First Water”
(Netflix)
First Assistant Director: Ian Foster Woolf
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Limited Series
SUSANNE BIER
The Undoing
(HBO)
Unit Production Manager: Deb Dyer
First Assistant Director: Richard Styles
Second Assistant Director: Josh Muzaffer
Location Manager: Lauri Pitkus
Second Second Assistant Directors: Steven Lafferty, Alex Scricco
Additional Second Assistant Directors: Alex Scricco, Zachary Citarella
SCOTT FRANK
The Queen’s Gambit
(Netflix)
First Assistant Director: Aldric La’auli Porter
THOMAS KAIL
Hamilton
(Disney+)
Unit Production Manager: David Backus
First Assistant Director: Robin Abrams
Second Assistant Director: Thomas Gaito
MATT SHAKMAN
WandaVision
(Disney +)
Unit Production Manager: Mary Kane
First Assistant Director: Janell Sammelman
Second Assistant Directors: Meaghan F. McLaughlin, Stephanie Tull Coscina
Second Second Assistant Directors: Katye Kalivoda, Nadeem Ashayer (Los Angeles Unit)
Additional Second Assistant Directors: Kate Pulley, George Williams (Los Angeles Unit)
LYNN SHELTON
Little Fires Everywhere, “Find a Way”
(Hulu)
Unit Production Manager: Brad Yacobian
First Assistant Director: Luke Maxcy
Second Assistant Director: Kirisa Gavrin
Second Second Assistant Directors: Christina Lee, Gabriella Poli Vidal
DOCUMENTARY
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary
MICHAEL DWECK & GREGORY KERSHAW
The Truffle Hunters
(Sony Pictures Classics)
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)
HONORARY AWARDS
Robert B. Aldrich Award
Betty Thomas