Tag: Director’s Guild of America

GRAVITY’s Alfonso Cuarón Takes Home Top Honors From Directors Guild of America

GRAVITY 3D

Another Oscar pre-cursor award was handed out Saturday night.

Director Alfonso Cuarón won the DGA’s Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for GRAVITY. This top honor puts him in a good spot to win the Academy Award for Best Director on Oscar Sunday, March 2. The awards for 2013 were announced during the 66th Annual DGA Awards Dinner at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles. Other DGA nominees were Paul Greengrass (Captain Phillips); Steve McQueen (12 Years A Slave); David O. Russell (American Hustle); and Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street).

With just five weeks until the Oscars are announced from the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, 12 YEARS A SLAVE, which tied with GRAVITY last Saturday to earn the top award at the Producers Guild, seems to be in a three-way race with AMERICAN HUSTLE which took home the Screen Actors Guild award last weekend.

As Oscar pundit Scott Feinberg wrote in his Hollywood Reporter article “Will Weinstein’s ‘Philomena’ Benefit From Best Picture Split?”, be on the lookout for PHILOMENA and a surprise upset for Best Picture.

The DGA and PGA win for GRAVITY firmly places the film as the frontrunner, but as you can see in the most recent edition of the Gurus o’ Gold, many are predicting a split between the Best Picture and Best Director.

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Upcoming awards to note: The Writer’s Guild Awards are on February 1, ACE Eddie’s (editors guild) are February 7 and the BAFTA’s (Gravity – 11 nominations, including Best Film, Outstanding British Film. 12 Years a Slave and American Hustle – ten nominations) are held on February 16.  Final voting for the 86th Academy Awards ends at 5 p.m. PT on Tuesday, February 25th.

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Actress Jane Lynch hosted the ceremony before an audience of more than 1,600 guests. Presenters included (in alphabetical order): Ben Affleck, Debbie Allen, DGA Secretary-Treasurer Michael Apted, DGA President Paris Barclay, Sandra Bullock, Nick Cannon, Don Cheadle, Steve Coogan, Bradley Cooper, DGA Fifth Vice President Jon Favreau, DGA Past President Taylor Hackford, Tom Hanks, Keith Jackson, Anna Kendrick, Allison Liddi-Brown, Sarah Paulson, Rob Reiner, and Kerry Washington.

The DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film has traditionally been a near perfect barometer for the Best Director Academy Award.

Only seven times since in the DGA awards’ 65 year history, has the DGA Award winner not won the Academy Award:

1968: Anthony Harvey won the DGA Award for The Lion in Winter while Carol Reed took home the Oscar® for Oliver!. 1972: Francis Ford Coppola received the DGA’s nod for The Godfather while the Academy selected Bob Fosse for Cabaret. 1985: Steven Spielberg received his first DGA Award for The Color Purple while the Oscar® went to Sydney Pollack for Out of Africa. 1995: Ron Howard was chosen by the DGA for his direction of Apollo 13 while Academy voters cited Mel Gibson for Braveheart. In 2001 Ang Lee took home the DGA Award for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, while the Oscar® went to Steven Soderbergh for Traffic. In 2003 Roman Polanski received the Academy Award for The Pianist, but the DGA Award went to Rob Marshall for Chicago. 2012: Ben Affleck won the DGA Award for Argo, while the Academy chose Ang Lee for Life of Pi.

In addition to Cuaron’s win last night, Steven Soderbergh won for Best Television/Mini-series for the Liberace biopic BEHIND THE CANDELABRA. This was Soderbergh’s first DGA Award and third nomination. He was also the recipient of this year’s Robert B. Aldrich Service Award for extraordinary service to the DGA and its membership.

Female filmmaker Jehane Noujaim took home the DGA Documentary award for THE SQUARE. This was her second DGA Award and third nomination. She won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary for Startup.com in 2001 (together with Chris Hegedus) and was also nominated in this category in 2004 for Control Room.

Alfonso Cuarón, Ben Affleck

(Photo by Richard Shotwell Invision/AP)

Alfonso Cuarón

DGA Nominees Announced; Hooper, Bigelow, Spielberg, Lee, Affleck Make List

On January 8, 2013, DGA President Taylor Hackford announced the five nominees for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for 2012.

The nominees are (in alphabetical order):

BEN AFFLECK

Argo
(Warner Bros. Pictures)

Mr. Affleck’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Amy Herman
First Assistant Director: David Webb
Second Assistant Director: Ian Calip
Second Second Assistant Directors: Clark Credle, Gavin Kleintop
First Assistant Director (Turkey Unit): Belkis Turan

This is Mr. Affleck’s first DGA Feature Film Award nomination.

KATHRYN BIGELOW

Zero Dark Thirty
(Columbia Pictures)

Ms. Bigelow’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Colin Wilson
First Assistant Director: David A. Ticotin
Second Assistant Directors: Ben Lanning, Sarah Hood
First Assistant Director (Jordan Unit): Scott Robertson
Second Assistant Directors (Jordan Unit): Jonas Spaccarotelli, Yanal Kassay
Second Second Assistant Director (Jordan Unit): Tarek Afifi
Unit Production Manager (India Unit): Rajeev Mehra

This is Ms. Bigelow’s second DGA Feature Film Award nomination. She won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for The Hurt Locker in 2009.

TOM HOOPER

Les Misérables
(Universal Pictures)

Mr. Hooper’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Patrick Schweitzer
First Assistant Director: Ben Howarth
Second Assistant Director: Harriet Worth
Second Second Assistant Director: Dan Channing Williams

This is Mr. Hooper’s second DGA Feature Film Award nomination. He won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for The King’s Speech (2010) and was previously nominated for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television/Mini-Series for John Adams in 2008.

ANG LEE

Life of Pi
(Twentieth Century Fox)

Mr. Lee’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Michael J. Malone
Unit Production Manager (Taiwan): Leo Chen
First Assistant Directors: William M. Connor, Cliff Lanning
Second Assistant Directors: Robert Burgess, Ben Lanning
Unit Production Manager (India Unit): Sanjay Kumar
First Assistant Director (India Unit): Nitya Mehra
Second Assistant Director (India Unit): Ananya Rane
Second Second Assistant Directors (India Unit): Namra Parikh, Freya Parekh
Second Assistant Directors (Montreal Unit): Derek Wimble, Renato De Cotiis

This is Mr. Lee’s fourth DGA Feature Film Award nomination. He won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for Brokeback Mountain (2005) and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) and was nominated for Sense and Sensibility in 1995.

STEVEN SPIELBERG

Lincoln
(Dreamworks Pictures/Twentieth Century Fox)

Mr. Spielberg’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Susan McNamara
First Assistant Director: Adam Somner
Second Assistant Director: Ian Stone
Second Second Assistant Directors: Eric Lasko, Trevor Tavares

This is Mr. Spielberg’s eleventh DGA Feature Film Award nomination. He won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film three times for Saving Private Ryan (1998), Schindler’s List (1993) and The Color Purple (1985). He was also nominated in this category for Munich (2005), Amistad (1997), Empire of the Sun (1987), E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial (1982), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and Jaws (1975). Mr. Spielberg was honored with the DGA’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000.

“DGA members have chosen an incredibly rich and varied group of filmmakers to nominate for this year’s Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film Award. These directors represent the highest standard of filmmaking, and their films are a testament to artistic achievement, innovative storytelling and the passion that filmmakers share with their audiences,” said Hackford. “Being nominated by their peers is what makes this award particularly meaningful for directors, and I congratulate all of the nominees for their outstanding work.”

The DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film has traditionally been one of the industry’s most accurate barometers for who will win the Best Director Academy Award. Only six times since the DGA Awards began in 1948 has the Feature Film winner not gone on to win the corresponding Academy Award.

The six exceptions are as follows:

  • 1968: Anthony Harvey won the DGA Award for The Lion in Winter while Carol Reed took home the Oscar® for Oliver!
  • 1972: Francis Ford Coppola received the DGA’s nod for The Godfather while the Academy selected Bob Fosse for Cabaret.
  • 1985: Steven Spielberg received his first DGA Award for The Color Purple while the Oscar® went to Sydney Pollack for Out of Africa.
  • 1995: Ron Howard was chosen by the DGA for his direction of Apollo 13 while Academy voters selected Mel Gibson for Braveheart.
  • 2000: Ang Lee won the DGA Award for his direction of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon while Steven Soderbergh won the Academy Award for Traffic.
  • 2002: Rob Marshall won the DGA Award for Chicago while Roman Polanski received the Academy Award for The Pianist.

The winner will be named at the 65th Annual DGA Awards Dinner on Saturday, Febnuary 2, 2013, at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland.

64th Annual DGA Awards Nominees Announced – Allen, Fincher, Hazanavicius, Payne, Scorsese

DGA President Taylor Hackford announced the five nominees for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for 2011.

  • Woody Allen – MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (5th nomination, honored with the DGA Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996.)
  • David Fincher – THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (3rd nomination)
  • Michel Hazanavicius – THE ARTIST (1st nomination)
  • Alexander Payne – THE DESCENDANTS (2nd nomination)
  • Martin Scorsese – HUGO (9th nomination, honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003.)

“The directors nominated this year for the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film Award have each demonstrated an inspired command of the medium. The fact that their prodigious talents have been recognized by their peers is the highest honor a director can achieve,” said Hackford. “I offer my most sincere congratulations to each of the nominees.”

The winner in the Feature Film category will be announced at the 64th Annual DGA Awards dinner and ceremony on Saturday evening, January 28, 2012, at the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland.  The DGA Awards will be hosted by director/actor/producer Kelsey Grammer.

The DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film has traditionally been one of the industry’s most accurate barometers for who will win the Best Director Academy Award. Only six times since the DGA Awards began in 1948 has the Feature Film winner not gone on to win the corresponding Academy Award.

The six exceptions are as follows:

  • 1968: Anthony Harvey won the DGA Award for The Lion in Winter while Carol Reed took home the Oscar® for Oliver!
  • 1972: Francis Ford Coppola received the DGA’s nod for The Godfather while the Academy selected Bob Fosse for Cabaret.
  • 1985: Steven Spielberg received his first DGA Award for The Color Purple while the Oscar® went to Sydney Pollack for Out of Africa.
  • 1995: Ron Howard was chosen by the DGA for his direction of Apollo 13 while Academy voters selected Mel Gibson for Braveheart.
  • 2000: Ang Lee won the DGA Award for his direction of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon while Steven Soderbergh won the Academy Award for Traffic.
  • 2002: Rob Marshall won the DGA Award for Chicago while Roman Polanski received the Academy Award for The Pianist. 

Source: dga.org

DGA Nominations Are Announced

Directors Guild of America President Taylor Hackford today announced the five nominees for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for 2010.

“2011 marks the 75th anniversary of the DGA, making the celebration of this year’s five nominees especially meaningful,” said Hackford. “Their inspired films radiate the passion and unique vision of each of these filmmakers, who are about to become part of our Guild’s rich history. My sincerest congratulations to all five nominees.”

The DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film has traditionally been one of the industry’s most accurate barometers for who will win the Best Director Academy Award; only six times since the DGA Awards began in 1948 has the Feature Film winner not gone on to win the corresponding Academy Award.

The winner will be named at the 63rd Annual DGA Awards Dinner on Saturday, January 29, 2011, at the Grand Ballroom of Hollywood & Highland. The nominees are (in alphabetical order):

DARREN ARONOFSKY
BLACK SWAN
(Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Mr. Aronofsky’s Directorial Team:

  • Unit Production Manager: Jennifer Roth
  • First Assistant Director: Joseph Reidy
  • Second Assistant Director: Amy Lauritsen
  • Second Second Assistant Director: Travis Rehwaldt
  • Location Manager: Ronnie Kupferwasser

This is Mr. Aronofsky’s first DGA Feature Film Award Nomination.

 

DAVID FINCHER
THE SOCIAL NETWORK
(Columbia Pictures)

Mr. Fincher’s Directorial Team:

  • Unit Production Manager: JoAnn Perritano
  • First Assistant Director: Bob Wagner
  • Second Assistant Director: Allen Kupetsky
  • Second Second Assistant Director: Maileen Williams

This is Mr. Fincher’s second DGA Feature Film Award nomination. He was previously nominated for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in 2008. He previously won the DGA Commercial Award for Speed Chain (Nike), Gamebreakers (Nikegridiron.com), and Beauty for Sale (Xelibri Phones) in 2003 and was nominated in that category again in 2008.

TOM HOOPER
THE KING’S SPEECH
(The Weinstein Co.)

Mr. Hooper’s Directorial Team:

  • Unit Production Manager: Erica Bensly
  • First Assistant Director: Martin Harrison
  • Second Assistant Director: Chris Stoaling

This is Mr. Hooper’s first DGA Feature Film Award Nomination. He was previously nominated for the DGA Award for Movies for Television/Miniseries for John Adams in 2008.

CHRISTOPHER NOLAN
INCEPTION
(Warner Bros. Pictures)

Mr. Nolan’s Directorial Team:

  • Unit Production Manager: Jan Foster
  • First Assistant Director: Nilo Otero
  • Second Assistant Director: Brandon Lambdin
  • Second Second Assistant Director: Greg Pawlik
  • Additional Second Assistant Director: Lauren Pasternack

This is Mr. Nolan’s third DGA Feature Film Award nomination. He was previously nominated for The Dark Knight in 2008 and for Memento in 2001.

DAVID O. RUSSELL
THE FIGHTER
(Paramount Pictures and The Weinstein Co.)

Mr. Russell’s Directorial Team:

  • Unit Production Manager: Mark Kamine
  • First Assistant Director: Michele Ziegler
  • Second Assistant Director: Xanthus Valan
  • Second Second Assistant Director: Timothy Blockburger

This is Mr. Russell’s first DGA Feature Film Award nomination.

Bigelow Triumphantly Becomes 1st Woman To Win the DGA

Shout it from the rooftops! I am pleased beyond words to announce that Director Kathryn Bigelow has become the first woman to win the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for 2009.  From the very start  of the evening,  DGA President Taylor Hackford proclaimed, “We have the biggest turnout in our history tonight, and I think a lot of it is anticipation.” And so it was….anticipating and anxiously hoping til the wee hours of the morning  that Kathryn Bigelow would be the first woman, among the six women previously  nominated  in the DGA’s  62 years,  to win the top prize. Last year’s recipient, Director  Danny Boyle (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE),  presented her with the night’s final award.

Of her accolade, Bigelow said:

“This is the most incredible moment of my life. And on that note, I will disappear.”

She told members of the press that winning was “pure euphoria.” Along with its SAG nomination and  shocking PGA win last week, THE HURT LOCKER will become the lowest-grossing film to march itself to a Best Picture win. Kathryn Bigelow also becomes the front-runner and possibly the first woman to win  the  Best Director Oscar on March 7th. Oh happy days!  So much for  the glory of James “King of the World” Cameron and AVATAR.

The DGA’s  pride themselves as  traditionally being one of the industry’s most accurate barometers for who will win the Best Director Academy Award. Only six times since the DGA Awards began in 1948 has the Feature Film winner not gone on to win the corresponding Academy Award. The  Oscar Nominations  will be announced  this Tuesday morning from Los Angeles at 7:35am local time.

Marking a 22nd time, Carl Reiner returned as host for the 62nd Annual Directors Guild of America Awards and  began the evening cajoling the crowd with, “his gall bladder surgery, a denial of being incontinent & making Jon Cryer sing “Jingle Bell Rock.”

Every director was able to give a speech of thanks to the DGA for the nomination. First up was James Cameron who paid tribute to the other nominees as  “unutterably different from each other” and went on to thank the people  “down the food chain” who made movie happen, and folks at Fox who “wrote the big check.”

When it was Jason Reitman’s turn to accept his plaque and give his speech,  with a tug on the heart strings, he stated  that his father has never held a DGA nomination plaque, “And you should have!”

Upon introducing Quentin Tarantino, Brad Pitt says, “To pay tribute to Quentin Tarantino’s INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, I have structured this introduction into five non-linear chapters…Every once in a while, when you hit that sweet spot, you get a ‘GENIUSSSSS!'” Pause. “I never got that. Christoph did.” To which Tarantino replies, “Both my testicles were totally tingling though the whole thing.” However, being the film buff and non-DGA member that he is, Tarantino said, “I loved movies too much to be in them, I want them to be MY movies!”

The best speech of the night undoubtedly goes to first time nominee,  PRECIOUS Director Lee Daniels. On speaking  of his fellow nominees, he  jokingly said he has no “love” for Taratino because he’s, “a walking encyclopedia of cinema,” and goes on to tell Bigelow, “Your movie is as beautiful as your legs. You make me question my sexuality.”

The DGA for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary went to first time nominee  Louis Psihoyos  for THE COVE.

The surprising highlight of the evening was when CHER presented the DGA’s  Lifetime Achievement Award for Distinguished Achievement in Motion Picture Direction  to director Norman Jewison. A four time Oscar nominee, Jewison received the Irving Thalberg Award at the Academy Awards in 1999. Look for examples of his brilliance in THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING, THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING and FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. In his acceptance speech, Jewison said, “”The studio heads might have all the power, but we’ve got the glory.” Hear, hear!

Although only directors are given DGA Awards, involved assistant directors, production and stage managers receive a plaque to acknowledge their work as part of the team.

A huge  thanks tonight goes  to Steve Pond over at The Odds for TheWrap.com for  his continous DGA tweets and quotes  throughout the ceremony.

Photos Courtesy of: Sasha Stone at Awards Daily via  Getty Images

DGA Nominees

The Directors Guild of America announced the five nominees for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for 2009.

  • Kathryn Bigelow –  THE HURT LOCKER
  • James Cameron –  AVATAR
  • Lee Daniels – PRECIOUS: Based on the novel “Push” by Sapphire
  • Jason Reitman – UP IN THE AIR
  • Quentin Tarantino – INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

Three cheers for Tarantino! Would love to see him win. Most noticeably left off – Clint Eastwood.  Something tells me that Oscar voters will replace Daniels with Eastwood on their ballots.  Last year’s recipient was Danny Boyle for SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. The winner will be named at the 62nd Annual DGA Awards Dinner on Saturday, January 30, 2010, at the Hyatt Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.

On a sidenote, Norman Jewison (FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, MOONSTRUCK) will receive this year’s lifetime achievement award for Distinguished Achievement in Motion Picture Direction, at the 62nd Annual DGA Awards on January 30, 2010.

Source: DGA

The DGA Winner Is…

slumdogmillionaire

‘Slumdog Millionaire’ has won the Producers Guild of America Award, the Golden Globe, the SAG Award and now the Directors Guild of America Award….no big surprise there. It was Boyle’s first DGA nomination. Looks like ‘Slumdog’ is unstoppable now come Oscar night. Click here for the full list of winners.

‘Waltz With Bashir’ director Ari Folman won for Documentary. Among Hollywood’s many honors on the buildup to the Academy Awards, the Directors Guild prizes have one of the best track records for predicting eventual Oscar winners. Only six times in the guild awards’ 60-year history has the winner failed to take home the directing Oscar.

Thanks to Sasha over at Awards Daily…

From Yahoo News Photos