The Directors Guild of America have given Guillermo del Toro their top prize, Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film, for his romance fantasy The Shape of Water. The film recently won the Producers Guild award and is cementing itself the Best Picture frontrunner just a month out from the Oscars. Only four movies have ever won DGA and PGA (not including ties) and lost Best Picture: Apollo 13 (1995), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Brokeback Mountain (2005) and La La Land (2016) just last year.
13 of the last 14 winners here went on to win the Directing Oscar. Ben Affleck (Argo) is the outlier, as he was not Oscar-nominated.The last time a director won DGA was Oscar-nominated and lost was 2002, when Rob Marshall (Chicago) won DGA but Roman Polanski (The Pianist) won the Oscar. Chicago still managed a Best Picture win.
In Feature Film, four of the five nominees nominated here were also nominated for the Directing Oscar. Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) was snubbed in favor of Paul Thomas Anderson (Phantom Thread).
Jordan Peele won the First Time Feature Film director prize for Get Out. While only the third year of this award, Peele is the only winner to also be Oscar nominated.
Matthew Heineman won for Directorial Achievement in Documentary for City of Ghosts, besting Oscar-nominees Steve James (Abacus: Small Enough to Jail) and Bryan Fogel (Icarus). Last year’s winner here went on to win the Documentary Oscar but that won’t happen this year as City of Ghosts was snubbed. It’s the first documentary to win here and not be Oscar-nominated since 2011’s Project Nim.
In Television, Emmy-winner Reed Morano (The Handmaid’s Tale) faces off against The Duffer Brothers (Stranger Things) and a trio of Game of Thrones directors. Last year, Game of Thrones won here. Veep won Comedy last year and is nominated again this year.
Here are the nominees and winners in bold (and photos):
Guillermo del Toro, “The Shape of Water”
Greta Gerwig, “Lady Bird”
Martin McDonagh, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Christopher Nolan, “Dunkirk”
Jordan Peele, “Get Out”
Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, “The Vietnam War”
Bryan Fogel, “Icarus”
Matthew Heineman, “City of Ghosts”
Steve James, “Abacus: Small Enough to Jail”
Errol Morris, “Wormwood”
Geremy Jasper, “Patti Cake$”
William Oldroyd, “Lady Macbeth”
Jordan Peele, “Get Out”
Taylor Sheridan, “Wind River”
Aaron Sorkin, “Molly’s Game”
The Duffer Brothers, “Stranger Things” for “Chapter Nine: The Gate”
Reed Morano, “The Handmaid’s Tale” for “Offred”
Jeremy Podeswa, “Game of Thrones” for “The Dragon and the Wolf”
Matt Shakman, “Game of Thrones” for “The Spoils of War”
Alan Taylor, “Game of Thrones” for “Beyond the Wall”
Aziz Ansari, “Master of None” for “The Thief”
Mike Judge, “Silicon Valley” for “Server Error”
Melina Matsoukas, “Master of None” for “Thanksgiving”
Beth McCarthy-Miller, “Veep” for “Chicklet”
Amy Sherman-Palladino, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” for “Pilot”
Scott Frank, “Godless”
Barry Levinson, “The Wizard of Lies”
Kyra Sedgwick, “Story of a Girl”
Jean-Marc Vallee, “Big Little Lies”
George C. Wolfe, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”
Andre Allen, “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” for “Episode #2061”
Paul G. Casey, “Real Time with Bill Maher” for “Show #1527”
Jim Hoskinson, “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” for “Joe Biden/Elton John”
Don Roy King, “Saturday Night Live” for “Host: Jimmy Fallon”
Paul Pennolino, “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” for “French Elections”
Stan Lathan, “Dave Chappelle: The Age of Spin”
Linda Mendoza, “Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize Honoring David Letterman”
Paul Pennolino, “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee Presents Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner”
Amy Schumer, “Amy Schumer: The Leather Special”
Glenn Weiss, “89th Academy Awards”
Hisham Abed, “Encore!” for “Pilot”
John Gonzalez, “Live PD” for “Episode 50”
Brian Smith, “MasterChef” for “Vegas Deluxe & Oyster Schucks”
Adam Vetri, “Dare to Live” for “Chainsmokers”
Kent Weed, “Spartan: Ultimate Team Challenge” for “Season Premiere”
Niki Caro, “Anne with an E” for “Your Will Shall Decide Your Destiny”
Benjamin Lehmann, “The Magical Wand Chase: A Sesame Street Special”
Lily Mariye, “Just Add Magic” for “Just Add Meddling”
Alison McDonald, “An American Girl Story: Summer Camp” for “Friends for Life”
Matthew O’Neill and Thalia Sodi, “15: A Quinceañera Story: Zoey”
Martin de Thurah, StubHub’s “Festival” and “Machines”, and Wealthsimple’s “Mad World”
Alma Har’el, P&G’s “Love without Bias”
Will Hoffman and Julius Metoyer, KitchenAid’s “Anthem” and Ford’s “Go Further”
Miles Jay, Bose’s “Alive”, and Squarespace’s “Calling JohnMalkovich.com” and “Who is JohnMalkovich.com?”
Isaiah Seret, Samsung’s “Growing Up” and “I Love You”, and Kohler’s “Never Too Composed”
Honorary Life Member Award – MICHAEL APTED
Given in recognition of leadership in the industry, contribution to the Guild and the profession of directing, and outstanding career achievement.
Frank Capra Achievement Award – DWIGHT WILLIAMS
This award is given to an Assistant Director or Unit Production Manager in recognition of career achievement in the industry and service to the Directors Guild of America.
Franklin J. Schaffner Achievement Award – JIM TANKER
This award is given to an Associate Director or Stage Manager in recognition of career achievement in the industry and service to the Directors Guild of America.
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