Directors Guild (DGA) television nominations: ‘Succession’ nabs all five drama slots, ‘The White Lotus’ competes in comedy

The Directors Guild of America (DGA) have announced their nominations for television drama and comedy series as well as variety and documentary films and for the first time in DGA history a single show has dominated every slot in its category; HBO’s Succession, in its 3rd season, holds all five spots for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in
Dramatic Series with Lorene Scafaria, Mark Mylod, Andrij Parekh, Kevin Bray and the team of Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman earning those nominations.

Comedy had a bit more wealth spreading but Ted Lasso still dominated with three nominations alongside The White Lotus (which has been competing as a drama series everywhere else) and Emmy winner in this category, Hacks. The nominees for TV movies and limited series are: The Underground Railroad, Station Eleven, Mare of Easttown and Dopesick, which earned two.

In documentary film we have The Rescue, Ascension, Attica, Exterminate All the Brutes and Summer of Soul.

Theatrical Feature Film and First-Time Feature Film nominees for the 74th Annual DGA Awards will be announced on Thursday, January 27, 2022 (see predictions here). The winners in all categories will be announced at the 74th Annual DGA Awards on Saturday, March 12, 2022.

Here is the complete list of nominees for television, commercials and documentary film.

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series

Succession, “Retired Janitors of Idaho” (HBO) – Kevin Bray
Mr. Bray’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Managers: Gabrielle Mahon, Scott Ferguson
First Assistant Director: John Silvestri
Second Assistant Director: Nicholas Notte
Second Second Assistant Directors: Jimmy Rosario, Nicole Payson Location Manager: Paul Eskenazi

Succession, “All the Bells Say” (HBO) – Mark Mylod
Mr. Mylod’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Managers: Gabrielle Mahon, Scott Ferguson First Assistant Director: Christo Morse
Second Assistant Directors: Michelle Flevotomas, Nicholas Notte Location Manager: Paul Eskenazi

Succession, “What It Takes” (HBO) – Andrij Parekh
Mr. Parekh’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Managers: Gabrielle Mahon, Scott Ferguson
First Assistant Director: Christo Morse
Second Assistant Director: Michelle Flevotomas
Second Second Assistant Directors: Jimmy Rosario, Nicole Payson Location Manager: Paul Eskenazi

Succession, “Lion in the Meadow” (HBO) – Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman
Mr. Pulcini & Ms. Berman’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Managers: Gabrielle Mahon, Scott Ferguson First Assistant Director: Christo Morse
Second Assistant Director: Michelle Flevotomas
Second Second Assistant Director: Jimmy Rosario Additional Second Assistant Director: Nicole Payson Location Manager: Paul Eskenazi

Succession, “Too Much Birthday” (HBO) – Lorene Scafaria
Ms. Scafaria’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Managers: Gabrielle Mahon, Scott Ferguson
First Assistant Director: John Silvestri
Second Assistant Director: Nicholas Notte
Second Second Assistant Directors: Jimmy Rosario, Nicole Payson
Additional Second Assistant Director: Matt O’Shea Location Manager: Paul Eskenazi

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series

Hacks, “There Is No Line” (HBO Max) – Lucia Aniello
Ms. Aniello’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Managers: Melanie J. Elin, David Hyman First Assistant Director: Jeff Rosenberg
Second Assistant Director: Erin Stern Linares
Second Second Assistant Director: Heidi Hinzman Additional Second Assistant Director: Alaina Neumann

Ted Lasso, “No Weddings and a Funeral” (Apple TV+) – MJ Delaney

Ted Lasso, “Rainbow” (Apple TV+) – Erica Dunton

Ted Lasso, “Beard After Hours” (Apple TV+) – Sam Jones

The White Lotus, “Mysterious Monkeys” (HBO) – Mike White
Mr. White’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Mark Kamine First Assistant Director: Justin Ritson Second Assistant Director: Joe Landry
Second Second Assistant Director: Dais Kasagawa

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Limited Series

The Underground Railroad (Amazon) – Barry Jenkins
Mr. Jenkins’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Richleigh Heagh
First Assistant Director: Liz Tan
Second Assistant Director: Elaine Wood
Second Second Assistant Director: Wayne Witherspoon Additional Second Assistant Directors: Jesse Carmona, AJ Bruno

Dopesick, “First Bottle” (Hulu) – Barry Levinson
Mr. Levinson’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Marc Hammer
First Assistant Director: Karen Kane
Second Assistant Director: Chelsea Ryan Petrucci Second Second Assistant Director: Alex Bonner

Station Eleven, “Wheel of Fire” (HBO Max) – Hiro Murai
Mr. Murai’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Managers: Dana Scott, David Nicksay First Assistant Director: Jennifer Wilkinson
Location Manager: Stefan Nikolov

Dopesick, “The People vs. Purdue Pharma” (Hulu) – Danny Strong
Mr. Strong’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Marc Hammer
First Assistant Director: Donald Murphy Second Assistant Director: Peter Dress
Second Second Assistant Director: Alex Bonner

Mare of Easttown (HBO) – Craig Zobel
Mr. Zobel’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Managers: Karen Wacker, Ron Schmidt
First Assistant Director: Kayse Goodell
Second Assistant Director: Jackson Rowe
Second Second Assistant Directors: Blair Howley, Findlay Zotter Additional Second Assistant Directors: Findlay Zotter, Laura Hoyt

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

Real Time With Bill Maher, “Episode 1935: Fareed Zakaria, Chris Christie, Eric Adams” (HBO) – Paul G. Casey
Directorial Team:
Associate Director: Stacy Talbot
Stage Managers: Brian Anderson, Patrick Whitney

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, “Episode 1105” (CBS) – Jim Hoskinson
Directorial Team:
Associate Directors: Yvonne De Mare, Karen Yaeger
Stage Managers: Mark McKenna, Jeff Leib

Saturday Night Live, ” Keegan-Michael Key; Olivia Rodrigo” (NBC) – Don Roy King
Directorial Team:
Associate Directors: Michael Mancini, Michael Poole, Laura Ouziel-Mack
Stage Managers: Gena Rositano, Chris Kelly, Eddie Valk

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, “Episode 26112” (Comedy Central) – David Paul Meyer
Directorial Team:
Associate Director: Kira Klang Hopf
Stage Manager: Bennymar Almonte

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, “Episode 830 – Season Finale” (HBO) – Paul Pennolino and Christopher Werner
Directorial Team:
Associate Director: Elliot Mendelson
Stage Managers: Mark McKenna, Craig Spinney

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

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Presents, “Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse – Into the Magaverse” (Comedy Central) – Ian Berger

Bo Burnham: Inside (Netflix) – Bo Burnham

Adele: One Night Only (CBS) – Paul Dugdale
Directorial Team:
Associate Director: Hayley Collett
Stage Managers: Gary Natoli, Erica Christensen, Zachary Figures, Jackie Stathis

Dave Chappelle: The Closer (Netflix) – Stan Lathan
Mr. Lathan’s Directorial Team:
Associate Director: Sara Niimi Stage Manager: Valdez Flagg

The 43rd Annual Kennedy Center Honors (CBS) – Glenn P. Weiss
Directorial Team:
Associate Directors: Ken Diego, Susan Kopensky, Ricky Kirshner, Lisa R. Anderson, Lori Margules
Stage Managers: John Esposito, Doug Fogel, Jeffry Gitter, Arthur Lewis, Tammy Raab, Karen Tasch Weiss

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Reality Programs

Full Bloom, “Final Floral Face Off” (HBO Max) – Joseph Guidry
Directorial Team:
Associate Director: Sean P. Galvin
Stage Managers: Myeisha Abram, Kristianna LaRoda, Rachel Shimko

American Ninja Warrior, “1304: Qualifiers 4” (NBC) – Patrick McManus
Directorial Team:
Associate Director: David Massey
Stage Managers: Jeff Simms, T.J. Ganser, Wolfgang Delgado

Making the Cut, “Brand Statement” (Amazon Prime Video) – Ramy Romany
Directorial Team:
Associate Director: Ryan Bunnell
Stage Managers: Will Baker, Brady Hess

Running Wild with Bear Grylls, “Gina Carano In The Dolomites” (National Geographic Channel) – Ben Simms
Mr. Simms’s Directorial Team:
Associate Director: Jeff Simms

Getaway Driver, “Electric Shock” (Discovery Channel) – Adam Vetri
Mr. Vetri’s Directorial Team:
First Assistant Director: John Esposito
Second Assistant Director: Eric Pai

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children’s Programs

The Mysterious Benedict Society, “A Bunch of Smart Orphans” (Disney Plus) – James Bobin
Mr. Bobin’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Grace Gilroy

The J Team (Paramount Plus) – Michael Lembeck

Head of the Class, “Three More Years” (HBO Max) – Phill Lewis
Mr. Lewis’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Susan M. Crank
First Assistant Director: Rebecca Baughman
Second Assistant Director: Oliver Garrett
Associate Director: Tim Clark

Through Our Eyes, “Shelter” (HBO Max) – Smitri Mundhra

Are You Afraid of the Dark?, “The Tale of the Darkhouse” (Nickelodeon) – Jeff Wadlow

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials

STEVE AYSON (MJZ)
Anthem, Mattress Firm – Droga5
Unit Production Manager: Adriana Cebada-Mora
First Assistant Director: George Nessis
Second Assistant Directors: Jesse Carmona, Brent Martin
Award Speech, Miller Lite – DDB Chicago
Networking, Miller Lite – DDB Chicago

KATHRYN BIGELOW (SMUGGLER)
Hollywood In Your Pocket, iPhone 13 – Media Arts Lab
First Assistant Directors: Allison Kunzman, Arle Bordas
Second Assistant Director: Abbey Hansen
Second Second Assistant Director: Cody Maher

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
First Assistant Director: Anthony Dimino
Second Assistant Director: David Ebel

BRADFORD YOUNG (Serial Pictures x Somesuch)
Super. Human., Channel 4 Paralympics – 4Creative
First Assistant Director: Jez Oakley

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary

Ascension (Paramount Plus) – Jessica Kingdon

Attica (Showtime) – Stanley Nelson

Exterminate All the Brutes (HBO) – Raoul Peck
Mr. Peck’s Directorial Team:
First Assistant Director: Mathias Honoré

Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (Searchlight Pictures) – Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson

The Rescue (National Geographic) – Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin
Ms.Vasarhelyi & Mr. Chin’s Directorial Team:
First Assistant Director: Joey Coughlin

Photo: Graeme Hunter/HBO