Directors Guild of America (DGA) nominations: Bradley Cooper, Spike Lee earn first ever noms

Erik Anderson January 8, 2019

Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born (Warner Bros)

The Directors Guild of America (DGA) has announced its nominations for Feature Film today and Bradley Cooper earned two mentions – for Feature Film and First-Time Feature – for his directorial debut, A Star Is Born.

Also hitting the Feature Film nomination list were Alfonso Cuarón (Roma), Peter Farrelly (Green Book), Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman) and Adam McKay (Vice). McKay earned a DGA nomination yesterday for directing the pilot of HBO’s Succession.

For three of the nominees: Cooper, Farrelly and Lee, it was their first nomination from the DGA. For Cuarón and McKay, it was their second in the Feature Film category.

Last year, the DGA went with Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water), Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird), Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk) and Jordan Peele (Get Out). At the Oscars, McDonagh was snubbed in favor of Paul Thomas Anderson (Phantom Thread). Jordan Peele won First Time Feature, Guillermo del Toro won the Feature Film DGA and then won the Oscar.

Winners will be announced on February 2nd. Here is the full list of nominees.

The nominees for OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN FEATURE FILM FOR 2018 are:

BRADLEY COOPER

A Star is Born
(Warner Bros. Pictures)

Mr. Cooper’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Robert J. Dohrmann
First Assistant Director: Michele “Shelley” Ziegler
Second Assistant Director: Xanthus Valan
Second Second Assistant Director: Matthew R. Milan

This is one of two DGA Award nominations this year for Mr. Cooper. He is also nominated in the First-Time Feature Film category for A Star Is Born.

ALFONSO CUARÓN

Roma
(Netflix)

Mr. Cuarón’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Ana Hernandez
First Assistant Director: Frederic Henocque Albino
Second Assistant Director: Patrick Heyerdahl
Second Second Assistant Directors: Luis Fernando Vásquez, Julián ‘Chico’ Valdés, Arturo Garcia

This is Mr. Cuarón’s second DGA Feature Film Award nomination. He won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film in 2013 for Gravity.

PETER FARRELLY

Green Book
(Universal Pictures)

Mr. Farrelly’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Managers: Alissa M. Kantrow, John Brister, Franses Simonovich (New York Unit)
First Assistant Directors: J.B. Rogers, Alejandro Ramia (New York Unit)
Second Assistant Directors: Paul B. Uddo, Jack McKenna (New York Unit)
Second Second Assistant Directors: Gerson Paz, Jonathan Warren
Location Manager: Louis Zuppardi

This is Mr. Farrelly’s first DGA Award nomination.

SPIKE LEE

BlacKkKlansman
(Focus Features)

Mr. Lee’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Marcei A. Brown
First Assistant Director: Mike Ellis
Second Assistant Director: Tracey Hinds
Second Second Assistant Directors: Jason Perez, Christina Ann Walker, Anastasia Folorunso
Location Manager: Tim Stacker

This is Mr. Lee’s first DGA Award nomination.

ADAM MCKAY

Vice
(Annapurna Pictures)

Mr. McKay’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Managers: Julie Hartley, Jeff Waxman
First Assistant Director: Matt Rebenkoff
Second Assistant Director: Joann Connolly
Second Second Assistant Directors: Yarden Levo, Dave Vogel (Washington D.C. Unit)

This is Mr. McKay’s second DGA Feature Film Award nomination. He was previously nominated for The Big Short in 2015. Mr. McKay also received a nomination this year in the Dramatic Series category for Succession.

The five nominees for OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT OF A FIRST-TIME FEATURE FILM DIRECTOR FOR 2018 are:

BO BURNHAM

Eighth Grade
(A24)

Mr. Burnham’s Directorial Team:
First Assistant Director: Dan Taggatz
Second Assistant Director: Vic Coram
Second Second Assistant Director: Evelyn Fogleman

This is Mr. Burnham’s first DGA Award nomination.

BRADLEY COOPER

A Star is Born
(Warner Bros. Pictures)

This is one of two DGA Award nominations this year for Mr. Cooper. He is also nominated in the Feature Film category for A Star Is Born.

CARLOS LÓPEZ ESTRADA

Blindspotting
(Summit Entertainment)

Mr. Estrada’s Directorial Team:
Assistant Director: La Mar Stewart
Second Second Assistant Director: Dominic Martin
Additional Second Second Assistant Director: Armin Houshmandi

This is Mr. Estrada’s first DGA Award nomination.

MATTHEW HEINEMAN

A Private War
(Aviron Pictures)

Mr. Heineman’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Louise Killin
First Assistant Directors: George Walker, Peter Freeman (Jordan Unit)
Second Assistant Directors: Tom Mulberge (UK Unit), Tom Browne (Jordan Unit)
Second Second Assistant Director: Tarik Afifi (Jordan Unit)

This is Mr. Heineman’s third DGA Award nomination. He won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary in 2017 for City of Ghosts and in 2015 for Cartel Land.

BOOTS RILEY

Sorry to Bother You
(Annapurna Pictures)

Mr. Riley’s Directorial Team:
Production Manager: Chris Martin
First Assistant Director: Brian Benson
Second Assistant Director: Hilton Jamal Day
Second Second Assistant Directors: Sam Purdy, Nick Alvarez

This is Mr. Riley’s first DGA Award nomination.

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.