This year’s award’s season has been very hard to call so I don’t want to make any assumptions on where the Oscars could be headed but Alfonso Cuarón moved up in a big way to take the Best Director prize with his win at the 71st DGA Awards.
Cuarón took home the top feature film award for Roma, beating out fellow nominees Adam McKay, Spike Lee, Bradley Cooper & Peter Farrelly. Cuarón had this to say during his acceptance speech:
“Roma simply doesn’t exist without the generosity of spirit and effortless grace of Yalitza Aparicio and Marina De Tavira. They somehow with the rest of my beautiful cast managed to bring to life this film from my memory.”
The guild award has been a top indicator for the best directing Oscar. Last year’s winner Guillermo del Toro, who presented the award to Cuarón, went on to win the Academy Award in directing for The Shape of Water. The film won four Oscars in all, including best picture. The guild and Oscars have differed only seven times since the DGA started giving awards in 1949.
In a bit of a surprise, Bo Burnham won the first-time feature award for Eighth Grade, beating out Bradley Cooper, who many thought would be a lock for that award as a first time director on A Star Is Born. Burnham was clearly surprised by his win but any recognition Eighth Grade gets, the better.
On the TV side, Ben Stiller nabbed first DGA win in the Limited Series category for Escape at Dannemora while Bill Hader took the comedy series trophy for HBO’s Barry for the “Chapter One: Make Your Mark” episode.
Check out the full list of winners below:
FEATURE FILM
ALFONSO CUARÓN
Roma
(Netflix)
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
FIRST-TIME FEATURE FILM DIRECTOR
BO BURNHAM
Eighth Grade
(A24)
First Assistant Director: Dan Taggatz
Second Assistant Director: Vic Coram
Second Second Assistant Director: Evelyn Fogleman
DOCUMENTARY
TIM WARDLE
Three Identical Strangers
(Neon and CNN Films)
DRAMA SERIES
ADAM MCKAY
Succession, “Celebration”
(HBO)
Mr. McKay’s Directorial Team:
• Unit Production Manager: Regina Heyman
• First Assistant Director: Amy Lauritsen
• Second Assistant Director: Scott Bowers
• Second Second Assistant Director: Nicholas Notte
• Location Managers: Michael Kriaris, Patty Carey
COMEDY SERIES
BILL HADER
Barry, “Chapter One: Make Your Mark”
(HBO)
Mr. Hader’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Managers: Mark Tobey, Aida Rodgers
First Assistant Director: Dale Stern
Second Assistant Director: Michelle Gritzer
Second Second Assistant Director: Chris Riddle
Additional Second Assistant Director: Gary Cotti
MOVIES FOR TELEVISION AND LIMITED SERIES
BEN STILLER
Escape at Dannemora
(Showtime)
Mr. Stiller’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Managers: Adam Brightman, Bill Carraro
First Assistant Directors: Lisa M. Rowe, Lyda Blank, Phillip A. Patterson
Second Assistant Director: Kevin R. Shields
Second Second Assistant Director: Luke A. Crawford
Location Manager: Hyo Park
VARIETY/TALK/NEWS/SPORTS – REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING
DON ROY KING
Saturday Night Live, “Adam Driver; Kanye West”
(NBC)
Mr. King’s Directorial Team:
Associate Directors: Michael Mancini, Michael Poole, Bob Caminiti
Stage Managers: Gena Rositano, Chris Kelly
VARIETY/TALK/NEWS/SPORTS – SPECIALS
LOUIS J. HORVITZ
The 60th Grammy Awards
(CBS)
Mr. Horvitz’s Directorial Team:
Associate Directors: Richard A. Preuss, Ron Andreassen, Kate Hollanda, Sabrina Rufo Mishler, Booey Kober
Stage Managers: Garry Hood, Doug Smith, Benny Almont, Joey Despenzero, Peter Epstein, John Esposito, Andy Feigin, Doug Fogel, Tyler Goldman, Jeffry Gitter, Phyllis Digilio Kent, Arthur Lewis, Julie Lorusso, Jeff Markowitz, Seth Mellman, Cyndi Owgang, Jeff Pearl, Alfonso Pena, Annette Powlis, Kyle Ramdeen, Lauren Schneider, Eddie Valk, Karen Tasch Weiss
REALITY PROGRAMS
RUSSELL NORMAN
The Final Table, “Japan”
(Netflix)
Mr. Norman’s Directorial Team:
Associate Director: Carrie Havel
Lead Stage Manager: Jonathan Marks
Stage Managers: Daniel Curran, Mickel Picco
CHILDREN’S PROGRAMS
JACK JAMESON
Sesame Street, “When You Wish Upon a Pickle: A Sesame Street Special”
(HBO)
Mr. Jameson’s Directorial Team:
Associate Director: Ken Diego
Stage Managers: Shawn Havens, Mike Walker, Theresa Anderson
COMMERCIALS
SPIKE JONZE
(MJZ)
Welcome Home, Apple Homepod – TBWA \ Media Arts Lab
• Unit Production Managers: Vincent Landay, Natalie Hill
• First Assistant Director: Thomas Smith
• Second Assistant Directors: Robert Kay, Nadeem Ashayer, Dave Marnell
• Second Second Assistant Director: Jeff Tavani
