by Nathaniel R
The Director's Guild of America have announced their nominations for the 2020 film year. And it's a doozy. For the first time ever two women have been nominated in the top category. It's worth noting that the DGA has nominated more women for their top prize over the years than Oscar has but they've never nominated two simultaneously in their top category. The nominees and some comments and awards season stats are after the jump...
DIRECTOR, MOTION PICTURE
- Lee Isaac Chung, MINARI
- Emerald Fennell, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
- David Fincher, MANK
- Aaron Sorkin, TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
- Chloe Zhao, NOMADLAND
Thrilled about this list but for Sorkin. Why is the industry encouraging him to direct his own scripts when his work is so much better when someone else directs it? Tis a mystery.
In ye olden times of five best picture nominees, DGA was known for being the best predictor of the eventual Best Picture lineup (more accurately predicting that then the Director nominees themselves) but we already knew that these five pictures were sewn up for Best Picture. It always bears repeating that the DGA list rarely lines up 5/5 with Oscar since the voting bodies are different. The DGA membership is about 18,000 people but Oscar's directing branch is a much smaller voting body and they tend to be a bit less mainstream in their choices, sometimes throwing a director from an arthouse picture or foreign-language film in while the DGA more regularly goes for mass appeal movies. This is a gross generality mind you but it's somewhat true.
Here's a look at the DGA/Oscar differences in the last twenty years
2019 - 4/5 (DGA only) Taiki Waititi, Jojo Rabbit. Oscar replaced him with Todd Phillips for Joker
2018 - 3/5 (DGA only) Cooper, A Star is Born and Farrelly, Green Book. Oscar replaced them with Pawlikowski for Cold War and Lanthimos for The Favourite
2017 - 4/5 (DGA only) McDonagh for Three Billboard. Oscar replaced him with PT Anderson for Phantom Thread
2016 - 4/5 (DGA only) Davis for Lion. Oscar replaced him with Gibson for Hacksaw Ridge
2015 - 4/5 (DGA only) Scott for The Martian. Oscar replaced him with Abrahamson for Room
2014 - 4/5 (DGA only) Eastwood for American Sniper. Oscar replaced him with Miller for Foxcatcher
2013 - 4/5 (DGA only) Greengrass for Captain Phillips. Oscar replaced him with Payne for Nebraska
2012 - the great anomaly year 2/5 (DGA only) Affleck for Argo, Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty, Hooper for Les Miserables. Oscar replaced them with Haneke for Amour, Russell for Silver Linings Playbook, and Zeitlin for Beasts of Southern Wild
2011 - 4/5 (DGA only) Fincher for Dragon Tattoo. Oscar replaced him with Malick for Tree of Life
2010 - 4/5 (DGA only) Nolan for Inception. Oscar replaceed him with Coen Brothers for True Grit.
2009 -5/5 exact match
2008 - 4/5 (DGA only) Nolan for The Dark Knight. Oscar replaced him with Daldry for The Reader.
2007 - 4/5 (DGA only) Penn for Into the Wild. Oscar replaced him with Reitman for Juno
2006 - 3/5 (DGA only) Condon for Dreamgirls. Dayton & Faris for Littl Miss Sunshine. Oscar replaced them with Eastwood for Letters from Iwo Jima and Gregrass for United 93.
2005 - 5/5 exact match
2004 - 4/5 (DGA only) Forster for Finding Neverland. Oscar replaced him with Mike Leigh for Vera Drake
2003 - 4/5 (DGA only) Ross for Seabiscuit. Oscar replaced him with Meirelles for City of God
2002 - 4/5 (DGA only) Jackson for The Two Towers. Oscar replaced him with Almodóvar for Talk to Her.
2001 - 3/5 (DGA only) Nolan for Memento and Luhrmann for Moulin Rouge. Oscar replaced them with Altman for Gosford Park and Lynch for Mulholland Dr
2000 - 4/5 (DGA only) Crowe for Almost Famous. Oscar replaced him with Daldry for Billy Elliott
DIRECTOR, FIRST TIME FEATURE
- Radha Blank, 40 YEAR OLD VERSION
- Fernando Frias de la Parra, I'M NO LONGER HERE
- Regina King, ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
- Darius Marder, SOUND OF METAL
- Florian Zeller, THE FATHER
DGA got so much more interesting after they added this category to their annual prizes back in 2015 and they've highlighted many interesting emerging filmmakers since then. No director nominated in this category has ever made it to the Best Director Oscar nomination list UNLESS they were also nominated in the DGA's top movie category. Only three directors in the short history of this category have been double-nominated with DGA: Garth Davis for Lion, Jordan Peele for Get Out, and Bradley Cooper for A Star is Born; Peele managed to transfer to Oscar but the others did not. Since none of these five are nominated in the main category, it would be a first if they landed an Oscar nod. BUT... five years is not a lot of stats to go on and there's a first time for everything.
The rest of their nominations were previously announced
DIRECTOR, DOCUMENTARY
- Michael Dweck & Gregory Kershaw THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS
- Pippa Ehrlich & James Reed MY OCTOPUS TEACHER
- David France, WELCOME TO CHECHNYA
- Amanda McBaine & Jessse Moss BOYS STATE
- Benjamin Ree THE PAINTER AND THE THIEF
DIRECTOR, DRAMA SERIES
- Jason Bateman - Ozark, “Wartime”
- Jon Favreau- The Mandalorian, “Chapter 9: The Marshal”
- Vince Gilligan- Better Call Saul, “Bagman”
- Lesli Linka Glatter- Homeland, “Prisoners of War”
- Julie Anne Robinson-Bridgerton, “Diamond of the First Water”
Confession: I had no idea Homeland was still on. Can't remember the last time I heard someone mention it. But apparently the industry still watches!
DIRECTOR, COMEDY SERIES
- Zach Braff- Ted Lasso, “Biscuits”
- MJ Delaney - Ted Lasso, “The Hope that Kills You”
- SUSANNA FOGEL The Flight Attendant, “In Case of Emergency”
- ERIN O’MALLEY Curb Your Enthusiasm, “The Surprise Party”
- JEFF SCHAFFER Curb Your Enthusiasm, “The Spite Store”
Love Ted Lasso.
DIRECTOR, TELEVISION MOVIE OR MINISERIES
- SUSANNE BIER The Undoing
- SCOTT FRANK The Queen’s Gambit
- THOMAS KAIL Hamilton
- MATT SHAKMAN WandaVision
- LYNN SHELTON Little Fires Everywhere, “Find a Way”
How does The Undoing keep snagging nominations. It was so... bad. WandaVision is a surprise!
DIRECTOR, VARIETY/TALK/NEWS/SPORTS REGULARLY SCHEDULED
- PAUL G. CASEY Real Time With Bill Maher, “Episode 1835”
- JIM HOSKINSON The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, “#1025 Live Show Following Capitol Insurrection”
- DON ROY KING Saturday Night Live, “Dave Chappelle; Foo Fighters”
- DAVID PAUL MEYER The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, “President Obama: Inspiring Future Leaders & “A Promised Land”
- CHRISTOPHER WERNER Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, “Trump & Election Results”
DIRECTOR VARIETY/TALK/NEWS/SPORTS -SPECIALS
- STACEY ANGELES The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Presents “Remembering RBG: A Nation Ugly Cried with Desi Lydic”
- MARIELLE HELLER What the Constitution Means to Me
- JIM HOSKINSON The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, “Stephen Colbert’s Election Night 2020: Democracy’s Last Stand: Building Back America Great Again Better 2020”
- SPIKE LEE American Utopia
- THOMAS SCHLAMME A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote
DIRECTOR, REALITY PROGRAMS
- DAVID CHARLES Eco Challenge, “3,2,1…Go!”
- JON FAVREAU The Chef Show, “Tartine”
- KEN FUCHS Shark Tank, “1211”
- JOSEPH GUIDRY Full Bloom, “Petal to the Metal”
- RICH KIM Lego Masters, “Mega City Block”
DIRECTOR, CHILDREN'S PROGRAMMING
- KABIR AKHTAR High School Musical: The Musical – The Series, “Opening Night”
- LARISSA BILLS On Pointe, “Showtime!”
- DEAN ISRAELITE The Astronauts, “Countdown”
- RICHIE KEEN The Healing Powers of Dude, “Second Step: Homeroom”
- AMY SCHATZ We Are the Dream: The Kids of the Oakland MLK Oratorical Fest
DIRECTOR, COMMERCIALS
- STEVE AYSON (MJZ) The Great Chase, Nike – Wieden + Kennedy Shanghai
- NISHA GANATRA (Chelsea Pictures) #wombstories, Bodyform/Libresse – AMVBBDO
- NICLAS LARSSON (MJZ) See the Unseen, VW Touareg – adam&eveDDB The Parents, Volvo XC60 – Forsman & Bodenfors
- MELINA MATSOUKAS (Prettybird) You Love Me, Beats by Dr. Dre – Translation
- TAIKA WAITITI (Hungry Man) The Letter, Coca-Cola – Wieden & Kennedy London