The Directors Guild of America is handing out its annual awards in film and TV from the Los Angeles’ Beverly Hilton.
DGA president Lesli Linka Glatter opened the 2024 DGA Awards ceremony on Saturday with an acknowledgment of last year’s historic double strike. “I struggle to find words to address the pain everyone faced in our industry in our collective fight to get what we all deserve,” said Glatter, who noted how great it was to be back on set. “We are thankful that we are back doing the work that we love with exceptional new creative and economic protections for DGA members and so many others. Our sister guilds, the WGA and SAG-AFTRA, had difficult fights and achieved strong deals on behalf of their members.”
Glatter also looked ahead at the upcoming negotiations between IATSE and the AMPTP. “Now it is time to support IATSE and the Teamsters in their upcoming battle,” she said. “We won’t be satisfied until we all have fair contracts that reward all of us for our work, creating a vibrant, sustainable industry that fairly values everyone’s contributions.”
Host Judd Apatow also referenced last year’s strike — and the DGA avoiding its own work stoppage. “My agent said that I should hold out for more money, but in the spirit of the DGA I accepted their first offer,” said Apatow, who marked his fifth time emceeing the ceremony. “Ultimately, what did we learn from the strikes? We learned that Fran Drescher is the voice of reason, and unfortunately, that’s what reason sounds like. And two, audiences love watching old shows that have been on a lot of seasons. They don’t care at all if they’re new.”
This year’s nominees for the top prize of outstanding directorial achievement in theatrical feature film are Greta Gerwig (Barbie), Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things), Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer), Alexander Payne (The Holdovers) and Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon).
Last year, Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan won the top prize for Everything Everywhere All at Once, ahead of winning best director at the 2023 Oscars.
Lanthimos, Nolan and Scorsese are all nominated for the best director Oscar this year, alongside Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest) and Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall).
Gerwig and Payne were notably not nominated for best director at the 2024 Oscars, with Gerwig’s snub in this category becoming a major topic of conversation after this year’s Oscar nominations were announced.
In the first-time feature film director category, named for former DGA president Michael Apted, the nominees are Cord Jefferson (American Fiction), Manuela Martelli (Chile ’76), Noora Niasari (Shayda), A.V. Rockwell (A Thousand and One) and Celine Song (Past Lives).
In the TV categories, Succession dominated the dramatic series nominees, taking four out of five slots, with The Last of Us also earning a nod. The comedy series category features two nods each for The Bear and Ted Lasso with Bill Hader scoring the final nod for Barry. In the TV movie and limited series category, Lessons in Chemistry scored three nods, with All the Light We Cannot See and Daisy Jones & The Six rounding out the nominees.
The DGA nominees in the documentary category are Moses Bwayo and Christopher Sharp (Bobi Wine: The People’s President), Mstyslav Chernov (20 Days in Mariupol), Madeleine Gavin (Beyond Utopia), Davis Guggenheim (Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie) and D. Smith (Kokomo City).
The Directors Guild will also honor David Nutter with the Lifetime Achievement Award in Television, Janet G. Knutsen with the Frank Capra Achievement Award and Gary Natoli with the Franklin J. Schaffner Achievement Award.
A complete list of nominees for the 76th annual DGA Awards follows. Winners will be noted as they’re announced live. Refresh for the latest.
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film
Greta Gerwig, Barbie
Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Alexander Payne, The Holdovers
Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon
Michael Apted Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Theatrical Feature Film
Cord Jefferson, American Fiction
Manuela Martelli, Chile ’76
Noora Niasari, Shayda
A.V. Rockwell, A Thousand and One
Celine Song, Past Lives
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series
Peter Hoar, The Last of Us, “Long, Long Time”
Becky Martin, Succession, “Rehearsal”
Mark Mylod, Succession, “Connor’s Wedding”
Andrij Parekh, Succession, “America Decides”
Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman, Succession, “Tailgate Party”
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series
Erica Dunton, Ted Lasso, “La Locker Room Aux Folles”
Bill Hader, Barry, “wow”
Declan Lowney, Ted Lasso, “So Long, Farewell”
Christopher Storer, The Bear, “Fishes” (WINNER)
Ramy Youssef, The Bear, “Honeydew”
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Limited Series
Shawn Levy, All the Light We Cannot See
Tara Miele, Lessons in Chemistry, “Introduction to Chemistry”
Millicent Shelton, Lessons in Chemistry, “Poirot”
Sarah Adina Smith, Lessons in Chemistry, “Her and Him” (WINNER)
Nzingha Stewart, Daisy Jones & The Six, “Track 10: Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide”
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Regularly Scheduled Programming
Paul G. Casey, Real Time with Bill Maher, “Episode 2117”
Jim Hoskinson, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, “Jan. 19, 2023: Rep. Adam Kinzinger; Meet Me at the Altar; Special appearance by Harvey Guillén”
Michael Mancini and Liz Patrick, Saturday Night Live, “Pedro Pascal / Coldplay”
David Paul Meyer, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, “Singer Charley Crockett Performs “Name on a Billboard” and Discusses New Album with Jordan Klepper“
Paul Pennolino, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, “Episode 1018: Dollar Stores
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Specials
Joel Gallen, Chris Rock: Selective Outrage
Stan Lathan, Dave Chappelle: The Dreamer
Linda Mendoza, Wanda Sykes: I’m an Entertainer
Paul Miller, Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love
Glenn Weiss, The 95th Annual Academy Awards
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Reality Programs
Niharika Desai, Rainn Wilson and the Geography of Bliss, “Happiness is a Bottle of Cod Liver Oil” (WINNER)
Ken Fuchs, The Golden Bachelor, “Premiere”
Joseph Guidry and Alexandra Lipsitz, Project Greenlight: A New Generation, “PGL vs. Gray Matter Problem”
Rich Kim, Lego Masters, “Is It Brick?”
Patrick McManus, American Ninja Warrior, “Season 15 Finale”
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children’s Programs
James Bobin, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, “I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher”
Destin Daniel Cretton, American Born Chinese, “What Guy Are You”
Rob Letterman, Goosebumps, “Say Cheese and Die”
Amy Schatz, Stand Up & Shout: Songs From a Philly High School (WINNER)
Dinh Thai, American Born Chinese, “A Monkey on a Quest”
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials
Martin de Thurah (Epoch Films)
Fair Exchange, Levi’s 501 Jeans – Droga5
Legends Never Die, Levi’s 501 Jeans, Droga5
Seb Edwards (Park Pictures)
Rumble, Battle of the Baddest – Droga5
Kim Gehrig (Somesuch) (WINNER)
Run This Town, Apple Music – Apple (Client Direct)
The Travelers, Expedia – Wieden & Kennedy
Craig Gillespie (MJZ)
Waiting Room, Apple iPhone – TBWA/Media Arts Lab
Andreas Nilsson (Biscuit Filmworks)
R.I.P. Leon, Apple iPhone – Apple (Client Direct)
Action Mode, Apple iPhone14 – Apple (Client Direct)
Choose Happy, Les Mills Fitness – Nice&Frank, San Francisco
Wait’ll You See This, Snapchat – Snapchat (Client Direct)
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary
Moses Bwayo and Christopher Sharp, Bobi Wine: The People’s President
Mstyslav Chernov, 20 Days in Mariupol (WINNER)
Madeleine Gavin, Beyond Utopia
Davis Guggenheim, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
D. Smith, Kokomo City