The Big Picture
- The Directors Guild of America (DGA) has announced their nominees for the 2024 DGA Awards.
- Greta Gerwig, Christopher Nolan, Yorgos Lanthimos, Alexander Payne, and Martin Scorsese are nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film.
- The DGA Awards are often a reliable predictor of the Best Director category at the Oscars.
The Directors Guild of America has just announced their nominees for the 2024 DGA Awards. After yesterday’s television nominees were unveiled, the Guild announced the film directors who will compete for the top prize of the year, with the winners set to be announced on Saturday February 10th. This year’s DGA nominations for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film include Greta Gerwig for Barbie, Christopher Nolan for Oppenheimer, Yorgos Lanthimos for Poor Things, Alexander Payne with The Holdovers, and Martin Scorsese with Killers of the Flower Moon. Notably absent from the category are Jonathan Glazer for The Zone of Interest, Bradley Cooper for Maestro, and Celine Song for Past Lives.
While Song missed out for her superb debut feature, she was given a nod for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Theatrical Feature Film, alongside Cord Jefferson for American Fiction, Manuella Martelli for Chile ’76, Noora Niasari for Shayda and A.V. Rockwell for A Thousand and One. The DGA Awards’ Dramatic Series category was dominated by Succession, which garnered an impressive four nominations. The only other nominee in this category was the “Long, Long Time” episode of The Last of Us, standing out amidst the Succession nominations. In other categories, series like Barry, Ted Lasso, and The Bear received nominations, with the “Honeydew “episode directed by Ramy Youssef earning special recognition.
The Directors’ Guild of America, with its 19,000-strong membership, has established the DGA Awards as a dependable predictor of the Best Director category at the Oscars over its 75 years, with 2023 proving no exception as Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert, directors of Everything Everywhere All at Once took home the top prize at both ceremonies. In the history of these awards, only 8 directors who won the DGA Award did not win the Oscar. The latest instance was when Bong Joon Ho (Parasite) lost out to Sam Mendes for 1917.
Full List of DGA Film Nominations
The nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film for 2023 are (in alphabetical order):
GRETA GERWIG
“Barbie”
(Warner Bros. Pictures)
Directorial Team:
- Unit Production Manager: Michael Sharp
- First Assistant Director: Josh Robertson
- Second Assistant Directors: David Keadell, Matthew Milan (Los Angeles Unit)
YORGOS LANTHIMOS
“Poor Things”
(Searchlight Pictures)
CHRISTOPHER NOLAN
“Oppenheimer”
(Universal Pictures)
Directorial Team:
- Unit Production Managers: Thomas Hayslip, Nathan Kelly, Rafael Lima (New Jersey / New York Unit)
- First Assistant Director: Nilo Otero
- Second Assistant Director: Andrew Stahl
- Second Second Assistant Director: Jesse Carmona
- Additional Second Assistant Directors: Dixon McPhillips, Richard Molloy (New Jersey / New York Unit), AJ Jackson (New Jersey / New York Unit)
- Location Manager: Patty Carey Perazzo (New Jersey / New York Unit)
ALEXANDER PAYNE
“The Holdovers”
(Focus Features)
Directorial Team:
- Unit Production Manager: Chris Stinson
- First Assistant Director: Rod Smith
- Second Assistant Director: John Nasraway
- Second Second Assistant Director: Tim LaDue
MARTIN SCORSESE
“Killers of the Flower Moon”
(Apple Original Films / Paramount Pictures)
Directorial Team:
- Unit Production Managers: Daniel Lupi, Shea Kammer
- First Assistant Director: Adam Somner
- Second Assistant Director: Jeremy Marks
- Second Second Assistant Director: Dominic Pacitti
- Additional Second Assistant Director: Nuekellar Hardy
Additionally, the five nominees for the Michael Apted Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Theatrical Feature Film are:
CORD JEFFERSON
“American Fiction”
(Orion Pictures / Amazon MGM Studios)
MANUELA MARTELLI
“Chile ‘76”
(Kino Lober)
NOORA NIASARI
“Shayda”
(Sony Pictures Classics / ORIGMA 45)
A.V. ROCKWELL
“A Thousand and One”
(Focus Features)
Directorial Team:
- Unit Production Manager: Jamin O’Brien
- First Assistant Director: Daniel Lugo
- Second Assistant Director: Teena Marie Delerme-Lugo
- Assistant Unit Production Manager: Rob York
- Second Second Assistant Director: Donté Bouyer
- Additional Second Assistant Director: T.J. Hallett
- Location Manager: Joanna Lu
CELINE SONG
“Past Lives”
(A24)
Directorial Team:
- Unit Production Manager: Kerry Johnson
- First Assistant Director: Ben Kahn
- Second Assistant Director: Geraldine Schubert
- Second Second Assistant Director: Dan Levy
- Location Manager: Joseph Mullaney
The 76th DGA Awards will take place at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, California, on February 10. Stay tuned to Collider for updates.
