A Crop of First-Timers Comprise Directors Guild Nominees

Nominations for the 69th Directors Guild Awards (DGA) were unveiled Thursday morning and perhaps offer our biggest clue yet as what the Oscar slate may actually look like. For weeks now – cumulative of critics prizes, the Golden Globes and prior guild mentions – that La La Land, Moonlight and Manchester by the Sea all looked prime to lead the way, so to speak, on terms of awards traction. All three films – or their directors Damien Chazelle, Barry Jenkins and Kenneth Lonergan, expectedly, were feted by the DGA. The guild which is comprised of 16,000 directors celebrated the year’s best achievements in directing and is a major bellwether for Oscar success; as the DGA typically aligns with the Best Director Oscar which typically coincides with the eventual Best Picture, the ye olde logic goes.

Joining Chazelle, Jenkins and Lonergnan were Denis Villeneuve for Arrival and, in a somewhat surprising upset, Garth Davis for Lion. Interestingly, all five nominees are receiving their first DGA nominations this morning – Davis earned a nod for his feature film debut. In this, the DGA overlooked veterans including Martin Scorsese (Silence) and Mel Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge) as well as hopefuls including Ben Mackenzie (Hell or High Water) and Denzel Washington (Fences). Chazelle, fresh from his Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice Award victories, is probably looking like our frontrunner.

The nominations include the entire director team as well. Last year, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu picked up the prize for directing The Revenant as he did the Oscar – the Best Picture Oscar winner last year was Spotlight.

Here are the nominees:

Damien Chazelle, La La Land

Mr. Chazelle’s Directorial Team:
– Unit Production Manager: Michael Beugg
– First Assistant Director: Peter Kohn
– Second Assistant Director: Paula Case
– Assistant Unit Production Manager: Bart Lipton
– Second Second Assistant Director: Brett Robinson
– Additional Second Assistant Director: Dodi Rubenstein

Garth Davis, Lion

Mr. Davis’s Directorial Team:
– First Assistant Director: Chris Webb
– First Assistant Director: Ananya Rane (India Unit)
– Second Assistant Directors: Mark Ingram (Australia Unit), Sunny Tiku (India Unit), KP Singh (India Unit), Shaunak Kapur (India Unit)

Barry Jenkins, Moonlight

Mr. Jenkins’s Directorial Team:
– Unit Production Manager: Jennifer Radzikowski

Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea

Mr. Lonergan’s Directorial Team:
– Unit Production Manager: Declan Baldwin
– First Assistant Director: Michael J. Moore
– Second Assistant Director: David Blazina
– Second Second Assistant Directors: Tim LaDue, Scooter Perrotta

Denis Villeneuve, Arrival

Mr. Villeneuve’s Directorial Team:
– Unit Production Manager: Stan Wlodkowski
– First Assistant Director: Donald L. Sparks
– Second Assistant Director: Brigitte Goulet
– Second Second Assistant Director: Karine P. Labelle

The DGA has a second feature film category celebrating debut filmmakers. Interestingly, Davis received a dual nomination this year for his debut Lion. Last year, in the inaugural iteration of this category, Alex Garland picked up the prize for his work on the Oscar winning science fiction film Ex Machina.

Here are the nominees:

Garth Davis, Lion

Mr. Davis’s Directorial Team:
– First Assistant Director: Chris Webb
– First Assistant Director: Ananya Rane (India Unit)
– Second Assistant Directors: Mark Ingram (Australia Unit), Sunny Tiku (India Unit), KP Singh (India Unit), Shaunak Kapur (India Unit)

Kelly Fremon Craig, The Edge of Seventeen

Ms. Fremon Craig’s Directorial Team:
– Unit Production Manager: Brendan Ferguson
– Production Manager: Dan Clarke
– First Assistant Director: James Bitonti
– Second Assistant Director: Daniel Mansfield

Tim Miller, Deadpool

Mr. Miller’s Directorial Team:
– Unit Production Manager: John J. Kelly
– First Assistant Director: James Bitonti
– Second Assistant Director: Daniel Mansfield

Nate Parker, The Birth of a Nation

Mr. Parker’s Directorial Team:
– Unit Production Manager: Mark Moran
– First Assistant Director: Tomas Deckaj
– Second Assistant Director: Mark C. Stevens
– Second Second Assistant Director: Scott Bowers

Dan Trachtenberg, 10 Cloverfield Lane

Mr. Trachtenberg’s Directorial Team:
– Unit Production Manager: Robert J. Dohrmann
– First Assistant Director: Jason Blumenfeld
– Second Assistant Director: Paul B. Uddo
– Second Second Assistant Director: Jonathan M. Warren
– Location Manager: Batou A. Chandler

The DGA Awards will take place on February 4th.