Dave McNary | Variety
The Directors Guild of America has nominated Guillermo del Toro (“The Shape of Water”), Greta Gerwig (“Lady Bird”), Martin McDonaugh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”), Christopher Nolan (“Dunkirk”), and Jordan Peele (“Get Out”) for its top feature film award.
The DGA also nominated Peele on Thursday for its first-time director award along with Geremy Jasper (“Patti Cake$”), William Oldroyd (“Lady Macbeth”), Taylor Sheridan (“Wind River”) and Aaron Sorkin (“Molly’s Game”).
It was the fourth DGA nomination for Nolan, who had previously been nominated for “Inception,” “Memento” and “The Dark Knight.”
Gerwig is the eighth woman to have received a DGA feature film nomination, joining Lina Wertmuller (“Seven Beauties”), Randa Haines (“Children of a Lesser God”), Barbra Streisand (“The Prince of Tides”), Jane Campion (“The Piano”), Sofia Coppola (“Lost in Translation”), Valerie Faris (“Little Miss Sunshine”) and Kathryn Bigelow, who’s been nominated twice. Bigelow won the award for 2009’s “The Hurt Locker” and was nominated for “Zero Dark Thirty.”
Del Toro won the Golden Globe directing award on Jan. 7 over McDonaugh, Nolan, Ridley Scott (“All the Money in the World”) and Steven Spielberg (“The Post”). Gerwig won Best Director in November from the National Board of Review. Del Toro, McDonaugh and Nolan were nominated Jan. 9 for BAFTA’s feature directing award along with Luca Guadagnino (“Call Me By Your Name”) and Denis Villeneuve (“Blade Runner 2049”).
Guadagnino, Scott, Spielberg and Villeneuve were overlooked for a DGA nomination, which would have been Spielberg’s ninth, along with contenders including Sean Baker (“The Florida Project”), Sofia Coppola (“The Beguiled”), Dee Rees (“Mudbound”), and Patty Jenkins (“Wonder Woman”). The DGA has more than 17,000 members.
Peele joins Lee Daniels (“Precious”), Steve McQueen (“12 Years a Slave”) and Barry Jenkins (“Moonlight”) as the fourth black director to be nominated for the DGA award.
The DGA award is one of the top indicators of Oscar sentiment with all but seven of the DGA winners since 1948 going on to take the Best Director Oscar — including Damien Chazelle last year for “La La Land.” The last divergence came in 2013 when Ben Affleck won the DGA award for “Argo” even though he did not receive an Oscar nomination.
About 80% of DGA nominees have gone on to be nominated for an Oscar in recent years. Along with Chazelle, the DGA also nominated Denis Villenueve for “Arrival,” Kenneth Lonergan for “Manchester by the Sea,” Barry Jenkins for “Moonlight” and Garth Davis for “Lion” last year; all but Davis received Oscar nominations with the Academy opting instead for Mel Gibson for “Hacksaw Ridge.”
The winners will be announced at 70th Annual DGA Awards on Feb. 3 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The DGA nominations for the TV, commercial and movie documentary categories were announced Wednesday.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce the Oscar nominations on Jan. 23.
Here is the full list of nominees:
FEATURE FILM
Guillermo del Toro, “The Shape of Water”
(Fox Searchlight Pictures)
del Toro’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: J. Miles Dale
Production Manager: Dennis Chapman
First Assistant Director: Pierre Henry
Second Assistant Director: Tyler Delben
Greta Gerwig, “Lady Bird”
(A24)
Gerwig’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Managers: Lila Yacoub, Danielle Blumstein, Jamin O’Brien (New York Crew)
First Assistant Directors: Jonas Spaccarotelli, Cedric Vara (New York Crew)
Second Assistant Director: Brendan Lee, Dana Zolli (New York Crew)
Second Second Assistant Directors: Lillian Awa, Teri Barber
Martin McDonagh, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
(Fox Searchlight Pictures)
McDonagh’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Bergen Swanson
Assistant Unit Production Manager: Peggy Robinson
First Assistant Director: Peter Kohn
Second Assistant Director: Paula Case
Second Second Assistant Director: Spencer Taylor
Christopher Nolan, “Dunkirk”
(Warner Bros.)
Nolan’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Managers: David Witz, Christine Raspillere (France Unit), Chris Brock (UK Unit), Nicky Tüske (Netherlands Unit)
First Assistant Directors: Nilo Otero, William Pruss (France Unit), Willem Quarles van Ufford (Netherlands Unit)
Second Assistant Director: Eric Lasko, Nicolas Baldino (France Unit), Alexis Chelli (France Unit), Clément Comet (France Unit)
Second Second Assistant Director: Alina Gatti
Jordan Peele, “Get Out”
(Universal Pictures)
Peele’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Managers: Marcei A. Brown, Rick A. Osako (Fairhope Unit)
First Assistant Director: Gerard DiNardi
Second Assistant Directors: Ram Paul Silbey, Marc Newland (Fairhope Unit), Jack McKenna (New York Unit)
Second Second Assistant Director: Maggie Ballard
Location Manager: Kurt Enger (New York Unit)
FIRST-TIME FEATURE FILM DIRECTOR:
Geremy Jasper, “Patti Cake$”
(Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Jasper’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Sara Blechman
First Assistant Director: Inna Braude
Second Assistant Director: Natasha Rivera
Second Second Assistant Director: Lucas Isabella
Additional Second Second Assistant Director: Alice Johnson
William Oldroyd, “Lady Macbeth”
(Roadside Attractions)
Oldroyd’s Directorial Team:
Production Manager: Robert K. Harm
Unit Manager: Eugene Galbrath
First Assistant Director: George Every
Second Assistant Director: Richard Stanley Jan Harris
Jordan Peele, “Get Out”
(Universal Pictures)
Peele’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Managers: Marcei A. Brown, Rick A. Osako (Fairhope Unit)
First Assistant Director: Gerard DiNardi
Second Assistant Directors: Ram Paul Silbey, Marc Newland (Fairhope Unit), Jack McKenna (New York Unit)
Second Second Assistant Director: Maggie Ballard
Location Manager: Kurt Enger (New York Unit)
Taylor Sheridan, “Wind River”
(Acacia Entertainment)
Sheridan’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Christopher H. Warner
First Assistant Director: Nicholas Harvard
Second Assistant Director: Jason Altieri
Second Second Assistant Director: Kristina Massie
Aaron Sorkin, “Molly’s Game”
(STX Entertainment)
Sorkin’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Managers: Lyn Lucibello-Brancatella, Stuart M. Besser, Michael Beugg (Los Angeles Unit)
Assistant Unit Production Manager: Bart Lipton (Los Angeles Unit)
First Assistant Director: Walter Gasparovic
Second Assistant Directors: Penny Charter, Travis Rehwaldt (New York Unit), Paula Case (Los Angeles Unit)
Second Second Assistant Directors: Conor Griff (New York Unit), Drew Ritson (New York Unit), Bryan Snodgrass (Los Angeles Unit)
Location Manager: Dena Ghieth (New York Unit)