The 78th DGA Awards: A Night of Directorial Triumphs

The 78th annual Directors Guild of America (DGA) Awards ceremony was held Saturday in Los Angeles at the Beverly Hilton. The event recognized outstanding directorial achievements in film, television, and commercials, and was hosted by comedian Kumail Nanjiani. Christopher Nolan, the new DGA president, presided over the event.

Paul Thomas Anderson received the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film for "One Battle After Another."

Theatrical Feature Film Awards

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film

Paul Thomas Anderson was awarded for his work on “One Battle After Another.” In his acceptance speech, Anderson acknowledged his directing team and paid tribute to first assistant director Adam Somner, who passed away in November 2024.

Nominees in this category included:

• Paul Thomas Anderson, “One Battle After Another” (WINNER)
• Ryan Coogler, “Sinners”
• Guillermo Del Toro, “Frankenstein”
• Josh Safdie, “Marty Supreme”
• Chloé Zhao, “Hamnet”

Michael Apted Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Theatrical Feature Film

Charlie Polinger won for “The Plague.”

Nominees included:

• Hasan Hadi, “The President’s Cake”
• Harry Lighton, “Pillion”
• Charlie Polinger, “The Plague” (WINNER)
• Alex Russell, “Lurker”
• Eva Victor, “Sorry, Baby”

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary Film

Mstyslav Chernov received the award for “2000 Meters to Andriivka.”

Nominees included:

• Mstyslav Chernov, “2000 Meters to Andriivka” (WINNER)
• Geeta Gandbhir, “The Perfect Neighbor”
• Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni, “Cutting Through Rocks”
• Elizabeth Lo, “Mistress Dispeller”
• Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus, “Cover-Up”

Television and Other Category Awards

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series

Amanda Marsalis won for the "6:00 P.M." episode of HBO Max’s “The Pitt.”

Nominees included:

• Liza Johnson, The Diplomat, “Amagansett”
• Amanda Marsalis, The Pitt, “6:00 P.M.” (WINNER)
• Janus Metz, Andor, “Who Are You?”
• Ben Stiller, Severance, “Cold Harbor”
• John Wells, The Pitt, “7:00 A.M.”

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg were honored for "The Oner" episode of Apple TV+’s “The Studio.”

Nominees included:

• Lucia Aniello, Hacks, “A Slippery Slope”
• Janicza Bravo, The Bear, “Worms”
• Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, The Studio, “The Oner” (WINNER)
• Christopher Storer, The Bear, “Bears”
• Mike White, The White Lotus, “Denials”

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Limited & Anthology Series

Shannon Murphy received the award for the "It’s Not That Serious" episode of FX on Hulu’s “Dying for Sex.”

Nominees included:

• Jason Bateman, Black Rabbit, “The Black Rabbits”
• Antonio Campos, The Beast in Me, “Sick Puppy”
• Lesli Linka Glatter, Zero Day, “Episode 6”
• Ally Pankiw, Black Mirror, “Common People”
• Shannon Murphy, Dying for Sex, “It’s Not That Serious” (WINNER)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television

Stephen Chbosky was recognized for Netflix's “Nonnas.”

Nominees included:

• Jesse Armstrong, “Mountainhead”
• Stephen Chbosky, “Nonnas” (WINNER)
• Scott Derrickson, “The Gorge”
• Michael Morris, “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy”
• Kyle Newacheck, “Happy Gilmore 2”

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety Television

Liz Patrick won for NBC’s “SNL50: The Anniversary Special.”

Nominees included:

• Yvonne De Mare, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, “Julia Roberts; Sam Smith”
• Andy Fisher, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, “Stephen Colbert; Kumail Nanjiani; Reneé Rapp”
• Beth McCarthy-Miller, “SNL50: The Homecoming Concert”
• Paul Pennolino, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, “Public Media”
• Liz Patrick, “SNL50: The Anniversary Special” (WINNER)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Sports

Matthew Gangl received the award for the “2025 World Series – Game 7 – Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Toronto Blue Jays.”

Nominees included:

• Matthew Gangl, 2025 World Series – Game 7 – Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Toronto Blue Jays (WINNER)
• Steve Milton, 2025 Masters Tournament – Augusta National Golf Club
• Rich Russo, Super Bowl LIX – Philadelphia Eagles vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Reality / Quiz and Game Shows

Mike Sweeney was honored for the "Austria" episode of HBO Max’s “Conan O’Brien Must Go.”

Nominees included:

• Lucinda M. Margolis, Jeopardy!, “Ep. 9341”
• Mike Sweeney, Conan O’Brien Must Go, “Austria” (WINNER)
• Adam Sandler, The Price is Right, “10,000th Episode”

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary Series / News

Rebecca Miller received the award for the "All This Filming Isn’t Healthy" episode of Apple TV's “Mr. Scorsese.”

Nominees included:

• Marshall Curry, SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night, “Written By: A Week Inside the SNL Writers Room”
• Susan Lacy and Jessica Levin, Billy Joel: And So It Goes, “Part Two”
• Rebecca Miller, Mr. Scorsese, “All This Filming Isn’t Healthy” (WINNER)
• Alexandra Stapleton, Sean Combs: The Reckoning, “Official Girl”
• • Matt Wolf, Pee-Wee as Himself, “Part 1”

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials

Kim Gehrig (Somesuch) won for her campaigns.

Nominees included:

• Kim Gehrig (Somesuch) (WINNER)
  • “You Can’t Win. So Win.” – Nike
  • “I’m Not Remarkable” – Apple
• Miles Jay (Smuggler)
  • “Dish” – ChatGPT, “Pull Up” – ChatGPT, “Trip” – ChatGPT, “Home for the Holidays” – Meta, “Secret Santa” – Meta
• Spike Jonze (MJZ)
  • “Someday” – Apple Airpods 4
• Andreas Nilsson (Biscuit Filmworks)
  • “Conquer the First School Poo” – Andrex, “Garrett” – Apple iPhone 16 Pro, “Big Flex” – Apple iPhone 16 Pro, “Trunk Trucker” – Virgin Media
• Steve Rogers (Biscuit Filmworks)
  • “Bring a Book to Life” – Amazon, “A Tale as Old as Websites” – Squarespace, “Everything is Fine” — Coinb

Special Service and Honorary Awards

Two special service honors were presented during the ceremony:

• Franklin J. Schaffner Achievement Award: Presented to associate director and stage manager David Charles, recognizing his service to the profession and the DGA.
• Frank Capra Achievement Award: Given to commercials first assistant director Gregory G. McCollum, recognizing notable career achievement and outstanding service to the guild.

Historical Context and Milestones

The DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film has historically been a predictor for the Academy Award for Best Director.

The DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film has matched the Oscar winner in all but eight instances since its inception. The most recent divergence occurred in 2019, when Sam Mendes won the DGA Award for “1917” while Bong Joon Ho won the Oscar for “Parasite.” Last year, Sean Baker received the DGA's top honor for “Anora,” which subsequently secured four Academy Awards. The DGA winner in this category has consistently matched the Oscar's Directing trophy for the past five years.

This year's film nominees marked the second time a majority of nominees in the organization's top category hailed from underrepresented communities, the first occurrence being in 2017. Historically, only two films, “Driving Miss Daisy” (1989) and “CODA” (2022), have won the Academy Award for Best Picture without receiving a DGA nomination. Six films have claimed the top Oscar prize without earning an Academy Award nomination for directing.

Guillermo Del Toro, nominated for “Frankenstein,” did not receive an Oscar nomination, with Joachim Trier (“Sentimental Value”) earning the Academy slot instead. Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” had previously amassed 35 critics and guild prizes for best picture. Anderson had also secured 32 wins in the directing race prior to the DGA Awards, with Ryan Coogler having 19 wins.

Female directors won in five categories during the ceremony.