Joel and Ethan Coen Win DGA Feature Film Award

Other Winners of 2007 DGA Awards Announced


LOS ANGELES, Jan. 27, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- The winners of the 2007 Directors Guild of America Outstanding Directorial Achievement Awards and the recipients of the Guild's 2008 Career Achievement Awards were announced Saturday night during the 60th Annual DGA Awards Dinner at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles. Joel Coen and Ethan Coen won the DGA's Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for No Country for Old Men.

Following the welcome from DGA President Michael Apted to an audience of more than 1,500 guests, Actor/Director/Comedian Carl Reiner hosted the Awards ceremony for the twenty-first time. Presenters included: Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men), DGA Secretary-Treasurer Gil Cates, Kristin Chenoweth and Chi McBride (Pushing Daisies), Marion Cotillard* (La Vie En Rose), Daniel Day-Lewis* (There Will Be Blood), Adrian Grenier (Entourage), Emile Hirsch and Hal Holbrook* (Into the Wild), Helen Hunt (Then She Found Me), Kathleen Kennedy and Jon Kilik (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), John Larroquette (Boston Legal), Debra Messing (The Starter Wife), Ellen Page* (Juno), Anna Paquin (Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee), Amy Ryan* (Gone Baby Gone), Tilda Swinton* and Tom Wilkinson* (Michael Clayton), Vanessa Williams (Ugly Betty) and 2006 DGA Feature Film Award winner/DGA Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Martin Scorsese.

The DGA's Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film has traditionally served as a near-perfect barometer for the Academy Award for Best Director. Only six times since the DGA Award's inception in 1949 has the winner not gone on to receive the Academy Award for Best Director. (See list at the end of this release). The 61st Annual DGA Awards will be held on Saturday, January 31, 2009.

The winners of the 2007 Directors Guild of America Awards for Outstanding Directorial Achievement and the recipients of the Guild's 2008 Career Achievement Awards are:



          OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN FEATURE FILM
          ---------------------------------------------------

 JOEL COEN & ETHAN COEN
 No Country For Old Men
 (Miramax Films and Paramount Vantage)

 The Coens' Directorial Team:
 Unit Production Manager: Robert J. Graf
 First Assistant Director: Betsy Magruder
 Second Assistant Director: Bac DeLorme
 Second Second Assistant Director: Jai James

 This is Mr. Joel Coen's and Mr. Ethan Coen's first DGA Award.
 Joel Coen was previously nominated for Fargo (1996).


     OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN MOVIES FOR TELEVISION
     ------------------------------------------------------------

 YVES SIMONEAU
 Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee
 (HBO)

 Mr. Simoneau's Directorial Team:
 Unit Production Manager -- US: Chrisann Verges
 First Assistant Director -- US: Cas Donovan
 Second Assistant Director -- US: Adam Martin

 This is Mr. Simoneau's first DGA Award.


     OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMATIC SERIES NIGHT
     ------------------------------------------------------------

 ALAN TAYLOR
 Mad Men -- "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (Pilot)"
 (AMC)

 Mr. Taylor's Directorial Team:
 Unit Production Manager: Scott Hornbacher
 First Assistant Director: Mark McGann
 Second Assistant Director: Maggie Murphy
 Second Second Assistant Director: John Silvestri
 Second Assistant Director/Location Manager: April Taylor

 This is Mr. Taylor's first DGA Award.


         OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY SERIES
         ----------------------------------------------------

 BARRY SONNENFELD
 Pushing Daisies -- "Pie-lette"
 (ABC)

 Mr. Sonnenfeld's Directorial Team:
 Unit Production Manager: Gabriela Vazquez
 First Assistant Director: Chris Soldo
 Second Assistant Director: Greg Hale
 Second Second Assistant Director: Renee Hill-Sweet

 This is Mr. Sonnenfeld's first DGA Award.


        OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSICAL VARIETY
        ------------------------------------------------------

 GLENN P. WEISS
 The 61st Annual Tony Awards
 (CBS)

 Mr. Weiss' Directorial Team:
 Associate Directors: Gregg M. Gelfand, Robin Mishkin Abrams,
  Ken Diego, Ricky Kirshner
 Stage Managers: Garry W. Hood, Peter Epstein, Andrew Feigin,
  Lynn Finkel, Doug Fogel, Jeffrey Gitter, Dean Gordon, Arthur Lewis,
  Tony Mirante, Jeff Pearl, Rose Riggins, Lauren Class Schneider

 This is Mr. Weiss' first DGA Award. He was previously nominated in
 2006 for The 60th Annual Tony Awards, in 2005 for The 59th Annual
 Tony Awards, in 2002 for The 56th Annual Tony Awards, and in 2001
 for The 55th Annual Tony Awards.


        OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN REALITY PROGRAMS
        -------------------------------------------------------

 BERTRAM VAN MUNSTER
 The Amazing Race -- "Episode #1110"
 (CBS)

 Mr. Van Munster's Directorial Team:
 Segment Director: Evan Weinstein

 This is Mr. Van Munster's first DGA Award. He was previously
 nominated for The Amazing Race Episode #102" in 2006 and for
 "Episode #805" in 2005.


        OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DAYTIME SERIALS
        ------------------------------------------------------

 LARRY CARPENTER
 One Life To Live -- "Episode #9947"
 (ABC)

 Mr. Carpenter's Directorial Team:
 Associate Director: Teresa Anne Cicala
 Stage Managers: Alan P. Needleman, Keith Greer
 Production Associate: Anthony Wilkinson

 This is Mr. Carpenter's second DGA Award. He won the Outstanding
 Directorial Achievement in Daytime Serials for One Life to Live
 "Episode #8849" in 2003 and was also nominated for that series for
 "Episode #9686" in 2006, "Episode #9385" in 2005 and "Episode #8655"
 in 2002.

      OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN CHILDREN'S PROGRAMS
      ----------------------------------------------------------

 PAUL HOEN
 Jump In
 (Disney Channel)

 This is Mr. Hoen's first DGA Award. He was previously nominated in
 this same category for Searching for David's Heart in 2004 and the
 Even Stevens episode "Take My Sister... Please" in 2000.


          OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMMERCIALS
          --------------------------------------------------

 NICOLAI FUGLSIG
 Production Company MJZ UK

 Tipping Point, Guinness -- BBDO
 It's Magic, JC Penney -- Saachi & Saachi NY
 First Assistant Director: Thomas Smith
 Second Assistant Director: Kate Greenberg

 Journey, Motorola -- AMV BBDO

 This is Mr. Fuglsig's first DGA Award.


          OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DOCUMENTARY
          --------------------------------------------------

 ASGER LETH
 Ghosts of Cite Soleil
 Sony BMG Feature Films

 This is Mr. Leth's first DGA Award.


       2008 DGA SERVICE AND CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD RECIPIENTS
       --------------------------------------------------------

 JAY D. ROTH -- DGA HONORARY LIFE MEMBERSHIP AWARD
 Given in Recognition of Service to the Directors Guild of America
 and Outstanding Creative Achievement.

 LIZ RYAN -- FRANK CAPRA ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
 For an Assistant Director or Unit Production Manager in Recognition
 of Career Achievement in the Industry and Service to the Directors
 Guild of America.

 BARBARA J. ROCHE -- FRANKLIN J. SCHAFFNER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
 For an Associate Director or Stage Manager in Recognition of Career
 Achievement in the Industry and Service to the Directors Guild of
 America.

Note: Only six times since the DGA Award's inception in 1949 has the DGA Award winner not won the Best Director Academy Award:



 -- 1968: Anthony Harvey won the DGA Award for The Lion in Winter
    while Carol Reed took home the Oscar(r) for Oliver!

 -- 1972: Francis Ford Coppola received the DGA's nod for
    The Godfather while the Academy selected Bob Fosse for Cabaret.

 -- 1985: Steven Spielberg received his first DGA Award for The Color
    Purple while the Oscar(r) went to Sydney Pollack for Out of
    Africa.

 -- 1995: Ron Howard was chosen by the DGA for his direction of
    Apollo 13 while Academy voters selected Mel Gibson for Braveheart.

 -- 2000: Ang Lee was chosen by the DGA for his direction of Crouching
    Tiger, Hidden Dragon while Steven Soderbergh won the Best Director
    Academy Award for Traffic.

 -- 2003: Rob Marshall was chosen by the DGA for his direction of
    Chicago while Roman Polanski won the Best Director Academy Award
    for The Pianist.

(* 2008 Academy Award Nominee)


            

Contact Data