Tonight the Directors Guild of America (DGA) announced their 2012 winners for Outstanding Directorial Achievement and the path has been paved as Michel Hazanavicius won the award for Best Director for The Artist. This is an award that only six times since the DGA Awards began in 1948 has the winner not gone on to win the corresponding Academy Award.
This, of course, also would suggest The Artist is just as strong a front-runner for Best Picture as it is for Director as films such as Hugo and The Descendants can only step out of the way.
Elsewhere, in the documentary category, one thing I’m sure will have people talking is the win for James Marsh for Project Nim, a documentary that was not nominated for the 2012 Oscars.
I also find it interesting to see Patty Jenkins win for her work on the pilot episode of AMC’s “The Killing” as she was at one point attached to direct Thor 2 only to later depart due to creative differences. My assumption is she was being creative and Marvel wasn’t interested.
Additionally, Noam Murro, who will be directing the upcoming 300: Battle of Artemisia, won for outstanding achievement in commercials.
I’ve included all of the night’s winners directly below and have also updated my “Oscar Overture” section with tonight’s winners to help you keep track of all the winners up to this point. There you will see The Artist has now won not only with the Directors Guild, but also with the Producers Guild, Critics Choice Awards and Golden Globe Awards. Are tomorrow night’s Screen Actors Guild Awards going to follow suit?
Join us for our live blog of tomorrow night’s event and find out with us, and if you haven’t yet voted in our poll to predict the winners click here.
Feature Film: Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
Documentary: James Marsh (Project Nim)
Movies for Television and Mini-Series: Jon Cassar – “The Kennedys”
Dramatic Series: Patty Jenkins – “The Killing” (Pilot)
Comedy Series: Robert B. Weide – “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (Palestinian Chicken)
Musical Variety: Glenn Weiss – 65th Annual Tony Awards
Reality Programs: Neil P. Degroot – “Biggest Loser” (Episode #1115)
Daytime Serials: William Ludel – “General Hospital” (Intervention)
Children’s Programs: Amy Schatz (“A Child’s Garden of Poetry”)
Commercials: Noam Murro (Biscuit Filmworks)
