Directors Guild of America Award

The Directors Guild of America Awards are issued annually by the Directors Guild of America. The first DGA Award was an "Honorary Life Member" award issued in 1938 to D.W. Griffith.

The DGA award for "Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures" was first awarded in 1949 to Joseph L. Mankiewicz for A Letter to Three Wives.

The DGA Award for Feature Film has traditionally been a near perfect barometer for the Best Director Academy Award. Only six times since the DGA Award's inception has the DGA Award winner not won the Academy Award; in 1968 (Carol Reed won the Oscar for directing Oliver!); 1972 (Bob Fosse won the Oscar for directing Cabaret); 1985 (Sydney Pollack won the Oscar for directing Out of Africa); 1995 (Mel Gibson won for directing Braveheart); 2000 (Steven Soderbergh won the Oscar for directing Traffic); and 2002 (Roman Polanski won the Oscar for directing The Pianist).

Categories

Film

• Feature Film
• Documentary

Television

• Children's Programs
• Comedy Series
• Commercials
• Daytime Serials
• Drama Series
• Musical Variety
• Reality Programs
• Movies for Television/Miniseries

Service and Achievement

• Honorary Life Member Award
• Robert B. Aldrich Award
• Frank Capra Achievement Award
• Franklin J. Schaffner Achievement Award

Winners - Motion Picture Categories

Outstanding Achievement in Feature Film

• 1948: Joseph Mankiewicz, A Letter to Three Wives**
• 1949: Robert Rossen, All the King's Men**
• 1950: Joseph Mankiewicz, All About Eve
• 1951: George Stevens, A Place in the Sun
• 1952: John Ford, The Quiet Man
• 1953: Fred Zinnemann, From Here to Eternity
• 1954: Elia Kazan, On the Waterfront
• 1955: Delbert Mann, Marty
• 1956: George Stevens, Giant
• 1957: David Lean, The Bridge on the River Kwai
• 1958: Vincente Minnelli, Gigi
• 1959: William Wyler, Ben-Hur
• 1960: Billy Wilder, The Apartment
• 1961: Robert Wise, West Side Story
• 1962: David Lean, Lawrence of Arabia
• 1963: Tony Richardson, Tom Jones
• 1964: George Cukor, My Fair Lady
• 1965: Robert Wise, The Sound of Music
• 1966: Fred Zinnemann, A Man for All Seasons
• 1967: Mike Nichols, The Graduate
• 1968: Anthony Harvey, The Lion in Winter*
• 1969: John Schlesinger, Midnight Cowboy
• 1970: Franklin Schaffner, Patton
• 1971: William Friedkin, The French Connection
• 1972: Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather*
• 1973: George Roy Hill, The Sting
• 1974: Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather Part II
• 1975: Miloš Forman, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
• 1976: John G. Avildsen, Rocky
• 1977: Woody Allen, Annie Hall
• 1978: Michael Cimino, The Deer Hunter
• 1979: Robert Benton, Kramer vs. Kramer
• 1980: Robert Redford, Ordinary People
• 1981: Warren Beatty, Reds
• 1982: Richard Attenborough, Gandhi
• 1983: James L. Brooks, Terms of Endearment
• 1984: Miloš Forman, Amadeus
• 1985: Steven Spielberg, The Color Purple***
• 1986: Oliver Stone, Platoon
• 1987: Bernardo Bertolucci, The Last Emperor
• 1988: Barry Levinson, Rain Man
• 1989: Oliver Stone, Born on the Fourth of July
• 1990: Kevin Costner, Dances with Wolves
• 1991: Jonathan Demme, The Silence of the Lambs
• 1992: Clint Eastwood, Unforgiven
• 1993: Steven Spielberg, Schindler's List
• 1994: Robert Zemeckis, Forrest Gump
• 1995: Ron Howard, Apollo 13***
• 1996: Anthony Minghella, The English Patient
• 1997: James Cameron, Titanic
• 1998: Steven Spielberg, Saving Private Ryan
• 1999: Sam Mendes, American Beauty
• 2000: Ang Lee, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon*
• 2001: Ron Howard, A Beautiful Mind
• 2002: Rob Marshall, Chicago*
• 2003: Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
• 2004: Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby
• 2005: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
• 2006: Martin Scorsese, The Departed
• 2007: Ethan and Joel Coen, No Country For Old Men
• 2008: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
• 2009: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
• 2010: Tom Hooper, The King's Speech

• * - Director did not win the Academy Award.
• ** - Originally, the DGA used a non-calendar year for its award. Both films competed in the 22nd Academy Awards for 1949, and both directors were nominated for Best Director; Mankiewicz won. All the King's Men won Best Picture; Rossen's DGA was not awarded until after the Oscars. (Beginning with the 1951 award in 1952, the DGA has been always awarded before the Oscars.)
• *** - Was not nominated for Academy Award that year.

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary

• 1991: Barbara Kopple, American Dream
• 1992: Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, Brother's Keeper
• 1993: Terry Zwigoff, Crumb
• 1994: Steve James, Hoop Dreams
• 1995: Award not given
• 1996: Al Pacino, Looking for Richard
• 1997: Michael Uys and Lexy Lovell, Riding the Rails
• 1998: Jerry Blumenthal, Peter Gilbert and Gordon Quinn, Vietnam: Long Time Coming
• 1999: Nanette Burstein and Brett Morgen, On the Ropes
• 2000: Chuck Braverman, High School Boot Camp
• 2001: Chris Hegedus and Jehane Noujaim, Startup.com
• 2002: Tasha Oldham, The Smith Family
• 2003: Nathaniel Kahn, My Architect
• 2004: Byambasuren Davaa and Luigi Falorni, The Story of the Weeping Camel
• 2005: Werner Herzog, Grizzly Man
• 2006: Arunas Matelis, Before Flying Back to Earth
• 2007: Asger Leth, Ghosts of Cité Soleil
• 2008: Ari Folman, Vals Im Bashir (Waltz with Bashir)
• 2009: Louie Psihoyos, The Cove
• 2010: Charles Ferguson, Inside Job

Lifetime Achievement Award

(formerly the D.W. Griffith Lifetime Achievement Award)

• 1953: Cecil B. DeMille
• 1954: John Ford
• 1955: No award given
• 1956: Henry King
• 1957: King Vidor
• 1958: No award given
• 1959: Frank Capra
• 1960: George Stevens
• 1961: Frank Borzage
• 1962 - 1965: No award given
• 1966: William Wyler
• 1967: No award given
• 1968: Alfred Hitchcock
• 1969: No award given
• 1970: Fred Zinnemann
• 1971 - 1972: No award given
• 1973: William A. Wellman and David Lean
• 1974 - 1980: No award given
• 1981: George Cukor
• 1982: Rouben Mamoulian
• 1983: John Huston
• 1984: Orson Welles
• 1985: Billy Wilder
• 1986: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
• 1987: Elia Kazan
• 1988: Robert Wise
• 1989: No award given
• 1990: Ingmar Bergman
• 1991: No award given
• 1992: Akira Kurosawa
• 1993: Sidney Lumet
• 1994: Robert Altman
• 1995: James Ivory
• 1996: Woody Allen
• 1997: Stanley Kubrick
• 1998: Francis Coppola
• 1999: No award given
• 2000: Steven Spielberg
• 2001: No award given
• 2002: Martin Scorsese
• 2003: No award given
• 2004: Mike Nichols
• 2005: No award given
• 2006: Clint Eastwood
• 2007 - 2009: No award given
• 2010: Norman Jewison

Winners - Television Categories

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series

• 1990: James Burrows, Cheers - "Woody Interruptus"
• 1991: Peter Bonerz, Murphy Brown - "Uh Oh: Part 2"
• 1992: Tom Cherones, Seinfeld - "The Contest"
• 1993: James Burrows, Frasier - "The Good Son"
• 1994: David Lee, Frasier - "The Matchmaker"
• 1995: Gordon Hunt, Mad About You - "The Alan Brady Show"
• 1996: Andy Ackerman, Seinfeld - "The Rye"
• 1997: Andy Ackerman, Seinfeld - "The Betrayal"
• 1998: Thomas Schlamme, Sports Night - "Pilot"
• 1999: Thomas Schlamme, Sports Night - "Small Town"
• 2000: James Burrows, Will & Grace - "Lows in The Mid-Eighties"
• 2001: Todd Holland, Malcolm in the Middle - "Bowling"
• 2002: Bryan Gordon, Curb Your Enthusiasm - "Special Section"
• 2003: Timothy Van Patten, Sex and the City - "Boy Interrupted"
• 2004: Timothy Van Patten, Sex and the City - "An American Girl in Paris: Part Deux"
• 2005: Marc Buckland, My Name Is Earl - "Pilot"
• 2006: Richard Shepard, Ugly Betty - "Pilot"
• 2007: Barry Sonnenfield, Pushing Daisies - "Pie-lette"
• 2008: Paul Feig, The Office - "Dinner Party"
• 2009: Jason Winer, Modern Family - "The Pilot"
• 2010: Michael Spiller, Modern family

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series

• 2000: Thomas Schlamme - The West Wing for "Noel"
• 2001: Alan Ball - Six Feet Under - "Pilot"
• 2002: John Patterson - The Sopranos - "Whitecaps"
• 2003: Chris Misiano - The West Wing for "25"
• 2004: Walter Hill - Deadwood - "Deadwood (Pilot)"
• 2005: Michael Apted - Rome - "The Stolen Eagle"
• 2006: Jon Cassar, 24 - "7:00 AM–8:00 AM"
• 2007: Alan Taylor, Mad Men - "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes"
• 2008: Daniel Attias, The Wire - "Transitions"
• 2009: Lesli Linka Glatter, Mad Men - "Guy Walks Into an Advertising Agency"
• 2010: Martin Scorsese, Boardwalk Empire - "Boardwalk Empire (Pilot)"

Outstanding Achievement in Daytime Serials

• 1991: Michael Stich (The Bold and the Beautiful - Episode #1103)
• 1992: Susan Strickler (Another World - Episode 7022)
• 1993: Jill Mitwell (One Life to Live - Episode 6356)
• 1994: Michael Stich (The Bold and the Beautiful - Episode 1884)
• 1995: William Ludel & Alan Pultz (General Hospital - Episode 8248)
• 1996: Kathyrn Foster & Mike Denney (The Young and the Restless - Episode 5875)
• 1997: Scott McKinsey (General Hospital - Episode #8883)
• 1998: James Sayegh (One Life to Live - Episode #7572)
• 1999: Herb D. Stein & Roger W. Inman (Days of our Lives - Episode #8557)
• 2000: Jill Mitwell (One Life to Live - Episode #8205)
• 2001: William Ludel (General Hospital - Episide #9801)
• 2002: Scott McKinsey (Port Charles - Episode #1433)
• 2003: Larry Carpenter (One Life to Live - Episode #8849)
• 2004: Bruce S. Barry (Guiding Light - Episode #14,321)
• 2005: Owen Renfroe (General Hospital - Episode #10914)
• 2006: Jill Mitwell (One Life to Live - Episode #9779)
• 2007: Larry Carpenter (One Life to Live - Episode #9947)
• 2008: Larry Carpenter (One Life to Live - Episode #10281)