LOS ANGELES, Jan. 29, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- The winners of the 2005 Directors Guild of America Outstanding Directorial Achievement Awards and the recipients of the Guild's 2006 Career Achievement Awards were announced tonight during the 58th Annual DGA Awards Dinner at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles. Ang Lee won the DGA's Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for Brokeback Mountain. The Guild also bestowed its highest honor, the Lifetime Achievement Award, on Director Clint Eastwood.
Following the welcome from DGA President Michael Apted to an audience of 1,800 guests, Actor/Director/Comedian Carl Reiner hosted the Awards ceremony for the twentieth time. Presenters included: Peter Bergman (The Young and the Restless); Patricia Clarkson and David Strathairn (Good Night, And Good Luck); Matt Dillon and Thandie Newton (Crash); Jake Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger and Randy Quaid (Brokeback Mountain); Patricia Heaton (Everybody Loves Raymond); Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm); Philip Seymour Hoffman and Catherine Keener (Capote); DGA Award-winning Director Ron Howard (The Da Vinci Code); DGA Board Member Robert Butler (The Division); Anjelica Huston (Art School Confidential); John Leguizamo (Assault on Precinct 13); S. Epatha Merkerson (Lackawanna Blues); Jaime Pressly (My Name is Earl); Emmy Rossum (The Phantom of the Opera); Geoffrey Rush (Munich); and Ziyi Zhang (Memoirs of a Geisha).
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 winners of the 2005 Directors Guild of America Awards for Outstanding Directorial Achievement, and the recipients of the Guild's 2006 Career Achievement Awards, are:
OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN FEATURE FILM ANG LEE Brokeback Mountain Focus Features Mr. Lee's Directorial Team: Unit Production Managers: Scott Ferguson, Tom Benz First Assistant Directors: Michael Hausman, Pierre Tremblay Second Assistant Director: Brad Moerke
This was Mr. Lee's second win and third DGA Award nomination. He received a previous nomination for Sense and Sensibility (1995) and won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000).
OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN MOVIES FOR TELEVISION (TIE)
JOSEPH SARGENT Warm Springs HBO Unit Production Manager: Carl Clifford First Assistant Director: Cas Donovan Second Assistant Director: Michael Helfand Second Second Assistant Directors: Rhonda Guthrie, Mark Trapenberg
This was Mr. Sargent's fourth win and eighth DGA Award nomination. He won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television in 2004 for Something the Lord Made and in 1973 for The Marcus Nelson Murders. In 1973 he also won the DGA Television Award for Most Outstanding TV Director. Sargent's previous nominations include: For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story in 2000; A Lesson Before Dying in 1999; Miss Evers' Boys in 1997; World War II: When Lions Roared in 1994; and Miss Rose White in 1992.
and
GEORGE C. WOLFE Lackawanna Blues HBO Unit Production Managers: Nellie Nugiel, Mary Kane First Assistant Director: Drew Ann Rosenberg Second Assistant Directors: Barbara Ravis, Maria Mantia Second Second Assistant Directors: Anthony Kountz, Robin Jorden
This was Mr. Wolfe's first DGA Award nomination.
OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMATIC SERIES NIGHT
MICHAEL APTED Rome - "The Stolen Eagle" HBO Unit Production Manager: Stanley Wlodkowski First Assistant Director: Sergio Ercolessi, Julie Bloom, Thomas Gormley Second Assistant Director: Barbara Ravis, Kiersten Miller
This was Mr. Apted's third DGA Award nomination. He was nominated in the Feature Film category for Coal Miner's Daughter in 1980, and in the Dramatic Series Night category for The Collection-Harold Pinter (PBS Special) in 1978.
OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY SERIES
MARC BUCKLAND My Name Is Earl - "Pilot" NBC Unit Production Manager: Henry Lange, Jr. First Assistant Director: Joan Cunningham Second Assistant Director: Jeff Bilger Second Second Assistant Director: Stacy Schrader
This was Mr. Buckland's first DGA Award nomination.
OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSICAL VARIETY
MATTHEW DIAMOND Great Performances: Dance in America Swan Lake with American Ballet Theater PBS Associate Director: Rae Kraus Stage Manager: David Fox
This was Mr. Diamond's third win and fifth nomination. He previously won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Musical Variety in 2002 for From Broadway: Fosse and in 1995 for Some Enchanted Evening, Celebrating Oscar Hammerstein. He was nominated in 1998 for Savion Glover - Stomp, Slide & Swing: Performance In The White House, and also in 1998 in the Documentary category for Dance Maker.
OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN REALITY PROGRAMS (tie)
TONY CROLL Three Wishes - "Episode #1, Pilot" NBC
This was Mr. Croll's first DGA Award nomination. The DGA Reality Programs Award is a new category.
and
J. RUPERT THOMPSON Fear Factor - "Heist Fear Factor, Season 6 Premiere" NBC Stage Manager: John Stewart
This was Mr. Thompson's first DGA Award nomination. The DGA Reality Programs Award is a new category.
OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DAYTIME SERIALS
OWEN RENFROE GENERAL HOSPITAL - EPISODE # 10914 ABC Associate Directors: Ron Cates, Christine Magarian, Penny Pengra, Peter Fillmore Stage Managers: Craig McManus, Crystal Craft Production Associates: Lisa Kaseff, Denise Van Cleave, Christine Cooper
This was Mr. Renfroe's first DGA Award nomination.
OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN CHILDREN'S PROGRAMS
CHRIS EYRE Edge of America Showtime Unit Production Manager: Donald Schain First Assistant Director: Matias Alvarez Second Assistant Director: Miriam Epstein Footer Second Second Assistant Director: Christopher Barnes
This was Mr. Eyre's first DGA Award nomination.
OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMMERCIALS
CRAIG GILLESPIE MJZ Surprise Dinner, Ameriquest Mini-Mart, Ameriquest DDB Direct LA Unit Production Manager: Deborah Tietjen First Assistant Director: Ken Gilbert Second Assistant Director: Christian Van Fleet People of Pain, Altoids Fable of the Fruit Bat, Altoids Leo Burnett, Chicago Unit Production Manager: Deborah Tietjen First Assistant Director: Ken Gilbert Second Assistant Director: Christian Van Fleet
This was Mr. Gillespie's third DGA nomination in this category. He was previously nominated in 2001 and 2002.
OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DOCUMENTARY
WERNER HERZOG GRIZZLY MAN Lions Gate Films/Discovery Documentaries
This was Mr. Herzog's first DGA Award nomination.
The recipients of the Guild's 2006 Career Achievement Awards, are:
CLINT EASTWOOD - DGA LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
For distinguished achievement in Motion Picture Direction.
JERRY ZIESMER - 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.
DONALD E. JACOB - 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.
JOSEPH R. ACETI - LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD IN SPORTS DIRECTION AWARD
For distinguished achievement in Sports Program Directing.
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.
The date for next year's (2007) DGA Awards has been set for Saturday, February 3, 2007 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel.