Ang Lee Wins DGA Feature Film Award

Clint Eastwood Honored for Lifetime Achievement; Other Winners of 2005 DGA Awards Announced


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.


            

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