Christopher Nolan Wins Top Prize at DGA Awards (Complete Winners List)

Christian Zilko
·4-min read

With the 96th Academy Awards now only a month away, each weekend brings a new award show that reveals a new look at the shape of the Oscar race. Tonight, the auteurs behind some of 2023’s biggest films gathered at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles to celebrate the craft of filmmaking at the Directors Guild of America Awards.

Martin Scorsese, Greta Gerwig, Christopher Nolan, Yorgos Lanthimos, and Alexander Payne were nominated for the night’s top prize, Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film, with Oscar frontrunner Nolan walking away with the coveted trophy. Celine Song, Cord Jefferson, A.V. Rockwell, Manuela Martelli, and Noora Niasari competed for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Theatrical Feature Film, which ultimately went to Song.

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The show celebrated some of the best directors working in television, with awards in a variety of categories ranging from TV dramas and sitcoms to commercials and reality TV.

Keep reading for a complete list of winners from the 2024 Directors Guild of America Awards.

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film

Greta Gerwig – “Barbie” (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Yorgos Lanthimos – “Poor Things” (Searchlight Pictures)

WINNER Christopher Nolan – “Oppenheimer” (Universal Pictures)

Alexander Payne – “The Holdovers” (Focus Features)

Martin Scorsese – “Killers of the Flower Moon” (Apple Original Films / Paramount Pictures)

Michael Apted Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Theatrical Feature Film

Cord Jefferson – “American Fiction” (Orion Pictures / Amazon MGM Studios)

Manuela Martelli – “Chile ‘76” (Kino Lober)

Noora Niasari – “Shayda” (Sony Pictures Classics / ORIGMA 45)

A.V. Rockwell – “A Thousand and One” (Focus Features)

WINNER Celine Song – “Past Lives” (A24)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series

WINNER Peter Hoar — “The Last of Us,” “Long, Long Time” (HBO/Max)

Becky Martin — “Succession,” “Rehearsal” (HBO/Max)

Mark Mylod — “Succession,” “Connor’s Wedding” (HBO/Max)

Andrij Parekh— “Succession,” “America Decides” (HBO/Max)

Robert Pulcini & Shari Springer Berman — “Succession,” “Tailgate Party” (HBO/Max)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series

Erica Dunton — “Ted Lasso,” “La Locker Room Aux Folles” (Apple TV+)

Bill Hader — “Barry,” “wow” (HBO/Max)

Declan Lowney — “Ted Lasso,” “So Long, Farewell” (Apple TV+)

WINNER Christopher Storer — “The Bear,” “Fishes” (FX)

Ramy Youssef — “The Bear,” “Honeydew” (FX)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Limited Series

Shawn Levy — “All the Light We Cannot See” (Netflix)

Tara Miele — “Lessons in Chemistry,” “Introduction to Chemistry” (Apple TV+)

Millicent Shelton — “Lessons in Chemistry,” “Poirot” (Apple TV+)

WINNER Sarah Adina Smith — “Lessons in Chemistry,” “Her and Him” (Apple TV+)

Nzingha Stewart — “Daisy Jones & The Six,” “ Track 10: Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide” (Amazon)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Regularly Scheduled Programming

Paul G. Casey — “Real Time with Bill Maher,” “Episode 2117” (HBO/Max)

Jim Hoskinon — “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” “Jan. 19, 2023: Rep. Adam Kinzinger; Meet Me at the Altar; Special appearance by Harvey Guillén” (CBS)

WINNER Michael Mancini & Liz Patrick — “Saturday Night Live,” “Pedro Pascal / Coldplay” (NBC)

David Paul Meyer — “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah,” “Singer Charley Crockett Performs “Name on a Billboard” and Discusses New Album with Jordan Klepper “ (Comedy Central)

Paul Pennolino — “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” “Episode 1018: Dollar Stores” (HBO/Max)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Specials

Joel Gallen — “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage” (Netflix)

Stan Lathan — “Dave Chappelle: The Dreamer” (Netflix)

Linda Mendoza — “Wanda Sykes: I’m an Entertainer” (Netflix)

WINNER Paul Miller — “Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love” (NBC)

Glenn Weiss — “The 95th Annual Academy Awards” (ABC)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Reality Programs

WINNER Niharika Desai — “Rainn Wilson and the Geography of Bliss,” “Happiness is a Bottle of Cod Liver Oil” (Peacock)

Ken Fuchs — “The Golden Bachelor,” “Premiere” (ABC)

Joseph Guidry & Alexandra Lipsitz — “Project Greenlight: A New Generation,” “PGL vs. Gray Matter Problem” (HBO/Max)

Rich Kim — “Lego Masters,” “Is It Brick?” (Fox)

Patrick McManus — “American Ninja Warrior,” “Season 15 Finale” (NBC)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children’s Programs

James Bobin — “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” “I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher” (Disney+)

Destin Daniel Cretton — American Born Chinese, “What Guy Are You”(Disney+)

Rob Letterman — “Goosebumps,” “Say Cheese and Die” (Disney+)

WINNER Amy Schatz — Stand Up & Shout: Songs From a Philly High School (HBO/Max)

Dinh Thai — American Born Chinese, “A Monkey on a Quest” (Disney+)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials

Martin de Thurah (Epoch Films)

Fair Exchange, Levi’s 501 Jeans – Droga5

Legends Never Die, Levi’s 501 Jeans, Droga5

Seb Edwards (Park Pictures)

Rumble, Battle of the Baddest – Droga5

WINNER Kim Gehrig (Somesuch)

Run This Town, Apple Music – Apple (Client Direct)

The Travelers, Expedia – Wieden & Kennedy

Crais Gillespie (MJZ)

Waiting Room, Apple iPhone – TBWA/Media Arts Lab

Andreas Nilsson (Biscuit Filmworks)

R.I.P. Leon, Apple iPhone – Apple (Client Direct)

Action Mode, Apple iPhone14 – Apple (Client Direct)

Choose Happy, Les Mills Fitness – Nice&Frank, San Francisco

Wait’ll You See This, Snapchat – Snapchat (Client Direct)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary

Moses Bwayo & Christopher Sharp — “Bobi Wine: The People’s President” (National Geographic)

WINNER Mstyslav Chernov — “20 Days in Mariupol” (PBS Distribution)

Madeleine Gavin — “Beyond Utopia” (Roadside Attractions)

Davis Guggenheim — “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” (Apple Original Films)

D. Smith — “Kokomo City” (Magnolia Pictures)

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