This year’s television nominations for the 2021 Directors Guild Awards were full of expected nominees (“Ozark,” “Better Call Saul,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm”), but also some noteworthy surprises. Not only did “Ted Lasso” earn two nominations (Zach Braff and MJ Delaney), but “WandaVision” cracked the Limited Series category and Jon Favreau earned nods for “The Mandalorian” and his reality program “The Chef Show.” WandaVision,” “Ted Lasso,” “The Flight Attendant” and “Bridgerton” earned their first nominations.
READ MORE: “Nomadland,” “Minari” and “I May Destroy You” among 2021 PGA Awards nominees [Full List]
Other notable nominees included Susanne Bier for “The Undoing,” Lynn Shelton for “Little Fires Everywhere,” Spike Lee for “American Utopia,” Marielle Heller for “What the Constitution Means to Me” and Taika Waititi for his Coca-Cola commercial “The Letter.”
On the documentary side, the DGA recognized the filmmakers behind “Welcome to Chechnya,” “Boys State,” “The Truffle Hunters,” “My Octopus Teacher” and “The Painter and the Thief.”
The DGA will announce the narrative film categories tomorrow.
The winners will be announced at the 73rd Annual DGA Awards on Saturday, April 10 which will be a private virtual event for DGA members.
This year’s DGA nominees for television are as follows:
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series
JASON BATEMAN
Ozark, “Wartime”
(Netflix)
Unit Production Manager: Matthew Spiegel
First Assistant Director: Peter Thorell
Second Assistant Director: Townson Wells
Second Second Assistant Director: Sarah Gorczyk
JON FAVREAU
The Mandalorian, “Chapter 9: The Marshal”
(Disney+)
Unit Production Manager: Colin Wilson
First Assistant Director: Kim Richards
Second Assistant Director: Heather Wagner-Wang
Second Second Assistant Director: Heather Kehayas
Additional Second Assistant Director: David Buchwald
INCE GILLIGAN
Better Call Saul, “Bagman”
(AMC)
Unit Production Manager: James Paul Hapsas
First Assistant Director: Efrain Cortes
Second Assistant Director: Louis Lanni
Second Second Assistant Director: KiKi Levine
LESLI LINKA GLATTER
Homeland, “Prisoners of War”
(Showtime)
Unit Production Managers: Michael Klick, Philippa Naughten
First Assistant Director: Sunday Stevens
Second Assistant Director: Wendy Bledsoe
JULIE ANNE ROBINSON
Bridgerton, “Diamond of the First Water”
(Netflix)
First Assistant Director: Ian Foster Woolf
ZACH BRAFF
Ted Lasso, “Biscuits”
(Apple TV+)
MJ DELANEY
Ted Lasso, “The Hope that Kills You”
(Apple TV+)
SUSANNA FOGEL
The Flight Attendant, “In Case of Emergency”
(HBO Max)
Unit Production Manager: Bonnie Muñoz
First Assistant Director: Derek Peterson
Second Assistant Director: Jacquie Dore
Second Second Assistant Director: Zach Citarella
Location Manager: Chris Banks
ERIN O’MALLEY
Curb Your Enthusiasm, “The Surprise Party”
(HBO)
Unit Production Manager: Mary Church
First Assistant Director: Adam Feil
Second Assistant Director: Candice Lee
Second Second Assistant Director: D.J. Carter
JEFF SCHAFFER
Curb Your Enthusiasm, “The Spite Store”
(HBO)
Unit Production Manager: Mary Church
First Assistant Director: Adam Feil
Second Assistant Director: Candice Lee
Second Second Assistant Directors: D.J. Carter, Brent Stanton
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Limited Series
SUSANNE BIER
The Undoing
(HBO)
Unit Production Manager: Deb Dyer
First Assistant Director: Richard Styles
Second Assistant Director: Josh Muzaffer
Location Manager: Lauri Pitkus
Second Second Assistant Directors: Steven Lafferty, Alex Scricco
Additional Second Assistant Directors: Alex Scricco, Zachary Citarella
SCOTT FRANK
The Queen’s Gambit
(Netflix)
First Assistant Director: Aldric La’auli Porter
THOMAS KAIL
Hamilton
(Disney+)
Unit Production Manager: David Backus
First Assistant Director: Robin Abrams
Second Assistant Director: Thomas Gaito
MATT SHAKMAN
WandaVision
(Disney +)
Unit Production Manager: Mary Kane
First Assistant Director: Janell Sammelman
Second Assistant Directors: Meaghan F. McLaughlin, Stephanie Tull Coscina
Second Second Assistant Directors: Katye Kalivoda, Nadeem Ashayer (Los Angeles Unit)
Additional Second Assistant Directors: Kate Pulley, George Williams (Los Angeles Unit)
LYNN SHELTON
Little Fires Everywhere, “Find a Way”
(Hulu)
Unit Production Manager: Brad Yacobian
First Assistant Director: Luke Maxcy
Second Assistant Director: Kirisa Gavrin
Second Second Assistant Directors: Christina Lee, Gabriella Poli Vidal
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Regularly Scheduled Programming
PAUL G. CASEY
Real Time With Bill Maher, “Episode 1835”
(HBO)
Associate Director: Stacy Talbot
Stage Managers: Brian Anderson, Patrick Whitney
JIM HOSKINSON
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, “#1025 Live Show Following Capitol Insurrection”
(CBS)
Associate Directors: Yvonne De Mare, Karen Yaeger
Stage Managers: Mark McKenna, Jeff Leib
DON ROY KING
Saturday Night Live, “Dave Chappelle; Foo Fighters”
(NBC)
Associate Directors: Michael Mancini, Michael Poole, Laura Ouziel-Mack
Stage Managers: Gena Rositano, Chris Kelly, Eddie Valk
DAVID PAUL MEYER
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, “President Obama: Inspiring Future Leaders & “A
Promised Land””
(Comedy Central)
Associate Director: Susan Faith Locke-Shapiro
CHRISTOPHER WERNER
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, “Trump & Election Results”
(HBO)
Associate Director: John Scott Wilson
Stage Manager: Dino Castelli
Location Manager: Demian Resnick
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Specials
STACEY ANGELES
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Presents “Remembering RBG: A Nation Ugly Cried with Desi Lydic”
(Comedy Central)
MARIELLE HELLER
What the Constitution Means to Me
(Amazon)
Associate Director: Tomas ‘Dutch’ Deckaj
Stage Manager: Nicole Payson
JIM HOSKINSON
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, “Stephen Colbert’s Election Night 2020: Democracy’s Last Stand: Building Back America Great Again Better 2020”
(Showtime)
Associate Directors: Yvonne De Mare, Karen Yaeger
Stage Managers: Mark McKenna, Jeff Leib
SPIKE LEE
American Utopia
(HBO)
Unit Production Manager: Nina Shiffman
First Assistant Director: Jermaine Sumra
Second Assistant Director: Lizz Zanin
Additional Second Assistant Director: Steven Bruno
Location Manager: John Maher
THOMAS SCHLAMME
A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote
(HBO Max)
Unit Production Manager: Debra James
First Assistant Director: Shawn Pipkin-West
Second Assistant Director: Courtney Franklin
Second Second Assistant Directors: Ni’cole Pettis, Cathy Bond
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Reality Programs
DAVID CHARLES
Eco Challenge, “3,2,1…Go!”
(Amazon)
Associate Director: Daniel Curran
Stage Managers: Ian Blankenship, Kevin Fletcher, Andy Nelson, Mickel Picco
JON FAVREAU
The Chef Show, “Tartine”
(Netflix)
Associate Director: Annie Johnson
KEN FUCHS
Shark Tank, “1211”
(ABC)
Associate Director: Amy Barker
Head Stage Manager: Eric Rhoden
Stage Managers: Doug Neal, Michael Strauss
JOSEPH GUIDRY
Full Bloom, “Petal to the Metal”
(HBO Max)
Associate Director: Sean Galvin
Lead Stage Manager: Jimmy Chriss
Stage Managers: Rachel Shimko, Kristianna Laroda, Richard Melendez
RICH KIM
Lego Masters, “Mega City Block”
(Fox)
Associate Director: Ryan Bunnell
Stage Managers: Will Baker, Kevin Fletcher
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children’s Programs
KABIR AKHTAR
High School Musical: The Musical – The Series, “Opening Night”
(Disney+)
Unit Production Managers: Jeff T. Miller, Greg A. Hampson
First Assistant Director: Brent Geisler
Second Assistant Director: Cody Harbaugh
LARISSA BILLS
On Pointe, “Showtime!”
(Disney+)
DEAN ISRAELITE
The Astronauts, “Countdown”
(Nickelodeon)
RICHIE KEEN
The Healing Powers of Dude, “Second Step: Homeroom”
(Netflix)
Unit Production Manager: Chris Phillips
First Assistant Director: Natalie Van Doren
AMY SCHATZ
We Are the Dream: The Kids of the Oakland MLK Oratorical Fest
(HBO)
COMMERCIALS
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials
STEVE AYSON
(MJZ)
The Great Chase, Nike – Wieden + Kennedy Shanghai
First Assistant Director: John Lowe
NISHA GANATRA
(Chelsea Pictures)
#wombstories, Bodyform/Libresse – AMVBBDO
NICLAS LARSSON
(MJZ)
See the Unseen, VW Touareg – adam&eveDDB
The Parents, Volvo XC60 – Forsman & Bodenfors
MELINA MATSOUKAS
(Prettybird)
You Love Me, Beats by Dr. Dre – Translation
First Assistant Director: Paul Norman
Second Assistant Director: Don Johnson
TAIKA WAITITI
(Hungry Man)
The Letter, Coca-Cola – Wieden & Kennedy London
DOCUMENTARY
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary
MICHAEL DWECK & GREGORY KERSHAW
The Truffle Hunters
(Sony Pictures Classics)
PIPPA EHRLICH & JAMES REED
My Octopus Teacher
(Netflix)
DAVID FRANCE
Welcome to Chechnya
(HBO Max)
AMANDA MCBAINE & JESSE MOSS
Boys State
(A24)
BENJAMIN REE
The Painter and the Thief
(Elevation Pictures)
