Well, the DGA nods are in and they are pretty much what we were expecting. Jason Reitman, who is quickly solidifying himself as a director with a feel for the pulse of contemporary, middle class America, earns a nod for “Up In The Air”. Kathryn Bigelow who is enjoying a renewed career thanks to the excellent “The Hurt Locker” (which is still criminally underseen) earns a nod. Bigelow’s ex, James Cameron, gets approval from his colleagues for his technologically ambitious and groundbreaking “Avatar.” It’s no shocker to find Quentin Tarantino in the group of nominees for his critically acclaimed and fanboy approved, “Inglourious Basterds.” The other slot goes to Lee Daniels for his hamfisted direction of “Precious,” a film that rests entirely on the shoulders of its capable cast who barely rescued the film from the depths of exploitative ghetto drama porn.
So how do the DGA winners match up come Oscar time? Surprisingly close. The DGA Award for Feature Film has been a near perfect barometer for the Best Director Oscar. Only six times in DGA’s history has the winner not gone on to grab a gold statue. Those are some pretty good odds.
Here is the full list of nominees and their teams. It’s kind of funny to note that of all the directors, Daniels had the biggest crew of first, second and assistant directors. You would think he directed a three hour, CGI heavy film. But we digress:
“The Hurt Locker”
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Unit Production Manager: Tony Mark
First Assistant Director: David Ticotin
First Assistant Director (Canadian Unit): Lee Cleary
“Avatar”
Director: James Cameron
Unit Production Manager: Colin Wilson
First Assistant Director: Josh McLaglen
Second Assistant Director/Additional Unit First Assistant Director: Maria Battle Campbell
“Precious: Based On The Novel ‘Push’ By Sapphire”
Director: Lee Daniels
Unit Production Manager: Tony Hernandez
First Assistant Director: Chip Signore
Second Assistant Director: Tracey Hinds
Second Second Assistant Director: Michael “Boogie” Pinckney
Additional Unit Production Manager: Patrick D. Gibbons
Additional First Assistant Director: Tom Fatone
Additional Second Assistant Directors: Kim Thompson, Mirashyam Blakeslee
Location Manager: Gregory Routt
“Up In The Air”
Director: Jason Reitman
Unit Production Manager: Michael Beugg
First Assistant Director: Jason Blumenfeld
Second Assistant Director: Sonia Bhalla
Assistant Unit Production Manager: Samson Mucke
Second Second Assistant Director: Joseph Payton
Additional Second Assistant Director: Heather L. Hogan
“Inglourious Basterds”
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Unit Production Manager: Gregor Wilson
Unit Production Manager (Germany): Michael Scheel
First Assistant Director: Carlos Fidel
Second Assistant Director: Miguel Angelo Pate
Second Second Assistant Directors: Jill Moriarty, Tanja Däberitz