Directors Guild Nominations Announced: Bradley Cooper is Double Nominated

Just moments ago, the Directors Guild of America revealed their nominations. This was a hotly anticipated announcement, as it helps to somewhat clarify one of the biggest Oscar categories out there. The DGA usually comes pretty close to predicting what the Academy Awards will do, so they’re worth paying plenty of attention to. We now have our Guild information to process, so look for that to be reflected with new predictions on Friday. In the meantime, we can stick with DGA discussion. What did they do this year? Well, it was a very good day for Bradley Cooper, that’s for sure.

DGA cited Cooper twice, once in Outstanding Director and once for Outstanding First Time Director, both for A Star Is Born. Joining him in the big category is Alfonso Cuaron for Roma, Peter Farrelly for Green Book, Spike Lee for BlacKkKlansman, and Adam McKay for Vice. Could these be the Oscar five? Give or take a snubbed director like Ryan Coogler, it very well might be. It’ll be a hot race, both here and with the Academy, as Cooper and Cuaron likely battle it out. The other prize is almost certainly Cooper’s, but his competition is Bo Burnham for Eighth Grade, Carlos Lopez Estrada for Blindspotting, Matthew Heineman for A Private War, and Boots Riley for Sorry To Bother You. You can see the details below…

Here now are all of the DGA nominees:

The nominees for OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN FEATURE FILM FOR 2018 are (in alphabetical order):

BRADLEY COOPER

A Star is Born

(Warner Bros. Pictures)

Mr. Cooper’s Directorial Team:

Unit Production Manager: Robert J. Dohrmann

First Assistant Director: Michele “Shelley” Ziegler

Second Assistant Director: Xanthus Valan

Second Second Assistant Director: Matthew R. Milan

This is one of two DGA Award nominations this year for Mr. Cooper. He is also nominated in the First-Time Feature Film category for A Star Is Born.

ALFONSO CUARÓN

Roma

(Netflix)

Mr. Cuarón’s Directorial Team:

Unit Production Manager: Ana Hernandez

First Assistant Director: Frederic Henocque Albino

Second Assistant Director: Patrick Heyerdahl

Second Second Assistant Directors: Luis Fernando Vásquez, Julián ‘Chico’ Valdés, Arturo Garcia

This is Mr. Cuarón’s second DGA Feature Film Award nomination. He won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film in 2013 for Gravity.

PETER FARRELLY

Green Book

(Universal Pictures)

Mr. Farrelly’s Directorial Team:

Unit Production Managers: Alissa M. Kantrow, John Brister, Franses Simonovich (New York Unit)

First Assistant Directors: J.B. Rogers, Alejandro Ramia (New York Unit)

Second Assistant Directors: Paul B. Uddo, Jack McKenna (New York Unit)

Second Second Assistant Directors: Gerson Paz, Jonathan Warren

Location Manager: Louis Zuppardi

This is Mr. Farrelly’s first DGA Award nomination.

SPIKE LEE

BlacKkKlansman

(Focus Features)

Mr. Lee’s Directorial Team:

Unit Production Manager: Marcei A. Brown

First Assistant Director: Mike Ellis

Second Assistant Director: Tracey Hinds

Second Second Assistant Directors: Jason Perez, Christina Ann Walker, Anastasia Folorunso

Location Manager: Tim Stacker

This is Mr. Lee’s first DGA Award nomination.

ADAM MCKAY

Vice

(Annapurna Pictures)

Mr. McKay’s Directorial Team:

Unit Production Managers: Julie Hartley, Jeff Waxman

First Assistant Director: Matt Rebenkoff

Second Assistant Director: Joann Connolly

Second Second Assistant Directors: Yarden Levo, Dave Vogel (Washington D.C. Unit)

This is Mr. McKay’s second DGA Feature Film Award nomination. He was previously nominated for The Big Short in 2015. Mr. McKay also received a nomination this year in the Dramatic Series category for Succession.

***

In addition, the DGA announced the five nominees for OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT OF A FIRST-TIME FEATURE FILM DIRECTOR FOR 2018. The nominees are (in alphabetical order):

BO BURNHAM

Eighth Grade

(A24)

Mr. Burnham’s Directorial Team:

First Assistant Director: Dan Taggatz

Second Assistant Director: Vic Coram

Second Second Assistant Director: Evelyn Fogleman

This is Mr. Burnham’s first DGA Award nomination.

BRADLEY COOPER

A Star is Born

(Warner Bros. Pictures)

Mr. Cooper’s Directorial Team:

Unit Production Manager: Robert J. Dohrmann

First Assistant Director: Michele “Shelley” Ziegler

Second Assistant Director: Xanthus Valan

Second Second Assistant Director: Matthew R. Milan

This is one of two DGA Award nominations this year for Mr. Cooper. He is also nominated in the Feature Film category for A Star Is Born.

CARLOS LÓPEZ ESTRADA

Blindspotting

(Summit Entertainment)

Mr. Estrada’s Directorial Team:

Assistant Director: La Mar Stewart

Second Second Assistant Director: Dominic Martin

Additional Second Second Assistant Director: Armin Houshmandi

This is Mr. Estrada’s first DGA Award nomination.

MATTHEW HEINEMAN

A Private War

(Aviron Pictures)

Mr. Heineman’s Directorial Team:

Unit Production Manager: Louise Killin

First Assistant Directors: George Walker, Peter Freeman (Jordan Unit)

Second Assistant Directors: Tom Mulberge (UK Unit), Tom Browne (Jordan Unit)

Second Second Assistant Director: Tarik Afifi (Jordan Unit)

This is Mr. Heineman’s third DGA Award nomination. He won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary in 2017 for City of Ghosts and in 2015 for Cartel Land.

BOOTS RILEY

Sorry to Bother You

(Annapurna Pictures)

Mr. Riley’s Directorial Team:

Production Manager: Chris Martin

First Assistant Director: Brian Benson

Second Assistant Director: Hilton Jamal Day

Second Second Assistant Directors: Sam Purdy, Nick Alvarez

This is Mr. Riley’s first DGA Award nomination.

Stay tuned to see if the DGA five becomes the Oscar five!