Directors Guild of America nominations snub The Coens, Woody Allen, Alexander Payne, and Spike Jonze

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

While there may be no surprises as to who is included in the five nominees for Best Director by the DGA this year, there are quite a few notable names left off of the list. The five nominees are Martin Scorsese, Paul Greengrass, David O. Russell, Alfonso Cuaron, and Steve McQueen whose films have all been the most lauded of 2013. But, this also means that several filmmakers of regard are not recognized by the guild specific to their filmmaking field. Woody Allen, Spike Jonze, Alexander Payne, and Joel and Ethan Coen all failed to receive nominations for BLUE JASMINE, HER, NEBRASKA, and INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS.

With each new list of nominations from Guilds and critical groups we are seeing the Academy Awards field begin to come into focus, but it is still tough to tell which film will actually take home the prize. The last seven years have seen the winner of Best Director also go on to receive Best Picture as well. With the directing category limited to five nominees, it seems highly probably that one of these gentlemen will take home the prize.

Check out the full nomination list below.

ALFONSO CUARÓN
Gravity
(Warner Bros. Pictures)

Mr. Cuarón’s Directorial Team:
· Unit Production Manager: David Siegel (Arizona Unit)
· First Assistant Directors: Josh Robertson, Stephen Hagen (Arizona Unit)
· Second Assistant Director: Ben Howard

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

PAUL GREENGRASS
Captain Phillips
(Columbia Pictures)

Mr. Greengrass’s Directorial Team:
· Unit Production Managers: Todd Lewis, Gregory Goodman
· First Assistant Director: Chris Carreras
· Second Assistant Directors: Nick Shuttleworth, Mark S. Constance

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

STEVE McQUEEN
12 Years A Slave
(Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Mr. McQueen’s Directorial Team:
· Unit Production Manager: Anthony Katagas
· First Assistant Director: Doug Torres
· Second Assistant Director: James Roque Jr.
· Second Second Assistant Director: Sherman Shelton Jr.
· Additional Second Assistant Director: Nathan Parker

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

DAVID O. RUSSELL
American Hustle
(Columbia Pictures)

Mr. Russell’s Directorial Team:
· Unit Production Managers: Shea Kammer, Mark Kamine
· First Assistant Director: Michele ‘Shelley’ Ziegler
· Second Assistant Director: Xanthus Valan
· Second Second Assistant Director: Jason Fesel
· Location Managers: David Velasco, Guy Efrat (New York Unit)

This is Mr. Russell’s second DGA Award nomination. He was previously nominated in this category for The Fighter in 2010.

MARTIN SCORSESE
The Wolf of Wall Street
(Paramount Pictures)

Mr. Scorsese’s Directorial Team:
· Unit Production Manager: Richard Baratta
· First Assistant Director: Adam Somner
· Second Assistant Director: Francisco Oritz
· Second Second Assistant Director: Jeremy Marks
· Additional Second Assistant Director: Scott Koche
· Location Manager: Nils Widboom

This is Mr. Scorsese’s eleventh DGA Award nomination. He won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film in 2006 for The Departed, and has also been nominated in that category for Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), Goodfellas (1990), The Age of Innocence (1993), Gangs of New York (2002), The Aviator (2004) and Hugo (2011). Mr. Scorsese also won the DGA Award in 2010 for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Television for Boardwalk Empire and he was nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary for George Harrison: Living in the Material World in 2011. In 1999, Mr. Scorsese was presented with the Filmmaker Award at the inaugural DGA Honors Gala, and he was honored with the DGA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003.