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Directors Guild Awards 2019: Bo Burnham, Bradley Cooper, Spike Lee Earn Nominations

Bo Burnham Getty Images
By AJ Caulfield

Off the organization's recent unveiling of its television nominees for 2019, the Directors Guild of America has announced its complete list of feature film honorees for this year's DGA Awards. 

Among the nominees are Bo Burnham, who made his directorial debut in 2018 with the stunning yet understated comedy-drama Eighth Grade; Bradley Cooper, who earned nods for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film and Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Feature Film Director thanks to his remake of a remake of a remake A Star Is Born, in which he stars as Jackson "Jack" Maine; and Spike Lee, who truly outdid himself with his raw, rousing, and really, really clever biographical comedy-drama BlacKkKlansman. 

Many will notice one particular film that's missing from the 2019 Directors Guild Awards nominations list: Bohemian Rhapsody, which recently took home Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture — Drama and Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama (awarded to Rami Malek for his turn as Freddie Mercury). The controversial film experienced a directorial switch-up in the middle of production, with original filmmaker Bryan Singer getting fired due to reported "unreliability" and "unprofessionalism" and Dexter Fletcher climbing aboard to complete shooting. Singer wound up credited as the sole director, but it's likely that Bohemian Rhapsody didn't get a DGA Award nod because Singer wasn't genuinely the only filmmaker to have worked on the movie.

Speaking of filmmakers that didn't score a DGA nomination this year, Ryan Coogler went without a nod for Black Panther, John Krasinski was overlooked for A Quiet Place, Barry Jenkins didn't earn a nod for If Beale Street Could Talk, Yorgos Lanthimos didn't land a nomination for The Favourite – and neither did Damien Chazelle for First Man or Jon Chu for Crazy Rich Asians. 

The Directors Guild of America previously revealed the list of nominees for the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary category: Morgan Neville for Won't You Be My Neighbor?; Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin for Free Solo; RaMell Ross for Hale County This Morning, This Evening; Tim Wardle for Three Identical Strangers; and Betsy West and Julie Cohen for RBG. 

In Hollywood, the Directors Guild Awards are actually a pretty big deal, despite what people at home might think. The films and directors that win big at the DGAs often go on to scoop up Academy Award nominations — and even wins. Last year's DGA Awards ceremony saw Jordan Peele win for Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Feature Film Director, for his debut Get Out. Peele went on to earn the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay at the 90th Academy Awards. Additionally, The Shape of Water helmer Guillermo del Toro scored the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film DGA last year, and then picked up Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Production Design, and Best Original Score a short while later. 

The winners of the 2019 Directors Guild Awards will be announced on Sunday, February 2. Until then, check out the list of feature film honorees below.

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film

BRADLEY COOPER – A Star is Born (Warner Bros. Pictures)

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

ALFONSO CUARÓN – Roma (Netflix)

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

PETER FARRELLY –- Green Book (Universal Pictures)

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

SPIKE LEE — BlacKkKlansman (Focus Features)

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

ADAM MCKAY – Vice (Annapurna Pictures)

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)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Feature Film Director

BO BURNHAM – Eighth Grade (A24)

Directorial Team:

  • First Assistant Director: Dan Taggatz
  • Second Assistant Director: Vic Coram
  • Second Second Assistant Director: Evelyn Fogleman

BRADLEY COOPER – A Star Is Born (Warner Bros. Pictures)

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

CARLOS LÓPEZ ESTRADA – Blindspotting (Summit Entertainment)

Directorial Team:

  • Assistant Director: La Mar Stewart
  • Second Second Assistant Director: Dominic Martin
  • Additional Second Second Assistant Director: Armin Houshmandi

MATTHEW HEINEMAN – A Private War (Aviron Pictures)

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)

BOOTS RILEY — Sorry to Bother You (Annapurna Pictures)

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

Special Awards

  • Lifetime Achievement in Television: Don Mischer
  • Frank Capra Achievement Award: Kathleen McGill
  • Franklin J. Schaffner Achievement Award: Mimi Deaton
  • Diversity Award: FX Networks
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