LOS ANGELES — Directors Guild of America Awards regular Martin Scorsese and first-timer Michel Hazanavicius were the favorites as Hollywood’s top filmmaker group prepared to hand out prizes Saturday night.
Past winner Scorsese was nominated again for the guild’s feature-film honor for his Paris adventure “Hugo,” while Hazanavicius scored his first nomination for his silent-movie “The Artist.”
Also in the running were Woody Allen for his romantic fantasy “Midnight in Paris”; David Fincher for his thriller “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”; and Alexander Payne for his family drama “The Descendants.”
The Directors Guild Awards are one of Hollywood’s most accurate forecasts for who will win at the industry’s top honors, the Academy Awards, which will be handed out Feb. 26. Only six times in the 63-year history of the guild awards has the winner failed to take home the Oscar for best director, and more often than not, the film winning the best director Oscar is voted best picture.
Fincher had been the favorite going into the Directors Guild ceremony last year for “The Social Network,” but Tom Hooper came away the winner for “The King’s Speech.” Hooper went on to win the Oscar, too, and his film also earned best picture.
List of winners below:
Best Director for a Feature Film
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Feature Documentary
James Marsh, Project Nim
Drama Series
Patty Jenkins, The Killing, “Pilot” (AMC)
Comedy Series
Robert B. Weide, Curb Your Enthusiasm, “Palestinian Chicken” (HBO)
Movies for Television and Miniseries
Jon Cassar, The Kennedys (Reelz Channel)
Reality Series
Neil P. Degroot, The Biggest Loser, “Episode #1115” (NBC)
Musical/Variety Series
Glenn Weiss, 65th Annual Tony Awards (CBS)
Daytime Serials
William Ludel, General Hospital, “Intervention” (ABC)
Children’s Programs
Amy Schatz, A Child’s Garden of Poetry (HBO)
Commericals
Noam Murro, Ads for Heineken Premium Light, DirecTV, Volkswagen Tiguan, and EA Battlefield 3
