Directors Guild Awards offer a peek behind the camera

Entertainment

Directors Guild Awards offer a peek behind the camera

While the annual Directors Guild of America Awards can herald the eventual Oscar winners in the best director and picture categories, Saturday’s ceremony also offers a telling look at who’s working behind the camera in Hollywood amid the industry’s ongoing discussion about diversity. Women comprise about 28 percent of nominees for the awards that recognize achievement in directing in various formats, from commercials to TV shows to feature films. There are 13 women and eight non-white nominees among the slate of 47 directors.

Diverse doesn’t just mean more black people. Diverse means more representation from the entire diaspora of what the United States has to offer, not just one particular minority group.

Don Cheadle

The DGA’s top category — feature film directing — is exclusively male this year, as is usually the case. Women have better representation in the television categories. Of the six nominees for directing a TV miniseries or movie, three are women. Amy Schumer is nominated for co-directing her Comedy Central show, and Chris Rock is nominated for directing Schumer’s “Live at the Apollo” HBO special. Awards in all categories will be presented Saturday night during a dinner ceremony at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza hotel in Los Angeles.