‘Ted Lasso,’ ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm,’ ‘The Daily Show,’ ‘The Late Show’ Lead DGA Awards TV Nominations

Michael Schneider
·9 min read
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The Directors Guild of America has revealed this year’s TV nominees for its 73rd annual DGA Awards, including achievement in drama, comedy, limited/TV movie, variety, reality, children’s and commercials. Also announced on Monday were the nominees for this year’s directorial achievement in documentaries.

“Ted Lasso” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” lead DGA Awards nominations this year in scripted TV, with two each in the comedy category.

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Also scoring multiple nods: Director Jon Favreau, who landed mentions both in the drama category, for “The Mandalorian,” and in reality, for “The Chef Show.” The other individual with multiple nominations is “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s” Jim Hoskinson, nominated in variety/talk/news/sports—regularly scheduled programming for the episode “#1025 Live Show Following Capitol Insurrection” and variety/talk/news/sports—specials for “Stephen Colbert’s Election Night 2020: Democracy’s Last Stand: Building Back America Great Again Better 2020.”

New series receiving their first major TV awards nomination included Disney Plus’ “WandaVision,” receiving a nod for Matt Shakman in TV movie/limited series.

Besides “Ted Lasso,” “Curb” and “The Late Show,” also receiving multuple noms was Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” both in the regularly scheduled and specials fields for variety/talk/news/sports.

HBO led all networks, with seven nominations, followed by Netflix’s six. Disney Plus was close behind with five.

In comedy, Zach Braff and MJ Delaney received noms for directing “Ted Lasso” episodes, while Jeff Schaffer and Erin O’Malley received those “Curb” noms. They’ll face off with Susanna Fogel from “The Flight Attendant.”

Favreau’s “The Mandalorian” nom will face off in drama with Jason Bateman (“Ozark”), Vince Gilligan (“Better Call Saul”), Lesli Linka Glatter (“Homeland”) and Julie Anne Robinson (“Bridgerton”).

The TV movie/limited series category will be a competition between Shakman and Susanne Bier (“The Undoing”), Scott Frank (“The Queen’s Gambit”), Thomas Kail (“Hamilton”) and the late Lynn Shelton (“Little Fires Everywhere”).

Last year, top TV prizes went to “Watchmen” for drama series and “Barry” for comedy series. The DGA Awards are voted on by the 18,000-plus members of the guild. This year’s awards recognizes TV entries broadcast during the period of Jan. 1, 2020, through Feb. 28, 2021. Voting for the TV awards took place between February 19 and March 5.

This year’s DGA Awards will take place on Saturday, April 10, with details to come on how the ceremony will be handled. Prolific TV director and former DGA president Paris Barclay is set to receive the DGA Honorary Life Member Award.

Dramatic Series

(LAST YEAR’S WINNER: Nicole Kassell, “Watchmen”—HBO)

• JASON BATEMAN: Ozark, “Wartime” (Netflix)
Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Matthew Spiegel
First Assistant Director: Peter Thorell
Second Assistant Director: Townson Wells Second Second Assistant Director: Sarah Gorczyk

• JON FAVREAU: The Mandalorian, “Chapter 9: The Marshal” (Disney Plus)
Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Colin Wilson
First Assistant Director: Kim Richards
Second Assistant Director: Heather Wagner-Wang Second Second Assistant Director: Heather Kehayas Additional Second Assistant Director: David Buchwald

• VINCE GILLIGAN: Better Call Saul, “Bagman” (AMC)
Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: James Paul Hapsas First Assistant Director: Efrain Cortes
Second Assistant Director: Louis Lanni
Second Second Assistant Director: KiKi Levine

• LESLI LINKA GLATTER: Homeland, “Prisoners of War” (Showtime)
Directorial Team:
Unit Production Managers: Michael Klick, Philippa Naughten First Assistant Director: Sunday Stevens
Second Assistant Director: Wendy Bledsoe

• JULIE ANNE ROBINSON: Bridgerton, “Diamond of the First Water” (Netflix)
Directorial Team:
First Assistant Director: Ian Foster Woolf

Comedy Series

(LAST YEAR’S WINNER: Bill Hader, “Barry”—HBO)

• ZACH BRAFF: Ted Lasso, “Biscuits” (Apple TV Plus)

• MJ DELANEY: Ted Lasso, “The Hope that Kills You” (Apple TV Plus)

• SUSANNA FOGEL: The Flight Attendant, “In Case of Emergency” (HBO Max)
Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Bonnie Muñoz
First Assistant Director: Derek Peterson
Second Assistant Director: Jacquie Dore
Second Second Assistant Director: Zach Citarella Location Manager: Chris Banks

• ERIN O’MALLEY: Curb Your Enthusiasm, “The Surprise Party” (HBO)
Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Mary Church
First Assistant Director: Adam Feil
Second Assistant Director: Candice Lee Second Second Assistant Director: D.J. Carter

• JEFF SCHAFFER: Curb Your Enthusiasm, “The Spite Store” (HBO)
Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Mary Church
First Assistant Director: Adam Feil
Second Assistant Director: Candice Lee
Second Second Assistant Directors: D.J. Carter, Brent Stanton

Movies for Television and Limited Series

(LAST YEAR’S WINNER: Johan Renck, “Chernobyl”—HBO)

• SUSANNE BIER: “The Undoing” (HBO)
Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Deb Dyer
First Assistant Director: Richard Styles
Second Assistant Director: Josh Muzaffer
Location Manager: Lauri Pitkus
Second Second Assistant Directors: Steven Lafferty, Alex Scricco Additional Second Assistant Directors: Alex Scricco, Zachary Citarella

• SCOTT FRANK: “The Queen’s Gambit” (Netflix)
Directorial Team:
First Assistant Director: Aldric La’auli Porter

• THOMAS KAIL: “Hamilton” (Disney Plus)
Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: David Backus First Assistant Director: Robin Abrams Second Assistant Director: Thomas Gaito

• MATT SHAKMAN: “WandaVision” (Disney Plus)
Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Mary Kane
First Assistant Director: Janell Sammelman
Second Assistant Directors: Meaghan F. McLaughlin, Stephanie Tull Coscina
Second Second Assistant Directors: Katye Kalivoda, Nadeem Ashayer (Los Angeles Unit) Additional Second Assistant Directors: Kate Pulley, George Williams (Los Angeles Unit)

• LYNN SHELTON: “Little Fires Everywhere,” “Find a Way” (Hulu)
Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Brad Yacobian First Assistant Director: Luke Maxcy
Second Assistant Director: Kirisa Gavrin
Second Second Assistant Directors: Christina Lee, Gabriella Poli Vidal

Variety/Talk/News/Sports — Regularly Scheduled Programming

(LAST YEAR’S WINNER: Don Roy King, “Saturday Night Live”—NBC)

• PAUL G. CASEY: Real Time With Bill Maher, “Episode 1835” (HBO)
Directorial Team:
Associate Director: Stacy Talbot
Stage Managers: Brian Anderson, Patrick Whitney

• JIM HOSKINSON: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, “#1025 Live Show Following Capitol Insurrection” (CBS)
Directorial Team:
Associate Directors: Yvonne De Mare, Karen Yaeger Stage Managers: Mark McKenna, Jeff Leib

• DON ROY KING: Saturday Night Live, “Dave Chappelle; Foo Fighters” (NBC)
Directorial Team:
Associate Directors: Michael Mancini, Michael Poole, Laura Ouziel-Mack Stage Managers: Gena Rositano, Chris Kelly, Eddie Valk

• DAVID PAUL MEYER: The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, “President Obama: Inspiring Future Leaders & ‘A Promised Land'” (Comedy Central)
Directorial Team:
Associate Director: Susan Faith Locke-Shapiro

• CHRISTOPHER WERNER: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, “Trump & Election Results” (HBO)
Directorial Team:
Associate Director: John Scott Wilson Stage Manager: Dino Castelli Location Manager: Demian Resnick

Variety/Talk/News/Sports — Specials

(LAST YEAR’S WINNERS: James Burrows and Andy Fisher, “Live in Front of a Studio Audience Norman Lear’s ‘All in the Family’ and ‘The Jeffersons’”—ABC)

• STACEY ANGELES: The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Presents “Remembering RBG: A Nation Ugly Cried with Desi Lydic” (Comedy Central)

• MARIELLE HELLER: What the Constitution Means to Me (Amazon)
Directorial Team:
Associate Director: Tomas ‘Dutch’ Deckaj Stage Manager: Nicole Payson

• JIM HOSKINSON: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, “Stephen Colbert’s Election Night 2020: Democracy’s Last Stand: Building Back America Great Again Better 2020” (Showtime)
Directorial Team:
Associate Directors: Yvonne De Mare, Karen Yaeger Stage Managers: Mark McKenna, Jeff Leib

• SPIKE LEE, American Utopia (HBO)
Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Nina Shiffman
First Assistant Director: Jermaine Sumra
Second Assistant Director: Lizz Zanin
Additional Second Assistant Director: Steven Bruno Location Manager: John Maher

• THOMAS SCHLAMME: A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote (HBO Max)
Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Debra James
First Assistant Director: Shawn Pipkin-West
Second Assistant Director: Courtney Franklin
Second Second Assistant Directors: Ni’cole Pettis, Cathy Bond

Reality Programs

(LAST YEAR’S WINNER: Jason Cohen, “Encore!”—Disney Plus)

• DAVID CHARLES: Eco Challenge, “3,2,1…Go!” (Amazon Prime Video)
Directorial Team:
Associate Director: Daniel Curran
Stage Managers: Ian Blankenship, Kevin Fletcher, Andy Nelson, Mickel Picco

• JON FAVREAU: The Chef Show, “Tartine” (Netflix)
Directorial Team:
Associate Director: Annie Johnson

• KEN FUCHS: Shark Tank, “1211” (ABC)
Directorial Team:
Associate Director: Amy Barker
Head Stage Manager: Eric Rhoden
Stage Managers: Doug Neal, Michael Strauss

• JOSEPH GUIDRY: Full Bloom, “Petal to the Metal” (HBO Max)
Directorial Team:
Associate Director: Sean Galvin
Lead Stage Manager: Jimmy Chriss
Stage Managers: Rachel Shimko, Kristianna Laroda, Richard Melendez

• RICH KIM: Lego Masters, “Mega City Block” (Fox)
Directorial Team:
Associate Director: Ryan Bunnell
Stage Managers: Will Baker, Kevin Fletcher

Documentaries

(LAST YEAR’S WINNERS: Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, “American Factory”—Netflix)

• MICHAEL DWECK & GREGORY KERSHAW: “The Truffle Hunters” (Sony Pictures Classics)

• PIPPA EHRLICH & JAMES REED: “My Octopus Teacher” (Netflix)

• DAVID FRANCE: “Welcome to Chechnya” (HBO Max)

• AMANDA MCBAINE & JESSE MOSS: “Boys State” (A24/Apple TV Plus)

• BENJAMIN REE: “The Painter and the Thief” (Elevation Pictures)

Children’s Programs

(LAST YEAR’S WINNER: Amy Schatz, “Song of Parkland”—HBO)

• KABIR AKHTAR: High School Musical: The Musical – The Series, “Opening Night” (Disney Plus)
Directorial Team:
Unit Production Managers: Jeff T. Miller, Greg A. Hampson First Assistant Director: Brent Geisler
Second Assistant Director: Cody Harbaugh

• LARISSA BILLS: On Pointe, “Showtime!” (Disney Plus)

• DEAN ISRAELITE: The Astronauts, “Countdown” (Nickelodeon)

• RICHIE KEEN: The Healing Powers of Dude, “Second Step: Homeroom” (Netflix)
Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Chris Phillips First Assistant Director: Natalie Van Doren

• AMY SCHATZ: We Are the Dream: The Kids of the Oakland MLK Oratorical Fest (HBO)

Commercials

(LAST YEAR’S WINNER: Spike Jonze, “Dream It,”–Squarespace)

• STEVE AYSON (MJZ): The Great Chase, Nike (Wieden + Kennedy Shanghai)
First Assistant Director: John Lowe

• NISHA GANATRA (Chelsea Pictures): #wombstories, Bodyform/Libresse (AMVBBDO)

• NICLAS LARSSON (MJZ): See the Unseen, VW Touareg (adam&eveDDB)
The Parents, Volvo XC60 (Forsman & Bodenfors)

• MELINA MATSOUKAS (Prettybird): You Love Me, Beats by Dr. Dre (Translation)
First Assistant Director: Paul Norman Second Assistant Director: Don Johnson
• TAIKA WAITITI (Hungry Man): The Letter, Coca-Cola -(Wieden & Kennedy London)

Here’s the DGA Awards tally by network:

HBO: 7
Netflix: 6
Disney Plus: 5
HBO Max: 4
Apple TV Plus: 3
Amazon Prime Video: 2
Comedy Central: 2
Showtime: 2
ABC: 1
AMC: 1
CBS: 1
Fox: 1
Hulu: 1
NBC: 1
Nickelodeon: 1

Among other honors set to be handed out this year, director Betty Thomas will receive the DGA’s 2021 Robert B. Aldrich Award; UPM Brian E. Frankish will receive the DGA’s 2021 Frank Capra Achievement Award; and associate director Joyce Thomas will receive the DGA’s 2021 Franklin J. Schaffner Achievement Award.

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