Meet the Nominees: Feature Film Symposium

February 2, 2019 71st Annual DGA Awards

On Saturday morning, February 2, the DGA presented its membership with a unique opportunity to celebrate the craft of directing during the 28th Annual Meet the Nominees: Feature Film symposium. Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film Award nominees Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born), Alfonso Cuarón (Roma), Peter Farrelly (Green Book), Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman), and Adam McKay (Vice) joined moderator Jeremy Kagan onstage for an in-depth discussion about their work.

“As always, this is one of our most popular events of the year – a celebration of the craft of directing. It’s an extraordinary and rare pleasure to be in the company of our outstanding feature film director nominees as they share the stories of their individual journeys in bringing their films to life,” said DGA President Thomas Schlamme as he welcomed the standing room only crowd packing the Guild’s Los Angeles Theater. “We are fortunate that all five of this year’s nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film have joined us today. Each of these fine directors join an illustrious line of filmmakers throughout Guild history who have represented the best in directorial achievement. Congratulations to each of you.”

Following the traditional screening of a clip from each film, Kagan led the nominees in a lively roundtable discussion of technical and creative processes of each director from pre-production to final cut. As usual, the spirit of camaraderie and mutual respect was evident even though in a matter of hours, only one of them would be able to take home this year’s DGA Award for Feature Film Award. However, on this morning it was clear that they were all winners.