On February 1, the Assistant Directors, Unit Production Managers and Location Managers of the projects nominated for the 77th Annual DGA Awards were celebrated during the Western AD/UPM Council’s 22nd Annual Meet the Teams event.

Hosted by the Council’s Education Committee and the Meet the Teams Organizing Committee, the online event gave DGA members the opportunity to hear firsthand accounts of what went into the making of these notable productions for film and television from: Director Duccio Fabbri who earned an Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series nomination for his episode of The Bear, “Doors” and also served as a 1st AD on The Bear’s other nominated episodes “Napkins” directed by Ayo Edebiri and “Tomorrow” directed by Christopher Storer; UPMs Olivia Kavanaugh from Sean Baker’s theatrical feature Anora, Caroline Kousidonis from Lance Acord’s Volkswagen commercial An American Love Story and Kenneth Yu from RaMell Ross’ Michael Apted First-Time Theatrical Feature Film Award-nominated project Nickel Boys; 1st ADs H.H. Cooper from two of the Movies for Television and Limited Series Award-nominated episodes of The Penguin: “A Great or Little Thing” directed by Jennifer Getzinger and “Cent'anni” directed by Helen Shaver and Doug Torres from James Mangold’s feature, A Complete Unknown; 2nd ADs Sofía Blanco from Anora as well as all three nominated episodes from The Bear and Brad Robinson from A Complete Unknown and Kevin Bray’s “Top Hat” episode of The Penguin; and Location Manager Keith Adams from all three nominated episodes of The Penguin.

With their work illustrated by clips from the nominated productions, the conversation was moderated by 2025 Frank Capra Award Recipient Thomas J. Whelan who said, “This group is the very top of our respective trades and crafts and we’re honored to be able to hear about your experiences on the nominated shows and episodes. I also hope to hear about broader experiences and skills and methods that you’ve all developed and used.”

Assuming his AD hat, Fabbri spoke about cross-boarding episodes of The Bear. “It was the best thing we could do to be efficient with time. We had to help all our departments be able to range ten episodes in the same week. So, everything had to be completely ready and set in prep. Cross-boarding was the only way to do that.”

Kavanaugh shared the approach the Anora team had to shooting on real locations to keep it authentic. “Sean’s all about going into the locations as they are, grabbing them as they are… Bringing the reality of those places as they exist now on screen. So, we weren’t heavy in lighting. We weren’t heavy in art. We were very nimble and kept as small of a footprint as possible.”

Adams revealed how he worked to create a new, distinct version of Gotham for The Penguin. “This was a bit of a different process because it was based on a film that was very popular, The Batman, so there was already kind of a blueprint of what it was supposed to look like and a directive of how we were going to expand the world visually and build on it. We weren’t planning on trying to completely reinvent what was done in the movie but just find ways to enhance it and expand on it.”

Kousidonis explained how the directorial team incorporated archival footage with newly shot footage to tell the story of Volkswagen’s history in Lance Acord’s commercial. “We had in the beginning a broader edit with options. We even did shots where we re-casted people that looked like the archival footage. So, you don’t really realize where it takes over from archival to what he shot.”

Robinson addressed his work with the background actors who had to believably portray people living in the ‘60s for A Complete Unknown. “I was very specific with extras casting of ‘this is what we want for this’ and ‘this is what we want for that.’ Remember, it’s 1965. People just walked differently in 1965 than they do now. You’re not carrying a cell phone and all this stuff in your pocket. So, just getting people’s gait down and selling the timeframe of what you would do.”

Torres also shared his relationship with the cast of the film and said, “Experience has taught me that actors just want to know what’s happening. And when you’ve got big ensemble sequences and you’re not using people … I would help them with what the scene structure was, so they don’t feel like they’re being left out. It's integral when you’re shooting an ensemble piece that everybody’s there, even if everybody’s not involved in what’s immediately happening in front of the camera.”

Yu divulged the unique equipment testing process on Nickel Boys, a film told all in POV shots. “We had Snorri rigs. We had chest-mounted pieces. We had a helmet… We didn’t use any traditional equipment like dollies or techno cranes, but we found a resource in using smaller heads… It was an exhaustive testing process and without that time to really hone it in and refine our approach, I don’t think we would have been able to execute it on the day as effectively as we did.”

Cooper shared the joy of working with Director Helen Shaver on The Penguin. “She’s an Actor/Director. She’s an actor’s Director. She was very involved in Cristin Milioti’s performance, making sure that she felt safe and protected in all the vulnerable things that she was doing.”

And Blanco revealed how she worked to get up to speed with the rest of the crew after joining The Bear in its third season. “It’s a little strange to jump into something that everybody already knows, everybody’s already very friendly and has everything figured out. But it was not that hard to get the hang of it just because everybody’s so kind.”

The panelists also covered subjects that included: how they overcame other challenges on their respective projects; their working relationships with their Directors, an overview of  their individual strengths and how they were used on set, and offered advice to event attendees seeking to emulate their success such as how to find joy in the projects you’re working on and the importance of remembering that feature and television production is a team sport.

22nd Annual Meet the Directorial Teams of the DGA Award-Nominated Projects

About the Panelists:

Location Manager Keith Adams In addition to his work on The Penguin, Adams’ Location Manager credits include Noah Baumbach’s Margot at the Wedding, Luke Greenfield’s Something Borrowed, Michaël R. Roskam’s The Drop, Rhys Thomas’ Masters of Doom and Gary Dauberman’s Salem’s Lot; and episodes of Scenes from a Marriage, The Deuce and Gotham. Adams has been a DGA member since 2007.

2nd AD Sofía Blanco In addition to her work on Anora and The Bear, Blanco’s AD credits include Maria Schrader’s She Said and Mariama Diallo’s Master; and episodes of Saint X, Echo 3, Reservation Dogs and Betty. Blanco joined the DGA in 2019.

1st AD H.H. Cooper In addition to his work on The Penguin, Cooper’s AD credits include Michael B. Jordan's Creed III, Steven Soderbergh’s Presence, Lee Daniels’s The United States vs. Billie Holiday, Judd Apatow’s The King of Staten Island, Melina Matsoukas’s Queen & Slim; and episodes of Full Circle, Manifest, When They See Us, Mozart in the Jungle and House of Cards. Cooper has been a DGA member since 1992.

Director/1st AD Duccio Fabbri In addition to his work as a Director, Co-Producer and an AD on The Bear, Fabbri’s AD credits include Maria Schrader’s She Said, Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, Stacy Cochran’s Write When You Get Work, Crystal Moselle’s Skate Kitchen, Paul Dano’s Wildlife and Benny & Josh Safdie’s Good Time; and episodes of Betty. Duccio joined the DGA in 2017.

UPM Olivia Kavanaugh In addition to her work on Anora, Kavanaugh’s line producer credits include Nicholas Ma’s Mabel, Noah Pritzker’s Ex-Husbands, Michel Franco’s Memory and Daniel Antebi’s God’s Time. Kavanaugh joined the DGA in 2023.

UPM Caroline Kousidonis In addition to her work on Lance Acord’s Volkswagen commercial, An American Love Story, Kousidonis has worked with other celebrated Directors such as Emmanuel ‘Chivo’ Lubezki and AG Rojas on campaigns that have won the industry’s top awards. She also produced Rojas’s film, Godchild, which was part of the prestigious “Men of Change” traveling exhibit developed by the Smithsonian Institute. Kousidonis joined the DGA in 2023.

2nd AD Brad Robinson In addition to his work on A Complete Unknown and The Penguin, Robinson’s AD credits include Steve McQueen’s Widows, Derek Cianfrance’s The Place Beyond the Pines, Sofia Coppola’s On the Rocks; and episodes of Only Murders in the Building. He was also part of the DGA Award-nominated teams for Greg Berlanti’s pilot for Political Animals, Thomas Kail and Jessica Yu’s episodes of Fosse/Verdon and Tim Federle's Children’s Program nominee, Better Nate Than Ever. In 2016, he was a member of Cianfrance’s directing team that won the DGA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Commercials for their Powerade spot. Robinson has been a DGA member since 2006.

1st AD Doug Torres In addition to his work on A Complete Unknown, Torres’s AD credits include James Gray’s We Own the Night, The Lost City of Z, and Ad Astra, David O. Russell's Amsterdam, David Ayer’s Bright, Charles Stone III's Drumline and Steve McQueen’s DGA Award-nominated feature, 12 Years A Slave; and episodes of Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Torres has been a DGA members since 2001.

UPM Kenneth Yu In addition to his work on Nickel Boys, Yu’s production management credits include Alex Garland’s Civil War, Lena Dunham’s Sharp Stick, Ric Roman Waugh’s Greenland and Ryan Eslinger’s UFO; and episodes of Cloak & Dagger. Yu joined the DGA in 2019.

Thomas J. Whelan (moderator) After starting his industry career as an Assistant Location Manager, Whelan would go on to forge a career with features such as Miloš Forman’s Man on the Moon, Kasi Lemmons’ The Caveman’s Valentine, Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums, David Mamet’s Heist, Terry George’s Reservation Road, and Jonathan Demme’s Rachel Getting Married. His UPM credits include the series Blue Bloods, Gotham, Evil, Night Sky and Diarra from Detroit. He was also part of the DGA Award-nominated teams on Barry Levinson’s movie for television You Don’t Know Jack and episodes of Sex & the City. A DGA member since 1997, Whelan was first elected as an alternate member of the Eastern AD/UPM Council in 2000 and would go on to serve for over 20 years as a Council member or alternate, including three years as 2nd Vice Chairperson, three years as 1st Vice Chairperson and three years as Council Chair. Additionally, he was elected twice as a Second Alternate on the DGA National Board and is a member of the DGA PAC Leadership Council and a Trustee to the DGA Foundation. For his professional accomplishments and service to the Guild, Whelan is the 2025 recipient of the Frank Capra Achievement Award.

About the Organizing Committee:

This event was organized by the Western AD/UPM Council Education Committee and the Meet the Teams Organizing Committee which is co-chaired by Lucille OuYang and Redelia Shaw, with member Mark Hansson.

• For more information on the Western AD/UPM Council, click here to visit their web pages.