March 11, 1995
47th Annual DGA Award Winners (March 11, 1995)
Beverly Hills, CA - ROBERT ZEMECKIS (Forrest Gump) was honored tonight with the prestigious DGA Award as the outstanding directorial achievement in motion pictures during 1994 at the 47th Annual DGA Awards banquet.
Zemeckis accepted the DGA Award from last year's DGA Award recipient Steven Spielberg (Schindler's List) at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles while Eastern DGA members celebrated at New York's Marriott Marquis.
"I am extremely proud to be a member of this Guild," commented Zemeckis. "Most people have no idea what it is that directors do. The highest praise a director can receive is to be honored by fellow directors."
Also winning DGA Awards for outstanding directorial achievements in 1994 were:
- Dramatic Specials - Rod Holcomb, ER (Pilot)
- Comedy Series - David Lee, Frasier ("The Matchmaker"
- Musical/Variety - Dwight Hemion, Barbara Streisand: The Concert
- Dramatic Series (Night) - Charles Haid, ER ("Into That Good Night"
- Documentary/Actuality - Steve James, Hoop Dreams
- Daytime Drama - Jesus Salvador Trevino, P.O.W.E.R., The Eddie Matos Story
- Daytime Serials - Michael Stich, The Bold and the Beautiful (#1884)
- Commercials - Michael Bay
- California Milk: Aaron Burr; Vending Machine; Baby and Cat
- Miller Lite: Big Lawyer Round-Up
- Nike: Deion Sanders
In addition to the motion picture and television awards for the best work during 1994, the DGA also bestowed its highest lifetime achievement honor, the D.W. Griffith Award, upon distinguished director JAMES IVORY.
Longtime DGA Treasurer SHELDON LEONARD was presented with a Director's Guild of America Honorary Life Member Award in recognition of his outstanding creative achievement and contribution to the Guild and the profession of directing.
In New York, the DGA's highest award for service to the Guild, the Robert B. Aldrich Award, was bestowed upon Guild Vice President and thirty-year NBC NEWS director MAX SCHINDLER while Assistant Director and Unit Production Manager PETER A. RUNFOLO received the prestigious FRANK CAPRA ACHIEVEMENT AWARD for career achievement and DGA service.
The New York event also honored NBC NEWS veteran stage manager LARRY CARL who took home the FRANKLIN J. SCHAEFFER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD which honors Associate Directors or Stage Managers for service to the industry and Guild.
By winning the DGA Feature Film Award, Robert Zemeckis immediately becomes the favorite to win this year's OSCAR as Best Director. Only three times since 1949 has the winner of the DGA Award not gone on to win the Best Director Oscar.
From 1949, the Director's Guild Award was a perfect parometer of the Oscar winner for seventeen years. In 1968, however, Anthony Harvey took home Guild honors for The Lion in Winter while Carol Reed's Oliver! was the Academy's choice. Four years later, voters of the tow organization disagreed a second time when the DGA's choice of Francis Ford Coppola for The Godfather was overlooked by Oscar in favor of Bob Fosse for his direction of Cabaret.
After another dozen years of agreement between Guild and Academy Voters, DGA members selected The Color Purple directed by Steven Spielberg as the outstanding directorial achievement of 1985 while Oscar voters preferred Sydney Pollack's work on Out of Africa.
Other members of the award-winning DGA team on Forrest Gump were:
- Unit Production Manager: Charles Newirth
- First Assistant Director: Bruce Moriarty
- Second Assistand Directors: Cherylanne Martin, Dana Kuznetzkoff
- 2nd A.D.'s: David Venghans, Jr. and Eric Tignini
Forrest Gump represents the second DGA nomination for Robert Zemeckis. He was previously nominated in 1988 for Who Framed Roger Rabbit.