March 8, 1997
Beverly Hills, CA - Anthony Minghella won the prestigious DGA Award for outstanding achievement in motion pictures during 1996. Minghella was presented the award by last year's winner, Ron Howard, at the 49th Annual DGA Awards Banquet at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. East Coast members celebrated the announcement at the Sheraton in New York.
Over 1,300 DGA members and guests attended the Los Angeles banquet while over 400 people attended in New York.
Other highlights of the evening included former DGA president George Sidney's presentation of the Guild's highest honor, the D.W. Griffith Award to Stanley Kubrick. Kubrick spoke to the audience by tape, accepting from England where he is shooting Eyes Wide Shut starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Kubrick said, "D.W. Griffith left us with an inspiring and intriguing legacy and the award in his name is one of the greatest honors a film director can receive, something for which I humbly thank all of you very much."
Jack Nicholson accepted the award for Kubrick in Los Angeles and past D.W. Griffith Award winner Sidney Lumet accepted in New York.
In New York, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani presented a proclamation to the Directors Guild in honor of its 60th anniversary. The New York crowd was entertained by comedian Nipsy Russell and the star of Broadway's Bring on 'Da Noise, Bring on 'Da Funk Savion Glover. Arthur Penn accepted the Robert Aldrich Award, which is presented for extraordinary Guild service, in New York for Delbert Mann who accepted in person at the Los Angeles banquet.
Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented to Larry Kamm for Sports and to Max A. Schindler for News; and the Franklin Schaffner Award, which recognizes industry service for an associate director or stage manager, was presented to Joseph L. Dicso.
In addition, former DGA president Gilbert Cates paid a special tribute to longtime treasurer/secretary Sheldon Leonard. Leonard died in January.
The Los Angeles banquet featured the humor of Hal Kanter and master of ceremonies Carl Reiner as well as music from Donn Trenner Orchestra.
The complete list of winners is:
1996 Television, Children's Program's Award
Stuart Margolin
Salt Water Moose
Norstar Entertainment, Showtime
1996 Television, Commercials Award
Tarsem
"Good vs. Evil" Nike
"Poolboy" Levi's
"Red" Coca Cola
1996 Television, Daytime Serials Award
Kathryn Foster & Mike Denney
The Young and The Restless #5875
Columbia TriStar TV, CBS
Associate Directors: Robbin Phillips, Sally McDonald, Betty Rothenberg, Dan Brumett
Stage Managers: Randy Hill, Don Jacob
Production Associates: Don Philip Smith, Nora Wade
1996 Documentary Award
Al Pacino
Looking for Richard
Fox Searchlight Pictures
1996 Television, Musical Variety
Don Mischer
Opening Ceremonies: Atlanta Olympic Games
Don Mischer Productions; NBC
Associate Directors: Allan Kartun, James Tanker
Stage Managers: Arthur Lewis, Garry Hood, Gary Natoli, Dency Nelson, Vince Poxon, Doug Smith
This was Don Mischer's thirteenth nomination. He won in 1978, 1979 and 1980 for THE KENNEDY CENTER HONORS. In 1979, he was nominated for THE THIRD BARRY MANILOW SPECIAL, in 1980 for GOLDIE AND LIZA TOGETHER, in 1982 for THE KENNEDY CENTER HONORS. He won the DGA Award in 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985 for the following: SHIRLEY MacLAINE ILLUSIONS, MOTOWN 25: YESTERDAY, TODAY, FOREVER BARYSHNIKOV BY THARP, (along with director Twyla Tharp), and MOTOWN RETURNS TO THE APOLLO. In 1987 he was nominated for MADE IN THE USA WITH MIKHAIL BARYSHNIKOV and he won in 1989 for GREGORY HINES: TAP DANCE IN AMERICA.
Television, Comedy Series
Andy Ackerman
The Rye, Seinfeld
Castle Rock Entertainment, NBC
Unit Production Manager: Jeffrey Stott
First Assistant Director: Randy Carter
Second Assistant Director: James E. Lansbury
Technical Coordinator: David Owen Trainor
This was Mr. Ackerman's third DGA nomination. He won in 1995 for the Seinfeld episode, THE GUM, and was nominated in 1994 for another Seinfeld episode, THE RACE.
1996 Television, Dramatic Series Night
Christopher Chulack
Fear of Flying, ER
Constant c Prods. & Amblin TV in association with Warner Bros. TV, NBC
Unit Production Manager: Michael Salamunovich
First Assistant Director: Tommy Burns
Second Assistant Director: Robert Mendel
This was Mr. Chulack's second DGA nomination. He previously won in 1995 for the ER episode, HELL AND HIGH WATER.
1996 Television, Dramatic Specials
Betty Thomas
The Late Shift
HBO Pictures, a Northern Lights Production; HBO
Unit Production Manager: Jake Jacobson
First Assistant Director: Richard Graves
Second Assistant Director: Robert Lorenz
This was Ms. Thomas' third DGA Award nomination. She was previously nominated in 1993 for SILENT NIGHT, HOLY COW and in 1994 for MY BREAST.
1996 Feature Film Award
Anthony Minghella
The English Patient
Miramax Films
Unit Production Managers: Franco Ballati, Lynn Kamern
First Assistant Director: Steve Andrew
Second Assistant Director: Emma Schofield
Only four times since 1949 has the winner of the Feature Film DGA Award not gone on to win the Best Director Oscar.
In its first nineteen years, the Guild's Award was a perfect barometer of the Oscar winner. 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 two organizations 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 thirteen 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."
The most recent example of divergent picks occurred a decade later when DGA members last year selected Ron Howard's direction of "Apollo 13" as the best of 1995 while Academy voters gave Mel Gibson the Best Director Oscar for "Braveheart."