January 6, 2004
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LOS ANGELES, CA - Directors Guild of America President Michael Apted today announced the five nominees for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for 2003.
Mr. Apted followed up the announcement by stating, "I offer my hearty congratulations to all the nominees for their outstanding achievements. A director has the responsibilities of shaping a story, creating a visual language, and bringing all elements of the filmmaking process together. These five individuals and their films clearly demonstrate how a director's skill, when combined with vision, can create excellence in filmmaking. I look forward to raising a glass in their honor on February 7th."
The winner will be named at the 56th Annual DGA Awards Dinner on Saturday, February 7, 2004, at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.
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The nominees are (in alphabetical order):
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SOFIA COPPOLA
LOST IN TRANSLATION
(Focus Features)
Ms. Coppola's Directorial Team:
First Assistant Director: Takahide Kawakami
Chief Assistant Director: Hiroya Igawa
Second Assistant Director: Taiichi Sugiyama
Second Second Assistant Directors: Motonobu Kato, Shu Fujimoto
This is Ms. Coppola's first DGA nomination.
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CLINT EASTWOOD
MYSTIC RIVER
(Warner Bros. Pictures)
Mr. Eastwood's Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Timothy Alan Moore
First Assistant Director: Robert Lorenz
Second Assistant Director: Melissa Cummins Lorenz
Second Second Assistant Director: Katie Carroll
This is Mr. Eastwood's second nomination. He won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for Unforgiven (1992).
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GARY ROSS
SEABISCUIT
(Universal Pictures)
Mr. Ross's Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Patricia Churchill
First Assistant Director: Adam Somner
Second Assistant Director: Basil Grillo
Second Second Assistant Directors: Jeff Bilger, Kristina Peterson, Robert Skidmore
This is Mr. Ross's first nomination.
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The DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film has traditionally been one of the industry's most accurate barometers for who will win the Best Director Academy Award.
Only six times since 1949 has the winner of the DGA Award not gone on to win the Best Director Oscar®.
- In 1968, Anthony Harvey took home Guild honors for The Lion in Winter, while the Oscar® went to Carol Reed for Oliver!.
- In 1972, the DGA's selection of Francis Ford Coppola for The Godfather was overlooked by the Academy in favor of Bob Fosse for Cabaret.
- In 1985, Steven Spielberg won his first DGA Award for The Color Purple, but Academy voters selected Sydney Pollack's work on Out of Africa.
- In 1995, Ron Howard was a DGA Award-winner for Apollo 13 but failed to even receive an Oscar® nomination. The Academy Award that year went to Mel Gibson for Braveheart.
- In 2000, Ang Lee was chosen by the DGA for his direction of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon while Steven Soderbergh took home the Academy Award for Traffic.
- Lastly, in March of 2003, Rob Marshall won the DGA Award for Chicago at the 55th Annual DGA Awards while Roman Polanski received the Academy Award for The Pianist.