Anora helmer Sean Baker won the marquee Theatrical Feature Film prize at the 77th annual DGA Awards, which were handed out tonight at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. Check out the winners list below.
Baker solidified his position as the front-runner for Best Director at the Academy Awards on March 2, besting fellow nominees Jacques Audiard (Emilia Perez), Edward Berger (Conclave), Brady Corbet (The Brutalist) and James Mangold (A Complete Unknown). Baker also is coming off last night’s Critics Choice Award best picture win for Anora.
RaMell Ross took the Michael Apted First-Time Theatrical Feature Film prize for Nickel Boys.
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The DGA is a strong predictor of Oscar success historically, missing the eventual Best Director winner only eight times in its 76 years. Last year, the group handed its top trophy to Christopher Nolan for Oppenheimer, and he went on to snag the Academy Award a month later. The film also won Best Picture.
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On the TV side, FX’s Emmy-laden Shōgun took the first award of the night in the Dramatic Series category for director Frederick E.O. Toye for the “Crimson Sky” episode. Shōgun and The Bear came into tonight’s awards with three nominations apiece in their respective Dramatic Series and Comedy Series categories, and HBO’s The Penguin also had three noms in the Movies for Television/Limited Series race. That category was won by Steven Zaillian for Netflix’s Ripley. Lucia Aniello took the Comedy series award for Hacks‘ “Bulletproof” episode.
DGA President Lesli Linka Glatter opened the program with a call for directors to do everything they can to bring production back to L.A. following the devastating Los Angeles fires. “We simply cannot lose Hollywood,” she added emphatically. She recalled the pain of losing her own home in the fire. “Last week I went back to what was left of my neighborhood,” she said. “Amidst the rubble and debris there was a tree still standing and it was filled with bright yellow flowers. How the f–k did that happen? In that moment, something cracked open for me… It forces you to look ahead toward the future and I believe that future is in this room, because we create the stories, and our stories will inspire.”
Judd Apatow returned to host the DGAs for a sixth time with a monologue that took on President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and more. He received raucous laughter when he explained the difference between the Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Ang Lee and himself. “In the same year, 2005, Ang Lee made the groundbreaking movie Brokeback Mountain, I made The 40-Year-Old Virgin, which featured two guys saying, ‘You know how I know you’re gay?’ for a solid five minutes,” said Apatow. “That is why he is being honored and I am hosting for the sixth time.”
Michelle Yeoh presented Lee with the guild’s Lifetime Achievement Award. In the Guild’s 88-year history, just 36 directors have been recognized with the honor. In accepting the award, Lee said “I hope that my whole career can be a never-ending film school.”
UPMs Mary Rae Thewlis and Thomas J. Whelan received the guild’s Robert B. Aldrich Award and Frank Capra Achievement Award, respectively.
Here are the winners for the 2025 DGA Awards.
Winners
THEATRICAL FEATURE FILM
SEAN BAKER
Anora
(Neon)
Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Olivia Kavanaugh
First Assistant Director: Liza Mann
Second Assistant Director: Sofía Blanco
Second Second Assistant Director: Steve Coleman
Location Manager: Ross Brodar
MICHAEL APTED FIRST-TIME THEATRICAL FEATURE FILM
RAMELL ROSS
Nickel Boys
(Amazon MGM Studios)
Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Kenneth Yu
First Assistant Director: James Roque
Second Assistant Director: Jonathan M. Warren
Second Second Assistant Director: Thalia Skaleris
Additional Second Assistant Director: Zachery Scherer
Location Manager: Batou Chandler
DOCUMENTARY
BRENDAN BELLOMO & SLAVA LEONTYEV
Porcelain War
(Picturehouse)
DRAMATIC SERIES
FREDERICK E.O. TOYE
Shōgun, “Crimson Sky”
(FX)
COMEDY
LUCIA ANIELLO
Hacks, “Bulletproof”
(Max)
Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Chris R. Robinson
First Assistant Director: Jeff Rosenberg
Second Assistant Director: Erin Stern Linares
Second Second Assistant Director: Alaina Neumann
Additional Second Assistant Director: Chalis Romero
MOVIES FOR TELEVISION AND LIMITED SERIES
STEVEN ZAILLIAN
Ripley
(Netflix)
Directorial Team:
Unit Production Managers: Clayton Townsend, Joe Guest (New York)
First Assistant Director: Peter Thorell
Second Assistant Directors: Justin Bischoff (New York), Nick Notte (New York)
Second Second Assistant Director: Melissa Morphet (New York)
Location Manager: Paul Eskenazi (New York)
VARIETY/TALK/NEWS/SPORTS – REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING
LIZ PATRICK
Saturday Night Live, “John Mulaney / Chappell Roan”
(NBC)
Directorial Team:
Associate Directors: Michael Mancini, Michael Poole, Laura Ouziel Mack, Janine DeVito, Amy Mancini
Stage Managers: Gena Rositano, Chris Kelly, Eddie Valk, Tom Ucciferri
VARIETY/TALK/NEWS/SPORTS – SPECIALS
BETH McCARTHY MILLER
The Roast of Tom Brady
(Netflix)
Directorial Team:
Associate Directors: Debbie Palacio, Marty Pasetta Jr.
Stage Managers: Lynn Finkel, Steve Hollander, Greg Kasoff, Ran Lowe, Jennifer Marquet, Christopher McDonald, Tammy Raab, Jackie Stathis
REALITY PROGRAMS
NEIL DeGROOT
Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted, “The Cliffs of Ireland”
(National Geographic)
Directorial Team:
Associate Director: Jeff Simms
CHILDREN’S PROGRAMS
AMBER SEALEY
Out of My Mind
(Disney+)
COMMERCIALS
ANDREAS NILSSON
(Biscuit Filmworks)
Board Game, Hennessy Wieden+Kennedy London
First Office Poo, Andrex FCB London
One More, Apple Client Direct
First Assistant Director: Scott Harris
Second Assistant Director: Ronald Misetich
Whizzer, Virgin Media VCCP London
Erik Pedersen contributed to this report.