‘Game of Thrones’ & ‘Watchmen’ Lead the DGA Awards TV Nominations

HBO is leading the way for the Director’s Guild of America television nominees for their 2020 awards ceremony coming in late January. The cable channel is king with five shows nominated across the drama and comedy categories, with Game of Thrones and Watchmen scooping up the majority of nominations.

The categories included in this latest release of nominees include Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Television Dramatic Series, Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Television Comedy Series, and Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Specials for 2019. The nominees listed are the episode directors but the teams who helped make their episode a success are also included in the nominations list. The categories are fairly trim, with five nominees per category.

game-of-thrones-long-night-kit-harington-Image via HBO

HBO completely dominates the Drama Series category, with directors Miguel Sapochnik and David Nutter each scoring nominations for their work on respective mid-season Game of Thrones episodes “The Long Night” and “The Last of the Starks”. Those episodes center on the story-defining battle at Winterfell and its aftermath and are among those favorite episodes of the show’s fans. Additional drama nominees include Nicole Kassell and Stephen Williams for their work on Watchmen as well as Mark Mylod for his direction of the Season 2 finale of Succession.

Meanwhile, Amazon Prime Video is the leader in the Comedy Series category with award show fave The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel dominating. Three of the five nominees — Dan Attias, Amy Sherman Palladino, and Daniel Palladino — each earned nominations for their work of a respective Season 3 episode. Additional nominees in the comedy category include Bill Hader for his work on Barry and David Mandel for the series finale episode of Veep.

The winners in each category will be announced during the DGA Awards, set to take place on January 25 in Los Angeles. For more, check out the list of DGA Awards nominees for feature films.

OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN TELEVISION DRAMATIC SERIES

David Nutter, Game of Thrones, “The Last of the Starks” (HBO)

Miguel Sapochnik, Game of Thrones, “The Long Night” (HBO)

Nicole Kassell, Watchmen, “It’s Summer and We’re Running Out of Ice” (HBO)

Unit Production Managers: Karen Wacker, Ron Schmidt, Joseph E. Iberti

First Assistant Director: Keri Bruno

Second Assistant Directors: Lisa Zugschwerdt, Ben White

Second Second Assistant Director: Jessie Sasser White

Stephen Williams, Watchmen, “This Extraordinary Being” (HBO)

Unit Production Managers: Karen Wacker, Ron Schmidt, Joseph E. Iberti

First Assistant Director: Kayse Goodell

Second Assistant Director: Ben White

Mark Mylod, Succession, “This Is Not For Tears” (HBO)

Unit Production Managers: Tyson Bidner, Gabrielle Mahon

First Assistant Director: Christo Morse

Second Assistant Director: Michelle Flevotomas

Second Second Assistant Director: Nicholas Notte

watchmen-jeremy-irons-premiere-Image via HBO

OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN TELEVISION COMEDY SERIES

Dan Attias, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, “It’s the Sixties, Man!” (Prime Video)

Unit Production Managers: Dhana Rivera Gilbert, Nadia Paine (Oklahoma Unit)

First Assistant Directors: Jesse Nye, Steve Love (Oklahoma Unit)

Second Assistant Directors: Natasha Rivera, Jason Inman (Oklahoma Unit)

Assistant Unit Production Manager: Meghan K. Wicker

Second Second Assistant Director: Lincoln Major

Location Managers: Amanda Burbank, Jose Guerrero, Nick Thomason

Amy Sherman Palladino, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, “It’s Comedy or Cabbage” (Prime Video)

Unit Production Managers: Dhana Rivera Gilbert, Nadia Paine

First Assistant Director: Mariela Comitini

Second Assistant Director: Luca Waldman

Assistant Unit Production Manager: Meghan K. Wicker

Second Second Assistant Director: Lincoln Major

Location Managers: Amanda Burbank, Jose Guerrero, Nick Thomason

Daniel Palladino, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, “Marvelous Radio” (Prime Video)

Unit Production Manager: Dhana Rivera Gilbert

First Assistant Director: Jesse Nye

Second Assistant Director: Natasha Rivera

Assistant Unit Production Manager: Meghan K. Wicker

Second Second Assistant Director: Lincoln Major

Location Managers: Amanda Burbank, Jose Guerrero, Nick Thomason

Bill Hader, Barry, “ronny/lily” (HBO)

Unit Production Manager: Aida Rodgers

First Assistant Director: Gavin Kleintop

Second Assistant Director: Kevin Zelman

Second Second Assistant Director: Heather Kehayas

Additional Second Assistant Director: Mikaela Mathern

David Mandel, Veep, “Veep” (HBO)

Unit Production Manager: David Hyman

First Assistant Director: Jeff Rosenberg

Second Assistant Director: Emily Hogan

Second Second Assistant Directors: Ismael Jimenez, Chalis Romero

Additional Second Assistant Directors: Phil Banks, Zach Davenport, Alexis Dvorak, Phil Goodrich, Christina Lee, Emily Neumann

marvelous-mrs-maisel-rachel-brosnahan-Image via Amazon Prime Video

VARIETY/TALK/NEWS/SPORTS — SPECIALS FOR 2019

Jame Burrows (All in the Family and The Jeffersons – Directed by); Andy Fisher (Live in Front of a Studio Audience – Directed by): Live in Front of a Studio Audience Norman Lear’s All in the Family and The Jeffersons (ABC)

Associate Directors: Martin Pasetta Jr., Sara Niimi

Stage Managers: John Esposito, Valdez Flagg, Alissa Levisohn Hoyo, Harvey Levine, Doug Tobin, Richard Silva, Jenny Nolan Bailey

Spike Jonze, Aziz Ansari: Right Now (Netflix)

Associate Director: Chad Richard Nicholson

Stage Manager: Tate Nova

Stan Lathan, Dave Chappelle: Sticks & Stones (Netflix)

Associate Director: Myriam Leger

Stage Manager: Valdez Flagg

Linda Mendoza, Wanda Sykes: Not Normal (Netflix)

Stage Manager: Arthur Lewis

Glenn Weiss, The 91st Annual Academy Awards (ABC)

Associate Directors: Ken Diego, Eve Adair, Susan Kopensky, Lori Margules, Robin Mishkin Abrams, Sara Niimi, Michael Polito

Stage Managers: Gary Natoli, Rita Cossette, John Esposito, Valdez Flagg, Doug Fogel, Chris Hines, Alissa Levisohn Hoyo, Arthur Lewis, Roxanne Lozano, Ron Paul, Tammy Raab, Jason Seligman, Jackie Stathis, Cheryl Teetzel‑Moore, Debbie Williams, Ari Woog

BY ALLIE GEMMILL/Collider