The 74th Directors Guild of America Awards took place on Saturday, March 12 at 7:30 p.m. PT with Judd Apatow hosting the in-person, non-televised ceremony. (Read our minute-by-minute live blog.) These kudos honored the best helmers of the year in movies and television, as voted on by more than 18,000 members of the directing guild. Scroll down for the 2022 DGA Awards winners list in three film and eight TV categories.
The all-important feature film category is one of the most telling bellwethers for the Best Director Oscar. The guild and the academy have only disagreed eight times over the past seven decades, including in 2019 when Sam Mendes (“1917”) won the DGA but Bong Joon Ho (“Parasite”) claimed the Oscar. Will this year’s winner follow the path of so many prior champs? Reminder: four of the guild’s nominees also reaped Oscar bids: Jane Campion (“The Power of the Dog”), Steven Spielberg (“West Side Story”), Kenneth Branagh (“Belfast”) and Paul Thomas Anderson (“Licorice Pizza”). The fifth DGA nominee, Denis Villeneuve (“Dune”), was replaced in the academy’s lineup by Ryusuke Hamaguchi (“Drive My Car”).
Another film category that pundits had their eye on was the first-time director race, where the nominees were Maggie Gyllenhaal (“The Lost Daughter”), Rebecca Hall (“Passing”), Tatiana Huezo (“Prayers for the Stolen”), Lin-Manuel Miranda (“tick, tick… Boom!”), Michael Sarnoski (“Pig”) and Emma Seligman (“Shiva Baby”).
On the TV side, the drama series lineup was filled out by a single show: “Succession.” That’s right, the HBO family drama earned all five spots in the category, an historic first for the guild. And the comedy series race included three mentions for Apple’s “Ted Lasso” and one apiece for HBO Max’s “Hacks” and HBO’s “The White Lotus.”
Three non-competitive DGA trophies were awarded this evening to Spike Lee (Lifetime Achievement), Joseph P. Reidy (Frank Capra Achievement Award) and Garry W. Hood (Franklin J. Schaffner Achievement Award).
Here are the complete results of the 2022 DGA Awards, with winners denoted in gold:
FEATURE FILMS
FEATURE FILM DIRECTOR
Paul Thomas Anderson (“Licorice Pizza”)
Kenneth Branagh (“Belfast”)
X — Jane Campion (“The Power of the Dog”)
Steven Spielberg (“West Side Story”)
Denis Villeneuve (“Dune”)
FILM FIRST-TIME DIRECTOR
X — Maggie Gyllenhaal (“The Lost Daughter”)
Rebecca Hall (“Passing”)
Tatiana Huezo (“Prayers for the Stolen”)
Lin-Manuel Miranda (“tick, tick… Boom!”)
Michael Sarnoski (“Pig”)
Emma Seligman (“Shiva Baby”)
FILM DOCUMENTARY DIRECTOR
Jessica Kingdon (“Ascension”)
X — Stanley Nelson Jr. (“Attica”)
Raoul Peck (“Exterminate All the Brutes”)
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin (“The Rescue”)
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson (“Summer of Soul”)
TELEVISION
DRAMA SERIES DIRECTING
Kevin Bray (“Succession,” “Retired Janitors of Idaho”)
X — Mark Mylod (“Succession,” “All the Bells Say”)
Andrij Parekh (“Succession,” “What It Takes”)
Robert Pulcini & Shari Springer Berman (“Succession,” “Lion in the Meadow”)
Lorene Scafaria (“Succession,” “Too Much Birthday”)
COMEDY SERIES DIRECTING
X — Lucia Aniello (“Hacks,” “There Is No Line”)
MJ Delaney (“Ted Lasso,” “No Weddings and a Funeral”)
Erica Dunton (“Ted Lasso,” “Rainbow”)
Sam Jones (“Ted Lasso,” “Beard After Hours”)
Mike White (“The White Lotus,” “Mysterious Monkeys”)
LIMITED SERIES/TV MOVIE DIRECTING
X — Barry Jenkins (“The Underground Railroad”)
Barry Levinson (“Dopesick,” “First Bottle”)
Hiro Murai (“Station Eleven,” “Wheel of Fire”)
Danny Strong (“Dopesick,” “The People vs. Purdue Pharma”)
Craig Zobel (“Mare of Easttown”)
VARIETY SERIES DIRECTING
Paul G. Casey (“Real Time With Bill Maher,” “Episode 1935: Fareed Zakaria, Chris Christie, Eric Adams”)
Jim Hoskinson (“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” “Episode 1105”)
X — Don Roy King (“Saturday Night Live,” “Keegan-Michael Key; Olivia Rodrigo”)
David Paul Meyer (“The Daily Show with Trevor Noah,” “Episode 26112”)
Paul Pennolino & Christopher Werner (“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” “Episode 830 – Season Finale”)
VARIETY SPECIAL DIRECTING
Ian Berger (“The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Presents,” “Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse – Into the Magaverse”)
Bo Burnham (“Bo Burnham: Inside”)
X — Paul Dugdale (“Adele: One Night Only”)
Stan Lathan (“Dave Chappelle: The Closer”)
Glenn P. Weiss (“The 43rd Annual Kennedy Center Honors”)
REALITY PROGRAM DIRECTING
Joseph Guidry (“Full Bloom,” “Final Floral Face Off”)
Patrick McManus (“American Ninja Warrior,” “1304: Qualifiers 4”)
Ramy Romany (“Making the Cut,” “Brand Statement”)
Ben Simms (“Running Wild with Bear Grylls,” “Gina Carano In The Dolomites”)
X — Adam Vetri (“Getaway Driver,” “Electric Shock”)
CHILDREN’S PROGRAM DIRECTING
James Bobin (“The Mysterious Benedict Society,” “A Bunch of Smart Orphans”)
Michael Lembeck (“The J Team”)
Phill Lewis (“Head of the Class,” “Three More Years”)
X — Smriti Mundhra (“Through Our Eyes,” “Shelter”)
Jeff Wadlow (“Are You Afraid of the Dark?,” “The Tale of the Darkhouse”)
COMMERCIAL DIRECTING
Steve Ayson (MJZ, Anthem, Mattress Firm – Droga5)
Kathryn Bigelow (SMUGGLER, Hollywood In Your Pocket, iPhone 13 – Media Arts Lab)
Ian Pons Jewell (RESET, ECG, Apple Watch – Apple / Sleep, Apple Watch – Apple / Time, Squarespace – Squarespace / Your Mom’s Short Ribs, Instacart – Goodby Silverstein)
Henry-Alex Rubin (SMUGGLER, Teenage Dream, Sandy Hook Promise – BBDO – New York)
X — Bradford Young (Serial Pictures x Somesuch, Super. Human., Channel 4 Paralympics – 4Creative)
