Over the weekend, specifically on Saturday night, two big precursors went down. The Directors Guild of America Awards and the Annie Awards were held, help to solidify two Oscar categories. Yes, as you’ll see, there’s now no mystery left about what the Academy Awards will cite in the Best Director and Best Animated Feature races. Frankly, there hasn’t been for some time now, but the last pieces of the puzzle were put together on Saturday. Those two categories are coronations now, and rightly so, quality wise. With DGA being the final Guild, that also really does launch us firmly into Phase Two, where members of the Academy will be making their final decisions about who and what will receive Oscar gold.
Below you’ll be able to see Annie and DGA results, which probably shouldn’t have surprised anyone. The former went for Coco across the board, while the latter went the obvious routes in the two major categories. Guillermo del Toro took the big prize for The Shape of Water, while Jordan Peele took the First Timer award for Get Out. The only surprise was, ever so slightly, that City of Ghosts and Matthew Heineman took the win in the Documentary category. That doesn’t help the Oscar race there, as the doc isn’t nominated, so make of that what you will. Other than that, del Toro is a lock to take Best Director, while Coco is just as big a lock in Best Animated Feature.
First up, the Directors Guild results:
FIRST-TIME FEATURE FILM DIRECTOR
Jordan Peele, “Get Out”
(Universal Pictures)
Peele’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Managers: Marcei A. Brown, Rick A. Osako (Fairhope Unit)
First Assistant Director: Gerard DiNardi
Second Assistant Directors: Ram Paul Silbey, Marc Newland (Fairhope Unit), Jack McKenna (New York Unit)
Second Second Assistant Director: Maggie Ballard
Location Manager: Kurt Enger (New York Unit)
FEATURE FILM
Guillermo del Toro, “The Shape of Water”
(Fox Searchlight Pictures)
del Toro’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: J. Miles Dale
Production Manager: Dennis Chapman
First Assistant Director: Pierre Henry
Second Assistant Director: Tyler Delben
DOCUMENTARY
MATTHEW HEINEMAN
City of Ghosts
(Amazon Studios)
DRAMA SERIES
REED MORANO
The Handmaid’s Tale, “Offred”
(Hulu)
Ms. Morano’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Joe Boccia
COMEDY SERIES
BETH McCARTHYMILLER
Veep, “Chicklet”
(HBO)
Ms. McCarthyMiller’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: David Hyman
First Assistant Director: Dale Stern
Second Assistant Director: Jeff Rosenberg
Second Second Assistant Director: Yarden Levo
Additional Second Assistant Director: Chalis Romero
MOVIES FOR TELEVISION AND MINISERIES
JEANMARC VALLÉE
Big Little Lies
(HBO)
Mr. Vallée’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Managers: Barbara A. Hall, G.D. Fienberg
First Assistant Director: David Ticotin
Second Assistant Director: Christine Danahy
Second Second Assistant Director: Bob Riley
Additional Second Assistant Directors: Bryan Landrine, Rob Burgess, Allison Rushton, Mallory Squeo
VARIETY/TALK/NEWS/SPORTS – SPECIALS
GLENN WEISS
The 89th Annual Academy Awards
(ABC)
Mr. Weiss’s Directorial Team:
Associate Directors: Ken Diego, Eve Adair, Susan Kopensky, Lori Margules, Robin Mishkin Abrams, Michael Polito
Stage Managers: Gary Natoli, Rita Cossette, Dave Cove, John Esposito, Valdez Flagg, Chris Hines, Alissa Levisohn Hoyo, Arthur Lewis, Roxanne Lozano, Ron Paul, Tammy Raab, Jason Seligman, Jackie Stathis, Cheryl TeetzelMoore, Debbie Williams, Ari Woog
VARIETY/TALK/NEWS/SPORTS – REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING
DON ROY KING
Saturday Night Live, “Host: Jimmy Fallon”
(NBC)
Mr. King’s Directorial Team:
Associate Directors: Michael Mancini, Michael Poole, Bob Caminiti
Stage Managers: Gena Rositano, Chris Kelly
REALITY PROGRAMS
BRIAN SMITH
MasterChef, “Vegas Deluxe & Oyster Shucks”
(FOX)
Mr. Smith’s Directorial Team:
Associate Director: Anna Moulaison
Stage Managers: Drew Lewandowski, Brady Hess
CHILDREN’S PROGRAMS
NIKI CARO
Anne with an E, “Your Will Shall Decide Your Destiny”
(Netflix)
COMMERCIALS
MARTIN de THURAH
(Epoch Films)
Festival, StubHub – Goodby Silverstein
First Assistant Director: Charles Conner
Machines, StubHub – Goodby Silverstein
First Assistant Director: Charles Conner
Mad World, WealthSimple – WealthSimple In House
First Assistant Director: Jey Wada
Second Assistant Director: Curtis Smith
Now, the winners from the Annie Awards:
Best Animated Feature
COCO
Pixar Animation Studios
Outstanding Achievement, Directing – Animated Feature Production
COCO
Pixar Animation Studios
Lee Unkrich, Adrian Molina
Outstanding Achievement, Directing – TV/Broadcast Production
DISNEY MICKEY MOUSE
Episode: The Scariest Story Ever: A Mickey Mouse Halloween Spooktacular!
Walt Disney Television Animation
Dave Wasson, Eddie Trigueros, Alonso Ramirez-Ramo
Best Animated Feature-Independent
THE BREADWINNER
Cartoon Saloon / Aircraft Pictures / Melusine Productions
Best General Audience Animated Television/Broadcast Production
RICK AND MORTY
Episode: 303 – “Pickle Rick”
Williams Street Productions
Best Animated Television/Broadcast Production for Children
WE BARE BEARS
Episode: Panda’s Art
Cartoon Network Animation Studios
Best Animated Television/Broadcast Production for Preschool Children
OCTONAUTS
Episode: Operation Deep Freeze
Vampire Squid Productions Limited, a Silvergate Media company, in association with Brown Bag Films
Outstanding Achievement, Writing – Feature Production
COCO
Pixar Animation Studios
Adrian Molina, Matthew Aldrich
Outstanding Achievement, Writing – TV/Broadcast Production
RICK AND MORTY
Episode: 307 – “The Ricklantis Mixup”
Williams Street Productions
Ryan Ridley, Dan Guterman
Outstanding Achievement, Voice Acting – TV/Broadcast Production
SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS
Nickelodeon
Tom Kenny as SpongeBob SquarePants
Best Animated Television/Broadcast Commercial
JUNE
Broad Reach Pictures/Chromosphere/Lyft
Best Animated Special Production
REVOLTING RHYMES
Magic Light Pictures
Outstanding Achievement, Production Design – Feature Production
COCO
Pixar Animation Studio
Harley Jessup, Danielle Feinberg, Bryn Imagire, Nathaniel McLaughlin, Ernesto Nemesio
Outstanding Achievement, Production Design – TV/Broadcast Production
SAMURAI JACK
Episode: XCIII
Adult Swim
Scott Wills
Outstanding Achievement, Character Animation – Feature Production
COCO
Pixar Animation Studios
John Chun Chiu Lee
Outstanding Achievement, Character Animation – TV/Broadcast Production
TROLLHUNTERS
Episode: 205 – “Homecoming”
DreamWorks Animation Television
Bruno Chiou, Yi-Fan Cho, Kevin Jong , Chun-Jung Chu
Outstanding Achievement, Character Animation – Live Action Production
WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES
Chernin Entertainment, TSG Entertainment, River Road Entertainment, 20th Century Fox
Daniel Barrett, Sidney Kombo-Kintombo, Emile Ghorayeb, Luisma Lavin Peredo, Alessandro Bonora
Outstanding Achievement, Character Animation – Video Game
CUPHEAD
StudioMDHR
Hanna Abi-Hanna
Outstanding Achievement, Character Design – Feature Production
COCO
Pixar Animation Studios
Daniel Arriaga, Daniela Strijleva, Greg Dykstra, Alonso Martinez, Zaruhi Galstyan
Outstanding Achievement, Character Design – TV/Broadcast Production
SAMURAI JACK
Episode: XCVI
Adult Swim
Craig Kellman
Outstanding Achievement, Music – Feature Production
COCO
Pixar Animation Studios
Michael Giacchino, Kristin Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez, Germaine Franco, Adrian Molina
Outstanding Achievement, Music – TV/Broadcast Production
DISNEY MICKEY MOUSE
Episode: The Scariest Story Ever: A Mickey Mouse Halloween Spooktacular!
Walt Disney Television Animation
Christopher Willis
Outstanding Achievement, Animated Effects – Feature Production
COCO
Pixar Animation Studios
Shaun Galinak, Dave Hale, Jason Johnston, Carl Kaphan, Keith Daniel Klohn
Outstanding Achievement, Animated Effects – Live Action
WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES
Chernin Entertainment, TSG Entertainment, River Road Entertainment, 20th Century Fox
Daniel Barrett, Sidney Kombo-Kintombo, Emile Ghorayeb, Luisma Lavin Peredo, Alessandro Bonora
Best Animated Short Subject
DEAR BASKETBALL
Glen Keane Productions, Kobe Studios, Believe Entertainment Group
Best Student Film
POLES APART
Paloma Baeza
Outstanding Achievement, Editing – Feature Production
COCO
Pixar Animation Studios
Outstanding Achievement, Editing – TV/Broadcast Production
SAMURAI JACK
Episode: XCIII, XCIV, XCIX
Adult Swim
Paul Douglas
Outstanding Achievement, Storyboarding – Feature/Broadcast Production
COCO
Pixar Animation Studios
Dean Kelly
Stay tuned to see if Coco and del Toro continue on their march to Oscar glory!