In a widely anticipated result that seemed like a long-awaited coronation, Paul Thomas Anderson won the top honor at Saturday's Directors Guild of America Awards for his Thomas Pynchon-inspired political thriller “One Battle After Another.” The ceremony took place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.
It was the director's first DGA win after two previous nominations, in 2008 for “There Will Be Blood” and in 2022 for his San Fernando Valley reminiscence “Licorice Pizza.”
Speaking at the podium after receiving the award from last year's winner, “Anora” director Sean Baker, Anderson humbly thanked the guild and mentioned recent EGOT winner Steven Spielberg, sitting in the audience right in front of him. “Being in this room reminds me of 'Close Encounters,'” Anderson said. “We all came here for a reason: something cosmic brought us to this room. It was that call to the mountain. It's that feeling that we all love to do shit and we have to do it.”
Anderson also dedicated much of his speech to remembering his first assistant director Adam Somner, who died of thyroid cancer in November 2024. “May you be blessed with the relationship I had with him,” the director said, “and if you already have one, hold them close and remind them that you love them.”
True to tradition, the evening was both a celebration of directing achievements and an occasion for many testimonials on behalf of the guild: from the nominees, the winners, and Christopher Nolan, presiding over his first ceremony as DGA president. “We are the best at what we do,” Nolan said, referring to the 40% drop in DGA member employment last year with a note of solidarity and urgency. “We are the storytellers. We are the people who have to innovate.”
All five theatrical feature nominees are invited to give a speech during these annual awards, with the ultimate winner speaking twice. Guillermo del Toro, prepared for his personal version of “Frankenstein,” greeted Nolan: “I love saying 'President Nolan' because it's very good to say 'President' followed by a good word,” he said to loud applause. (Several podium speakers echoed the joke.)
Ryan Coogler, a DGA nominee for “Sinners,” thanked the guild for his health insurance and mentioned his lifelong dream: not to make movies but to join a union, like some of the adults in his life growing up.
“I've been learning about alchemy lately,” said Chloé Zhao, performing “Hamnet,” her domestic drama about William Shakespeare's troubled family life. “You need fire and you need a chalice. For me, that fire is my creativity. Creating is my birthright. And that chalice is the community that sustains me.”
To demonstrate the respect that the DGA inspires among actors, several celebrities attended the ceremony to present its directors: Leonardo DiCaprio for Anderson, Jacob Elordi for Del Toro and Timothée Chalamet, the latter celebrating his “Marty Supreme” director, Josh Safdie, with sincerity and gentle disdain. “I don't think Josh will ever be 'institutional,'” Chalamet said. “I think Josh will always be a insurgent filmmaker and I don't think the world would be right any other way.”
The path to Oscar victory is now clear for Anderson, previously nominated for the Academy's directing honor three times, for “There Will Be Blood,” “Phantom Thread” and “Licorice Pizza,” but never a winner. Twenty of the last 23 winners of the DGA's top award have won the Oscar for directing.
Here's a full list of the night's nominees, with the winners in bold:
Outstanding Achievement as a Director in a Theatrical Feature Film
Paul Thomas Anderson, “One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Ryan Coogler, “Sinners” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Guillermo del Toro, “Frankenstein” (Netflix)
Josh Safdie, “Marty Supreme” (A24)
Chloé Zhao, “Hamnet” (Focus Features)
Michael Apted Award for Outstanding Achievement as a Director in a Debut Feature Film
Charlie Polinger, “The Plague” (Independent Film Co.)
Hasan Hadi, “The President's Cake” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Harry Lighton, “Passenger” (A24)
Alex Russell, “Lurker” (Mubi)
Eva Víctor, “I'm sorry, baby” (A24)
Outstanding Achievement as a Documentary Director
Mstyslav Chernov, “2000 meters to Andriivka” (PBS)
Geeta Gandbhir, “The Perfect Neighbor” (Netflix)
Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni, “Cutting Through Rocks” (assembly launch)
Elizabeth Lo, “Mistress Dispeller” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus, “Cover-Up” (Netflix)
Outstanding Achievement as a Director in a Drama Series
Amanda Marsalis, “The Pitt,” “6:00 pm” (HBO Max)
Liza Johnson, “The Diplomat,” “Amagansett” (Netflix)
Janus Metz, “Andor”, “Who are you?” (Disney+)
Ben Stiller, “Severance,” “Cold Harbor” (Apple TV+)
John Wells, “The Pitt,” “7:00 am” (HBO Max)
Outstanding achievement as a director in a comedy series.
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, “The Studio,” “The Oner” (Apple TV+)
Lucia Aniello, “Hacks”, “A Slippery Slope” (HBO Max)
Janicza Bravo, “The Bear,” “Worms” (FX on Hulu)
Christopher Storer, “The Bear,” “Bears” (FX on Hulu)
Mike White, “The White Lotus,” “Denials” (HBO Max)
Outstanding directorial achievement in limited and anthology series.
Shannon Murphy, “Dying for Sex”, “It's Not That Serious” (FX on Hulu)
Jason Bateman, “Black Rabbit”, “The Black Rabbits” (Netflix)
Antonio Campos, “The Beast in Me”, “Sick Puppy” (Netflix)
Lesli Linka Glatter, “Day Zero”, “Episode 6” (Netflix)
Ally Pankiw, “Black Mirror,” “Ordinary People” (Netflix)
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Television Films
Stephen Chbosky, “Nonnas” (Netflix)
Jesse Armstrong, “Mountain Head” (HBO Max)
Scott Derrickson, “The Gorge” (Apple TV+)
Michael Morris, “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy” (Peacock)
Kyle Newacheck, “Happy Gilmore 2” (Netflix)
Outstanding achievement as director in variety.
Liz Patrick, “SNL50: The Anniversary Special” (NBC)
Yvonne De Mare, “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” “Julia Roberts; Sam Smith” (CBS)
Andy Fisher, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, “Stephen Colbert; Kumail Nanjiani; Reneé Rapp” (ABC)
Beth McCarthy-Miller, “SNL50: The Homecoming Concert” (Peacock)
Paul Pennolino, “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” “Public Media” (HBO Max)
Outstanding achievement as a director in sports.
Matthew Gangl, 2025 World Series – Game 7 – Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Toronto Blue Jays (Fox Sports)
Steve Milton, 2025 Masters Tournament – Augusta National Golf Club (CBS Sports)
Rich Russo, Super Bowl LIX – Philadelphia Eagles vs. Kansas City Chiefs (Fox Sports)
Outstanding Achievement as Director in Reality/Quiz and Game
Mike Sweeney, “Conan O'Brien Must Go,” “Austria” (HBO Max)
Lucinda M. Margolis, “Jeopardy!”, “Ep. 9341” (syndicated)
Adam Sandler, “The Price is Right,” “10,000th Episode” (CBS)
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in News/Documentary Series
Rebecca Miller, “Mr. Scorsese,” “All This Filming Isn't Healthy” (Apple TV+)
Marshall Curry, “SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night,” “Written by: A Week Inside the SNL Writers’ Room” (Peacock)
Susan Lacy and Jessica Levin, “Billy Joel: And so It Goes,” “Part Two” (HBO Max)
Alexandra Stapleton, “Sean Combs: The Reckoning”, “The Official Girl” (Netflix)
Matt Wolf, “Pee-Wee as Himself,” “Part 1” (HBO Max)
Outstanding achievement as a director in commercials.
Kim Gehrig (Somesuch), “You can't win. So win.” –Nike | Wieden+Kennedy
Miles Jay (smuggler)
Spike Jonze (MJZ)
Andreas Nilsson (Biscuit Filmworks)
Steve Rogers (Biscuit Filmworks)
