And now the final piece of the guild awards puzzle is in place. The Directors Guild of America, by far the group best at predicting not only Best Director nominees but Best Picture as well, has selected their final five for the year. The nominees are Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire), David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon), Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight), and Gus Van Sant (Milk).
Interestingly enough, the five men nominated represent the films nominated by the Producers Guild as well, a match-up that bodes well for the Oscar chances of all five films. The winner of the Director's Guild award is hugely likely to go on to win Best Director-- only six times since 1948 has there not been a direct match. And the DGA line-up often goes on to match the Academy roster five for five, though most years one director fails to make the final cut. But with all five of these films looking the likeliest Best Picture contenders, could this list be your Best Picture nominees come January 22?
We'll talk about it all in more detail later this afternoon, in the Oscar Eye column. In the meantime, here's the list, from Variety.
Danny Boyle
"Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight Pictures & Warner Bros. Pictures)
Mr. Boyle's Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Sanjay Kumar
First Assistant Director: Raj Acharya
Second Assistant Director: Avani Batra
Second Second Assistant Director: Sonia Nemawarkar
"The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button" (Paramount Pictures & Warner Bros. Pictures)
Mr. Fincher's Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Daniel M. Stillman
First Assistant Director: Bob Wagner
Second Assistant Director: Allen Kupetsky
Second Second Assistant Directors: Pete Waterman, Stephen F. Lonano
"Frost/Nixon" (Universal Pictures)
Mr. Howard's Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Kathleen McGill
First Assistant Director: William M. Connor
Second Assistant Director: Kristen Ploucha
Second Second Assistant Director: Scott R. Meyers
"The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Mr. Nolan's Directorial Team:
Unit Production Managers: Kevin De La Noy, Susan Towner, Jan Foster
First Assistant Director: Nilo Otero
Second Assistant Director: Brandon Lambdin
Additional Second Assistant Director: Jessica Franks
Second Second Assistant Director: Greg Pawlik
Location Manager: James R. McAllister
Gus Van Sant
"Milk" (Focus Features)
Mr. Van Sant's Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Barbara A. Hall
First Assistant Director: David Webb
Second Assistant Director: John R. Saunders
Second Second Assistant Director: Ian Calip
Additional Second Assistant Director: Cindy A. Taylor
